My Year In South Africa: 2007

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Christmas in South Africa

Xmas dinner in St.Lucia

Our hotel on Xmas eve

Opening Xmas presents

Game drive in Hulhulwe

My Dad on Xmas eve :)

Merry Xmas everyone!!

This year I'm celebrating Xmas in South Africa with my dad who came down about a week ago. We have been travelling around KZN and arrived here in St.Lucia on Xmas eve. It's a beautiful little coast town in KZN, about 3 hours east of Durban. Before that we were in Hulhulwe National Park for a few days. We saw alot of animals, but no lions:(

Even tough I miss you all back home, I don't mind spending my holiday in 30 degrees at the beach:) Tomorrow we are travelling up to the Drakensberg to do some hiking before we go to Mt.Frere. Am excited to show my dad my new family, friends and hometown:)

take care everyone and enjoy the holidays!!

X Marte

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Pic from Chintsa

Watching the sunset on Chintsa Beach

Mark and I at the Backpackers

The view from the backpackers

Mark and I

Canoeing (Who do you write that in English??)

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Molweni

Kunjani? Ndikhona, Enkosi:)
It’s been a while since my last update. To say I’ve been to busy is lying; it’s just that the internet here is so slow it’s painful and I’ve been lacking the patients to download this page.

Anyways, I’m really enjoyung life in Mt. Frere now. Having Mark here has helped me a lot the last couple months, as he is a great friend and also somebody I can share experiences and frustrations with. Walking together in our community or in town people stare a lot “what? Two “molongos” (white person) in Mt. Frere??” :) If I walk by myself people always asks me where my husband is:) it’s better than the daily marriage proposals!!

Work has also been going ok. The children are just so positive and enthusiastic. Working with a group of older kids in the schools and organising school sport with them have been so awarding. At first they are all the same polite and responsible kids, but after a while they start showing their individual personality and you see who the “born leaders” in the group are.

The last weeks I have been busy planning a festival in connection with the World Aids Day (1st of Dec.). HIV/AIDS is a huge problem here in South Africa with over 25 % of the population infected. In a (semi)rural community like mine, were poverty, unemployment and alcoholism are a reality, HIV/AIDS is a huge problem. You see posters and hear about funerals several times a week, but hardly anyone will admit there loved ones passed away from HIV/AIDS. Although there is a big focus on the problem, the disease is still a taboo and myths about it are widespread.
Together with 5 schools and the Department of Education we organised the festival last Friday. We had Kicking Aids out Games (physical activities which also educates children about HIV/AIDS), had a doctor speak about the disease, candle lightning and a sport tournament. It turned out to be a really good Festival, but I must say I’m glad it’s over. It was the first big event I’ve planned and I’ve learned a lot about how things work here in Africa, what to expect from people, and what not to do next time J:)

After 6 weeks in my community it was good to get away for a weekend with Mark, Thierry and Camilla (other SCORE volunteers). We went to Chintsa (www.cintsa.com ) two weeks ago for a short holiday. Chintsa is a small town by the coast about 4 hours south west from Mt.Frere. We stayed at what is supposed to be South Africas best backpackers. Even though both Thierry and I agreed that the Coffee Shack (Coffee Bay) had a more friendly staff and better atmosphere, The Buccaneers were pretty good. Amazing food, beautiful surrounding, right by the beach, great surfing, volleyball court, pool, table tennis and a proper pool table (this is very important:)). Both Mark and Thierry are done their program in December so this was the last trip with the two of them. I am really going to miss them as they have become close friends of mine and I love hanging out with them. (Who am I now going to change life through pool with?? L)

I still have about 2 and a half week left before my holiday officially starts, but since the schools are closing this week there isn’t much to do. Have a bunch of reports and a NIH assignment to write, and are going to do SCORE for ALL (basically just playing with the kids for a couple hours in the afternoon) 3-4 times a week. But so far it’s been raining and I’ve done a lot of the paper work already, so next weekend I’m going to Durban with Mark and Tanja. Then the following weekend my holiday starts. I’m most likely first of to Port St.Johns with Mark for a couple of days before he gets on his plane back to Canada. I then go to Durban to meet my dad who arrives on the 19th of December! Can’t wait to see a familiar face from back home:)

Think I’ll stop here. Bet I lost Ann Cecilie before I got to Chintsa :) Hope you are all doing well!! I now have the internet working on my phone, so I get my daily update on facebook. MSN is also working proper:)

Hambani Kakuhle
XXX Nolitha

Monday, October 29, 2007

Travel Letters

All of the Norwegian volunteers have to write travel letters to NIF while we work here i Southern Africa. They are posted on their homepage and here is a link to the page:

http://www.nif.idrett.no/t2.aspx?p=68552

Enjoy:)
x

Blod er tjukkare enn vann

HEIA BRANN HEIA BRANN
KOM AA SYNG MED ALLE MANN
HEIA BRANN

FANTASTISK DEILIG!! :)

Friday, October 12, 2007

I've seen the rain fall in Africa

I’ve seen the rain fall in Africa

So, it’s been almost two weeks since I came back from Coffee Bay and it has been raining EVERY single day!! I can’t say patience is my strongest side, and people who know me well know how restless I get. I’m now almost done with all my dvds, so I hope my brother, Eirik, has sent the package he promised meJ Also read a couple of books, and done a lot of administration work. But with the power on and of for the last week it’s been a challenge.

But in-between all the rain there have been a couple of sunny mornings, so last Saturday we organised school matches between two of the schools in handball, netball, soccer and volleyball. It was a bit chaotic, but great fun :)
And yesterday I had my first Youth Leads tournament. 10 grade 6 students organised it for grade 5 & 6 in soccer and netball, and almost 100 kids played. It was a lot of screaming (I still have a headache), but the kids had fun and enjoyed themselves. The other schools will organise them the two following weeks so if the weather is good, that will keep me occupied.

Yesterday Mark (another volunteer from Canada) came to Mt.Frere again, and is staying till Christmas. He is working on a different SCORE project here in Eastern Cape and will be travelling to the other SCORE communities, but will be based here in Mt.Frere. I’m really happy about that, will be great to have a familiar face around!!

So things are still good in South Africa! And today the sun is back:) I will never complain about the heat again...
Have a great weekend everyone. Not sure what I will be doing. But TIA so anything can happen:)

Take care,
Nolita

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Three Months in South Africa

Molweni!!

Tonight there is a bad storm; I can hear the thunder and see the lightning. Just waiting for the rain. The power has been on and of all day.

It is not the first time I am experiencing a big storm; I grew up by “Stadt” in Norway where this happens all the time. My first day here we also had this kind of storm, and I remember my feelings that night; scared, nervous and excited. I was scared about the thought of living here by my self for 12 months, nervous about the family and community not liking me and me not liking them, and excited about starting to work and learn about a new culture. That was 10 weeks ago and a lot have changed. Tonight I don’t have any of those feelings. I am no longer scared or nervous and unfortunately much of the excitement has gone as well. Things are not new and different anymore, and work is slow and sometimes frustrating. But I now feel comfortable; in my home where I don’t feel like guest anymore, and in the community where people don’t stare that much and now greet me by my name. And I am happy. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me and I am trying to appreciate every second of it. Work is a challenge but I knew that, I just have to be patience. And thinking back on these three months, I hardly remember any of the frustrations. What I do remember are the good moments and I know there will be many more to come.

When I write these bogs I try to think about what you guys would like to read about. It is hard. What I found interesting 3 months ago had changed. I think my experiences here have shifted my focus, but bare with me, I will try and keep this blog interesting:)

School Holidays last week so I took a couple days leave and went to Coffee Bay with another volunteer. CB is a small coast village about 3 hours south west of Mt.Frere. We stayed at a very nice and cheap backpacker’s (www.coffeeshak.co.za ) right by the beach and spent our days hiking, relaxing on the beach, surfing, playing pool or enjoying a couple of beers by the fireplace (not sure if I should write this, but half our bill was from the bar..:)) I defiantly want to go back there! The place is a Xhosa village and the hostel were doing a lot for the community. They had for example a school fund where they sponsored children from CB that couldn’t afford to pay for their secondary school. Even though I have been travelling a lot the last months, this trip was great because it wasn’t related to work and we got to be “just tourist” for a couple of days.

But it is good being back and I think this is going to be fun month. I have tournaments every week up until “Cup of Heroes”. COH is a big tournament SCORE is organizing the last weekend of October in the North West Province, and all the South Africa volunteers will be helping out. Think our job will be to prepare the food, so that will probably be my biggest challenge so farJ

Hope you are all doing well and keep me updated on whatever. I have an address and would love mail from you guys, but will not write it on here. Will send out an email!

Dad: check out the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park at www.kznwildlife.com, and St.Lucia at www.advantagetours.co.za. The Drakensberg mountains in the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park seems interesting, but might be a detour.. but check it out anyways!! and Swaziland!

Nolita:)

Friday, September 21, 2007

The heat is on

So I’m back in Mt.Frere now. Been here a week. Was great being in CT and Pretoria seeing everybody again, but also nice to be back home.
Been working at the two of the schools this week, and it’s been good. Was suppose to do the Youth Leads, but ended up with over 80 kids playing soccer and volleyball. It was great to see that many kids in action enjoying them selves.

Next week it’s the schools holiday so I’m go away for a few days, just relaxing on a beach somewhere! The heat has really kicked in here now with 37 degrees today!! Must say it’s been hard doing sport in this heat, and I’m really nervous for the summer because it’s only spring now.. But I’m getting a nice tan and since I have to wear a t-shirt and shorts below the knee my tan line is pretty cool...;)

Fredrik, my Norwegian boss and Mandla, my SCORE boss, are rriving here tomorrow for a site visit. They’re staying to Tuesday. I’m hoping Mandla is bringing a bike for me because I’m getting tired of all this walking.
Not sure what we actually will be doing while they are here because except two soccer games I’m playing on Monday I don’t have anything planed. To be honest there is not much to do here in Mt.Frere, but it will be nice seeing them.

Can’t believe I’ve been here almost 3 months now! Time is flying by and I’m trying to enjoy every minute of it. Starting to get use to the life here and it’s good. Finally found my earplugs so the dogs don’t keep me up till midnight anymore and the chickens don’t wake me up at 4 anymore either! But the mosquitoes are killing me. We counted 31 bites on one leg!!

I’m also still getting to many marriage proposals which are starting to be annoying. But if that is my biggest problem here then I shouldn’t complain:)

Hope things are good with all of you guys. Really appreciate all the e-mails and comments from you!:)

Salani Kakuhle and ube nempela-veki emnandi!
Goodbye everyone and have a nice weekend!

Sunday, September 9, 2007

On the Bus again..

Then CT is over for this time, and I'm soon on the bus again for about 19 hours. Destination is Pretoria where it's mid-service for Team South Africa.
Will be back in Mt.Frere on Friday morning, and the following week my boss from Norwegian and my team leader will be coming for a site visit. Not sure what the plan is because it's school holidays that week, but I trust Mandla to come up with something smart:)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, I'm of to the YMCA to pack before the long bus ride.

Til next time, take care!

Monday, September 3, 2007

It's fun to stay at the YMCA!!

Molo!
Finally in Cape Town. Have uploaded some pic. Haven't used my camera to much so not so many pictures of people, but at least you get to see how I live:)
Arrived here in CT on Friday. Had a 22 hours bus ride by my self so two nights at a hotel with some of the Norwegians was sweet:) Best part was finally taking a shower!! Other than that we have been shopping, watching soccer, playing poker (almost won..) and eating out. Good to see the others again and here about the life in Namibia and Zambia.
Sunday we all moved to a hostel: YMCA in The Obs. in CT and started our course today. Will be attending lectures at the uni all week, but hopefully we get time for some fun stuff as well.
Sunday the South Africa volunteers here will be going to Pretoria, not far from J'Borg where we will have Mid-service. Feel that work in the community is really slow and somethings going nowhere, so will be good to get some new ideas and the spirit back:)

Life is good at the moment, hope it's the same for you guys!
Take Care!!
xoxox

More pictures...

One of the schools I work with.

View from my house

On my way to another school. Town of Mt.Frere in the background.

My soccer team, VIVO in Mthatha at the university of Transkei.

We won 3-2

More pic from Mt.Frere

My house is the one on the top to the right. If you look closly, you see all the cars!

My room

Outside. My house in the back, the Spaza Shop to the right.

My Hostbrother, Pethros outside.

Pictures from Mt.Frere

Finally some pictures from Mt. Frere

The view from my room

The hallway

The kitchen where we spend most of our time. eating and watching Generations

Outside

The Livingroom we only use when we have important guests like Mandla

Friday, August 24, 2007

As Time Goes By

Molweni Guys! Unjani? My Xhosa has unfortunately not improved much in the last week, but I’m starting to pick up the odd word here and there! But everybody laughs at my pronunciationJ

It’s been a good week with much more work to do. Youth Leads are going fine at all three schools. The kids have decided on tournaments and I’ve been doing Workshops on Fair Play which have been going great. I recommend the fruit salad as a Icebreaker, and one grade 5 can not get enough of JihaaJ They don’t really get the game jet, but just love saying jihaa and 4 gear TractorJ So work in schools are good now. It’s really interesting to see how the school life is here compared to back home. Two of the schools have some half finished buildings with broken windows and no doors, and at the third school the wind broke of the roof in two of the classrooms. There are usually around 60 students in each class so I understand the teachers find it difficult to do PE with hardly any equipment. Some of the teachers are really interested in what I’m doing, while others don’t seem to bother. But the kids are great and I love working with them.

With community sport we still haven’t done any SCORE For All, but I play a lot of soccer in the afternoons so time goes by. Tomorrow I’m actually going to Mthatha again to play soccer. The university team we played against there called my teams coach and wanted me to come and play for them. So I’m really looking forward to that! :)

Otherwise life is still good. I’m leaving for CT next Friday. And then Mid Service with the rest of the SA team somewhere in Free State right after that. Can’t wait to see everyone again and to take a showerJ

Have a great weekend everyone!! Thank you for all the comments, keep them coming!J Pictures will come when I’m in CT!

XOXO Nolita

Friday, August 17, 2007

In the Rrural Communities...

Molo!!! Unjani? Ndiphililie.!:) That’s how far my Xhosa has gotten. Man it’s a hard language!

Three weeks have passed now, seems so much longer and shorter at the same time. Have been some long days doing nothing (when I start reading articles and manuals and taking notes I don’t have a test on, than I’m bored. Maybe you can borrow me “Ona Fyr” Iva? ;), and some fun days with lots of great people. Work in the schools is going slow, and holidays and rain have not helped!
But I’m being patience, and on Tuesday I finally had my first whole day in a school. Started at 8.am with Volleyball for grade 7. 60 students, two balls and one court. A bit different from volleyball with Ola at NIH! But the kids were great so it worked out fine! :) I then did two sessions with two Youth Leads groups before soccer training with a boys community team in the afternoon. So that’s how my day can look like, but no days are the same, and if it rains you do nothing, if it’s cold you don’t do any sports. So I play soccer in the streets with the kids, read and I am now on episode 20 of Grey’s Anatomy :)

Today I went to another school. I was sitting in the Principals office. He had found a paraffin heather for me, and some kids came with some matches. We have one at the house so I thought I knew how to light it. Well, I didn’t so there were really big flames coming from it and I didn’t know what to do. Luckily some grade 9 students came and helped me get it outside. They worked on it for an hour before they managed to kill the flames, but the heater was broken. The Prinicipals office was covered in smoke and it smelled really bad. Good first impression from the stupid foreign Girl!!!...:)

I have also started to play football for a girl team here. Think the plan is to help out with training as well, but they are very well organised and have two coaches, so I just bring some equipment and play with them. Went to Mthatha; city about an hour west of Mt.F, on Saturday and played a match against a university team there. A lot of people there, including Frank (another SCORE volunteer). Great to see a familiar face and to share experiences and frustrations with someone. We won the game 3-2. I scored one, one assist and was named woman of the match! Not bad!:)

So I’m starting to get use to the (semi)-Rrrural life in South Africa. The food is still good, except the cows head they served me, and the chicken I watch them kill and cock before serving me and the father the liver! Gina, you would have had a problem here my friendJ
The chickens don’t wake me up at 4 am anymore, it’s more like 5.30, and then at 6 am the radio is turned on with the volume on max, and stays on till 6 pm. I don’t mind listening to the radio, but it’s in Xhosa so I don’t understand much. Same with the TV. The only program I watch is Generations, and I bet all of the Volunteers in SA do the sameJ It’s SA version of Hotel Cæsar, you will love it Ann-C:) So there is only three things I really miss:
- a shower (there is only a bath here)
- Seeing the News in English or Norwegian(I don’t know what’s going on in the World)
- A couch ( Tv is in the kitchen so that’s were we sit all afternoon)

In two weeks I’ll be going to Cape Town with the other Norwegians. It’s with NIH so we will be at the University there for a week attending lectures ect. Really excited about seeing everybody again and taking a showerJ Will post some pic then, because the internet here is just to slow.

So life is good, have no regrets and no homesickness. But I still miss you all.
I hope you are doing fine, and good luck with your studies, work, travelling and keep me updated!:)

Best of Wishes, Nolita

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Nolita says hi from Mt.Frere

So I finally arrive in Mt.Frere Friday after almost 3 weeks of holiday (as my brother called it) in Cape Town and 2 days East London. Mt. Frere was colder, windier and bigger than I thought. Mandla dropped me of at my hostfamily at night. A really strang experience but everything went well. Got my own room with electricity and a dobbelbed. Proper!! Not sure how many people actually live here, but we have never been less than 8 people for dinner. Must say I have been a bit nervous about the food, but after eating fryed meals for three weeks, my diet now concsist of a lot of vegetables, rice, paap( not sure how you write it, correct me please), potatoes and some meat.It is hard to explaine how my home is, you have to see it with your own eyes. When we came we couldn’t really see the house couse there are so many cars on the property. There are also 4 house including my hostdads workplace/garage. One of the houses are a small convenience shop where my workexperience from Spar back home have commed in handyJ The mainhouse is where my bedroom, the bathroom, kitchen, livingroom and the parents bedroom is. The family has also a lot of animals; chickens, cows,sheeps, pigs, dogs pluss two dead turtoures in a bathtub. The chickens wake me up every morning at 4.am...

Monday I visited one of the schools I’ll be working on, Nkulisha with about 400 kids. It’s a 5-10 min walk from my house. The teachers and parents were very positive and the kids are so great. Will start my work hopefully on Monday. Am really excited about getting started. This last couple days I haven’t done much so I’m already starting to get a bit bored and restless. But it’s good training for my patience.

So everything is Proper. Will post pic from Mt.Frere later. Not a good ide to flash my camera in front of the kids jet. I will never get them of my back..

Sharp Sharp as they say here! My contact person also gave me a Xhosa name: Lolita. It means something like bright light, rising sun... yeah..:)

Keep me updated on anything new. Football results, the weather. whatever:)
Miss you all!!
Xoxox

Monday, July 23, 2007

Leaving Cape Town

hi everybody;)

So, it's my last night in Bergvilet; a nice suburb to CT where I have been staying for the last week with rest of the South-Africa crew. Have had a amazing time here, gotten to see more CT and it has been a bit less hectic than Stellenb. But tomorrow I'm leaving for East London together with Camilla, Frank and Thierry, which also are staying in communities in Eastern Cape. First drop of will be Camilla, so I will most likely be in Mt. Frere on Friday. Am getting excited, scared and nervous and everything else I'M probably suppose to be feeling at this time. The rest of the guys left to day, so it's been good having an extra day to stress down and relax. Going to miss the group a lot, but I guess it's time to get started on what I'm really here to do.
In Mt.Frere I will be working on a program called Leading the Game, which includes programs called "Youth Leads", "School Sport", and"SCORE for All" . Guess that don't tell you guys much, but it basically means helping developing sport in the community, helping with organising leagues, festivals ect. and training youth to lead sports in the community.
In Mt.Frere I will be staying with a hostfamiliy. Don't know much about the jet, only that the dad is a mechanic, the mother has her own shop in the town and that they have one daughter. I will be working on 5 schools, and the one I will be working most on is only 1 km. from "my home".

Hope you are all doing well, enjoy the rest of your summer, and I would love to hear how you all are doing. keep me updated!!

will finish of with a quote my dear roommate Tanja gave me:

My will shall shape the future. Whether I fail or succeed shall be no man's doing but my own. I am the force; I can clear any obstacle before me or I can be lost in the maze. My choice; my responsibility; win or lose, only I hold the key to my destiny.