Die Erste Woche in Afrika

Kathrin ist nun schon fast zwei Wochen auf großer Reise und seit letztem Donnerstag auch endlich in Südafrika unterweg – erst in Johannesburg, dann in Nelspruit, und danach im Zielort Clare. Es wird also wirklich Zeit euch auf den neusten Stand zu bringen. Und am Besten macht das Kathrin in ihren eigenen (englischen) Worten! 

Aber erstmal gibt’s ein Bildchen…

So, jetzt aber Kathrin’s Bericht:

What a journey! After one week of traveling we finally arrived in Johannesburg and the next day in Clare, the village where we will spend the next two months.

Last Friday (June 17th) I had to say goodbye to San Francisco and Thomas and started my summer internship as an advisor for ThinkImpact’s South Africa program. On Friday I landed in Washington D.C. where ThinkImpact has its headquarter. I met ThinkImpact staff and Susannah the other South Africa adviser. Luckily, Susannah is super nice and we get along very well, which helps a lot when you are responsible for a bunch of college students in rural Africa.

On Friday evening and Saturday Susannah and I met with Saul (ThinkImpact’s founder and CEO) to discuss our role and the curriculum the organization has developed. The students will go through roughly four phases during their time in South Africa to develop ideas for social enterprises (businesses that not only create economic value but also social and/or environmental). The four phases of the program are: immersion, identity, inspiration and innovation. You will hear more about that later.

Later on Saturday the scholars for the Kenya program (ThinkImpact’s other site in Africa) arrived and we had a chance to get to know them. We attended their training on Sunday and led some discussion rounds in the afternoon. We also got a first sense for the students: young, very enthusiastic college students who want to learn about global development and social enterprises in Africa. Some of the students are leaving the US for the first time in their life!

Susannah, Saul and I took then a 6am flight on Monday morning to Chicago. This year ThinkImpact partners with the Global Engagement Studies Institute (GESI) at Northwestern University in Chicago. Every year the institute sends college students to places around the world to learn about global development. At the institute we met our student teams for the first time. My team has five pretty smart people: Hannah, Josh, Paku, Ahzin, and Camille.

The students in the GESI program had a week long of presentations, talks, and language lessons. We attended parts of their program and also tried to squeeze in a bit of the ThinkImpact’s curriculum. On Wednesday morning Susannah and I left Chicago and started our 25 hours travel to Johannesburg. The advisor are supposed to be in the village a couple of days before the students to prepare their homestays etc.

Late on Thursday evening we arrived in Johannesburg, only a few hours until we got picked up at 5:30 am on Friday to get transferred to Clare. The 5 hours drive to the village was a great way to see South Africa and its beauty. We even saw some monkeys, zebras and giraffes on our way!

We also met more ThinkImpact staff: Kate is in the area to help us to find homestays and get settled in. Right after we arrived in Clare we met Oubrey, who lives in Clare and whose father is the Enduna (chief of the village). He showed us around and introduced us to more people in the village. And we met our guest families. I was really lucky, since my family is not only super nice but has also a very comfortable house, including an inside toilet (jackpot!!). Most houses have electricity but nobody has running water so we carry in water from an outside tab for cooking, flushing the toilet and bathing. Bathing takes some time in the morning since you have to fetch water and heat it in a kettle. Once you have some warm water you pour small amounts of it on your head and body. The whole process takes a while and it can get pretty cold since its winter in South Africa.

We spent the whole Saturday waiting for people and showing us houses where our students can stay. The minimum requirements are: fridge, stove, own room with bed, and a latrine close to the house. By the end of the day we found two places for my group (one house for three boys and one house for 2 girls). We also found a place for 2 boys from Susannah’s group but still need two more places.

Today is Sunday and we are all getting ready for church (my guest father is a priest). Hopefully we’ll find more places to stay in the afternoon since we meet our students on Monday in Nelspruit (about two hours from Clare). They had a few days in Johannesburg to relax and shop before they get to the village and experience rural South Africa!

Und wer noch etwas mehr erfahren will, kann sich ruhig mal auf dem ThinkImpact Blog umschauen, da berichtet unter anderem Kathrin’s Kollegin Susannah (oben auf dem Bild in der Mitte) über ihre ersten Tage in Clare.

Tags: Bericht, Clare, ThinkImpact