Friday August 1 2008- Greetings from Cape Town and apologies for the delay in blog updating- we have simply had action packed days so I will try and recount a bit for all of our "virtual travelers" out there in internet land.
After our last entry from Clarens we headed to Malealea in Lesotho (pronounced Lisutu). Malealea is a beautiful mountainous location that is largely undeveloped and served as a fantastic backdrop to our first "labor intensive" service project. We stayed in round mud huts with thatched roofs which were actually quite comfortable. During the first two days we worked in two different groups on a road that had been washed out during the previous rain season. This road services a local school and village and needed a lot of work to prepare for next summer. Our students worked directly with local people to improve the road and we shared massive lunches with the entire community on both days which consisted of pap, chicken, spinach, chakalaka, and several other treats- it was once again impressive to watch the group work so well together and the vigor with which they took up a physically demanding task.
Our final day in Lesotho we went for a 6 hour hike to some local cave paintings and a beautiful gorge which certainly tired all of us out but was a great way to wrap up this portion of the program.
We then headed back through Kestell and stayed at a hostel there overnight and enjoyed some TLC from our local contact, Ms. Vera-Anne- she served as a grandmother to our group and helped us do laundry and nurse our tired legs as we enjoyed a massive chicken, mashed potatoes, and salad "comfort feast" crafted by yours truly with some assistance from my favorite sous chefs (aka your kids!)
We then headed to Soweto which is a township outside of Joburg. Soweto was home to a lot of the uprisings and energy that fueled the end of Apartheid. Our first day in Soweto we visited the Hector Peterson museum and memorial dedicated to a 13 year old student who was shot and killed in 1976 and became a symbol of the student resistance- we even had a chance to meet his sister and engage in a great talent and poetry slam with some local youth. We took a walking tour of the Soweto township and saw Mandela's old house and the home of archbishop Desmond Tutu. The next day we worked with the Umbuyisa school of art screen printing some cool tee-shirts for our students and then spent the afternoon working with some children from the art school.
Thursday July 31 2008 - found us flying from Joburg down to rainy Cape Town for our final 3 full days of the program. This morning we went and visited Robben Island and toured the prison for former political figures and I am now sitting at an internet cafe while we wait to go check out the new Batman "Dark Knight" this afternoon.
In short all is well and we have been conducting our exit interviews and program wrap ups with students and it seems that they have all had an outstanding program- it truly has been a privilege to work with each and every one of them and a large thanks to everyone who helped make this experience possible is certainly in order.
Looking forward to a safe and fulfilling final few days,
Thatcher and the BSA Team
Saturday, August 2, 2008
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