Friday 7^th November 2008

After a fairly positive and constructive week in Itsoseng -  in one of my communities I returned back to Mafikeng late Thursday night.

Friday was a day spent in the office catching up on reports, planning for the week ahead and organising the general administration from that week. 

A day in what I would consider to be very constructive and necessary.

I had gathered together a whole bunch of papers, files, and books, together with some cds and other personal paper work and my filofax etc that I had meaning to take home for some time.

On the way back from the office Farai (my SCORE Volunteer) suggested that we call in at the Spar before I took her back to the guest house.

There are only two supermarkets in Mafikeng – Spar and Pick n Pay, today we decided to call in at Spar.

It was 5pm, still very much day light. I parked the bakkie and we took out our backpacks and other small bags from the back of the bakkie (as it doesn't lock) and put them in the foot well of the cab. 

We locked the doors and off we went to get our shopping.

I only needed a pint of milk and a loaf of bread so I was quick and once bought the goods, for some reason, I had a sense that something wasn't right, so after grabbing and paying for the two items I ran out to the bakkie.
 
It was there for some reason my instincts had proved me right. Thieves had broken into my bakkie and stolen my backpack.

As I opened the bakkie, my heart stopped. My red backpack was gone.  In it was everything. My laptop, my ipod, a friend's digital camera that I had borrowed, my portable modem, memory stick, the works.

I panicked frantically searching the car and in a second I thought maybe I hadn't locked the car.

I thought it was my entire fault, I had been robbed and it was all my fault.

That was the first thing that ran through my mind, then a split second later I looked behind the seats thinking maybe I had hidden the bag elsewhere, I was panicking at this stage, I just didn't know where the bag was, how could it just disappear? As the car was locked?

I quickly jumped in the car and drove it speedily to the front of the Spar where I ran into get Farai who was at the till about to buy her supper. 

I dragged her from the queue and we again searched the car, she confirmed to me that I had put it in the cab and I wasn't going mad.

The Spar manager at this time had come out to see what the commotion was.

He could see immediately that the rubber seal on the driver's window had been removed and that's how the thieves had got into the car.

He phoned the police immediately and then frantically I walked around the car park asking people if they had seen anything, trying for myself to see if I could see the thieves. 

Nothing. Within minutes a big crowd had began to gather around us for news on what had happened.

The police arrived and almost as fast as the crowd of shoppers had gathered, I looked up to see no one.

They had all disappeared.

People were actually not that quick to help me out.  

It was unreal; to be surrounded by lots of curious people and then a second glance they were gone.

The police simply asked me to follow them to the station so I could make a statement. 

At this point I phoned my friend Bazel, a South African guy who owns and runs a general store/bakery here for some help.

He couldn't come so I then phoned his brother-in-law - Tony to come and help.

Tony came as fast as he could.

He met us at the station to where I began the process of making a statement. 

The police man could not even spell "sports volunteer" when I gave him my occupation.

It was at this stage I knew I was in even more trouble. 

South African police stations are a not the most efficient of places it has to be said and the police tend to be amongst the least qualified members of society. 

Fours hours later after making the statement and listing everything that was in my rucksack from my FIFA red and yellow cards, to the lap top, ipod, mp3 player, portable internet modem, memory stick, filofax, phone charger, cds, you name it and it was in my rucksack.

I kept telling myself, its just things and that im fine. Things can be replaced – kind of.  I was calm and distraught at the same time. It was a completely surreal few hours.  

So it is with regret that I write and share this bad news with you all, I feel lost without my little ipod and speaker that literally went everywhere with me. 

My laptop with almost every photo I have taken in South Africa and emails and documents from the last 6 months are gone. 

My most valuable possession was my little brown filo fax which contained personal photos, cards and probably the contact details of everyone I have ever met. 

It was there I saved cards and notes and special personal things and the loss of that is huge to me. Again I'm trying desperately hard to thing that it was only my filofax and not a life or death item, I can still live and function but I still feel lost with out it.

To the relief of Farai, my ABBA cd and Spice Girls greatest hits cd were also in the bag!

To the thieves, I was "pay day". Not a person, who has come here to work as a volunteer and try to help develop and educate other people.

To them it doesn't matter who I am or what I do. 

I am gutted that I came here to work in the poor rural areas of the country and do what I can to help other people and this happens.

It makes you question why? What is the point? 

I'm trying to help, but yet in the bigger picture, they don't help themselves.

The police are useless, known criminals operate and this happens on a regular basis but yet no one does anything to crack crime.

Corruption is so bad that a car park security guard will take a bribe to turn a blind eye. No-one ever "sees" anything, and still crime happens and yet CCTV isn't installed anywhere.

I believe I did everything right, I have often locked my rucksack in the front of the bakkie along with my sports, bag, or my suitcase.

I travel. That's my job, I drive for hours, I travel from community to community, and my laptop is my office.  I did not do anything different that I have done anywhere else.

I was unlucky that they day I was chosen was the day I had cleared out things from the office and decided to bring home a lot of personal books, files and papers etc. But that's the way it goes, one never loses a bag when it's empty, it's always at its most full when it disappears.  It's the greatest mystery of life. Your purse never goes missing does it when it's empty, it's always just after you have been to the bank!!

I want to call this a story – writing it.. it should be. A bizarre-far-fetched-made-up-story, but its not a story, it's my life and I know ill recover from the loss of those items after all I'm not a materialistic person but these basic items were my personal possessions that meant nothing to anyone else. 

Yesterday, I searched the bins, skips and waste lands of the town, looking for clues, looking for my personal possessions that could have been discarded by the thieves as there was no value to them at all.  Jobst also helped me with the search. I was not hopeful, and the search proved nothing. I just keep praying I would just find my filofax dumped in a bin somewhere. 

I searched through the dirtiest and filthiest places I have ever seen; at times it was like walking through a dumpit site, and on one of the sites I was walking through, I was startled to see a young scruffy boy crouched down eating scraps of food from the rubbish.  It made me jump to see him, he didn't not move, he simply carried on rummaging through the waste for food.

In the town there are no public toilets, so you can imagine also the smell, the disease and the cleanliness of the place! There are many homeless people here and the lack of public conveniences simply means people use waste lands or bushes.

Poverty breeds crime and corruption and I'm simply just one person and cannot change the world.  But people here have to start making this country a better place to live in for themselves.

Greed of the government and ministers has to stop.  Poverty and Crime has to be tackled seriously. 

Its' that that worries me most for the future.  The Confederations Cup and The World Cup, millions of visitors will flock to this country and no matter how vigilant the tourists the criminals here no doubt are looking forward to another big pay day. 

I know there is a massive concern over the construction of the stadiums in time, "will they be ready?" Of course they will be. There will be amazing venues for the supporters to visit and for players to play in, but after my incident the other day, I have concerns and doubts over ticketing and crime and security and just the general the safety and overall experience for the visitor to South Africa.

I believe FIFA will ensure the success of the tournament but it's the government here who have to ensure the safety of the people and the general infrastructure of the country. The airports are being upgraded, the road and rail network are being extended and widened, hotels and shops are going up all the all time.

But basic utilities like water and electricity are a challenge; road signage is limited and customer service is nonexistent. The whole efficiency and running of this country is a challenge. The postal service doesn't work; the banks have security guards by all the ATM's and schools have no teachers. 

Yet this country is set to host the world's biggest sporting event, in less than two years time. The appointment of the tournament has created jobs and provided the country and its people with new hope and ambition and hopefully a long lasting legacy of improvements.  If it wasn't for the World Cup this country would still be a very long way behind in its development and education of its people. It's yet to be seen the real impact this event will have on the future of South Africa.

Regardless of the cost, SA now needs to employ the best people from throughout the world to help with security and policing. The implementation of crime reduction needs to start now…. It's the reality of South Africa.

Do we all fit into the Carries Bradshaws or the Ma Larkins of this world?

Maybe some us dream of being a Carrie Bradshaw but in reality are more like Ma Larkin?

Before I made the big move to South Africa, I had a vision. I could picture what and how my life would be like. I knew about life I the shacks, and was ready for that but my excitement was about a new simple life in a new town in a new country. A whole new world of people to meet and places to see. I knew the small town of Mafikeng; I had spent almost a month there last October when I was a volunteer for SCORE. Almost immediately, i felt like home, it felt like a familiar place. So the thought of returning for a year was something I was excited about.

I wanted to be a single woman, traveling and working. Handling the most challenging of situations, making a plan and dealing with what ever the job threw at me. I thought I could visit the communities, work with the teachers and the children, setting up football teams and training volunteers during the week, then at weekends, I would be able to enjoy a bit of luxury, pamper myself in my apartment-for-one, put my ipod on the speaker- blast out my favourite tunes! Shower, wash and blow dry my hair, pull my jeans on, splash a bit of make up on and go and enjoy some good food in a local restaurant with friends. Even in Mafikeng I thought this dream was possible.

Now, Mafikeng is a small town, its out in the North West Province, a place where not many people come – unless they have to. It does have a university, though but not a shopping centre to speak of. There is a small retail park, which has opened in the last year and really is the hub! Although it does have its "hectic" part of town which I try and keep out of! For me its crazy, people everywhere and mad taxi drivers.

I guess the highlights of the town are the Casino, a beautiful golf course set in a country park and the Mmabtho stadium (where the Kaiser Chiefs play) which is where my office is. It is however, full of guest houses and lodges (still not sure why!) but they all seem to survive and I think its because there are quite a lot of government buildings here.

On leaving England for Mafikeng, I had a vision of renting a very small and compact apartment. Very minimalist just the basic essentials for a single working girl. I wanted the clean and funky african feel to the place, with chunky wooden furtniture, animals prints and bizarre pieces of wood for decoration, that somehow look cool here! As long as it was clean and safe, I would be happy. I was aware I was on a very, very tight budget, as working here a volunteer, I just receive a small allowance towards my living expenses.

Unfortunately, the cost of living had risen considerably since I was last here and I soon began to realize that my little trendy apartment for one was along way off my reality!

It could be achieved if I had about three times more the amount of money that I actually had! So I parked my SJP dream and got to grips with my reality.

Through various introductions I met a guy who is a lecturer at the University; he has a big house and offered me a room within the house at a price I could afford. So that was it. I moved into a big bungalow with a swimming pool, 6 dogs, 2 cats and a parrot - that talks all the time! The garden is slightly chaotic but okay.

The landlord is a bit eccentric to say the least, he collects and hoards everything and I mean everything! When he bought and moved into the house four years ago, the owners were relocating to England so they literally left everything – including food in the pantry – that is still there! My landlord never sorted out anything, and its all still the same. Now for those of you who know me, I am quite a clean and tidy person. Occasionally, I might leave the dinner dishes for the following day, but overall, I like my living environment to clean and to a certain extent tidy.

Well, right now I couldn't be living in something that is so far away from my own standards. Dishes are left for a week at a time, empty milk containers and crisp packets etc are left lying around and its tricky to find a clean work surface to even butter a piece of bread.

So you can imagine, every morning I wake up, im greeted by sound of the annoying parrot, who speaks German some of the time, two cats demanding food and as I look out into the garden I see 6 dogs lying in the shade, amongst the over grown foliage. As I boil the kettle, for my one luxury – a cup of Tetley tea, all that animals and the hectic nature of the house is a reminder of how far away I was from my dream of the apartment for one and being Carrie Bradshaw. How did I end up more like Ma Larkin than Carrie Bradshaw?

However, this is where my story takes a turn…In August I went to Cape Town for a meeting, for one reason and another it was decided that I should stay in Cape for a while and deal with some marketing issues for SCORE. I had to find my own place to stay for a few weeks until a more definite plan was confirmed. Now, I do know a couple who live in a very swanky part of Cape Town –Blouberg. The couple are Bob and Djamella and they are friends I met through another friend of mine in England.I hadn't been in touch for years, but was brave enough to make a call to them and ask if I could stay for a while.

Now I knew where Bob and Djamella lived on a nice apartment complex called Dolphin Beach. All the apartments are on the beach and have the most amazing views of Table Mountain and Robben Island. I would estimate the apartment to be worth a few million rands which is pretty impressive. The apartment is finished off to the highest of standards and has only the best hand made furniture, original paintings by African artists and exclusive African artifacts. Djamella has got the most amazing taste and style and designed and renovated the apartment amazingly. So, I walked in to this piece of heaven, which over looks the beach, Table Mountain and Robben Island. This was even better than the Carrie Bradshaw apartment I had dreamt of. This was more LA than NY! So here I was living the dream, actually it was better than the dream. Djamella was the most amazing friend and made me feel completely at home and relaxed. I felt very lucky indeed to be able to stay with such a kind friend, (who I hadn't actually seen in 5 year!) and enjoy the delights of her apartment.

To say it was clean and tidy was an understatement. You could eat your dinner of the floor it was that immaculate! I can't tell you what a treat it was living there, watching breath taking sunsets every single night from the balcony, watching the sun go down behind Robben Island. Of course I have volunteered my services to Djamella and Bob as officially house sitter, the next time they go jet-setting around the world.. I felt it was the least I could do, you know, as a way to repay them for their hospitality…nothing to do with the fact that I love their apartment of course!!

My dream was a reality, even if it was only temporary and not really my home, just a placed I was staying. It was of course the best thing in the world to go back after the mad world of the Cape Town city centre and walk along the beach before going up to the apartment to make dinner. In which we had a good system going on, we managed a few bottles of wine between us, and Djamella is also a great cook, so we never starved!

We never had the urge to drive into Cape at nights for meals as one of the best restaurants in Cape is called BlowFish and is attached to Dolphin Beach. So if we needed a meal out we literally walked there and the dress code is very casual, so need to get all dolled up, if we didn't want to.

After three weeks of staying with Djamella, I left and returned to my "crazy" place in the not-so-trendy-Mafikeng, the town where I lived and the house I call home.

My future, as to where I'm going to live and the role I'm going to do within SCORE is still up for debate and changes on a weekly basis, I'm not so sure when I'm going to return to Cape Town, so for now my home is Mafikeng.

So as I reflect on my first six months here in South Africa, Ive lived in extreme poverty in the tin shacks in the communities, Ive lived in an awesome exclusive apartment on the beach in Cape Town and I currently live in a mad house full of animals and books and caos! Its been full of extremes and adaptations that's for sure. But one thing I have realized that "wherever you lay your hat, that is your home".

Despite living my dream, Im not entirely sure it lived up to expectations, but maybe that's the point of dreams? Maybe I'm not Carrie Bradshaw afterall, maybe I am Ma Larkin? Maybe I just want to be a Carrie Bradshaw but in reality I am Ma Larkin a girl who likes comfy clothes and flat shoes? Ive never been classed as a fashion icon, (as my sister will confirm), Ive never been a leader of fashion amongst my friends – ever..so what made me think I could come here and be that person?

I guess a new life, or even a new job, gives us the opportunity to try and be something else, not necessarily be someone else, just do a few things differently, as who we are will never change. Really, Im a long way off being Carrie Bradshaw, and as much as Id like to have the swanky apartment and wear trendy clothes, my reality is I fumble about the house in pj's on a Sunday, I spend about thirty minutes getting ready to go out to the one and only restaurant in Mafikeng on a Friday. During the week I live in rural shacks, in the communities of South Africa, my bath is a bucket, and I wear the same clothes almost every day. I work desperately hard trying to motivate and encourage volunteers to help organize and develop football in schools.

Im also not convinced Carrie Bradshaw is the future for me, don't get me wrong I love good food, nice clothes and the apartment for one, but I think Ma Larkin with home made cooking, hectic crazy schedule of friends and family in a hectic house with a few pets is more my style.

I think CB is just me on a Friday night, for one night only I get to shower, change, put on nice clean clothes a bit of make up, choose a nice top and meet good friends for good food and drink and good company. It's a small town you see, and so there is no night life – at all!! There is one pub, and if anyone stays out past 1am, the grapevine goes wild and everyone gets to hear about i! So anyway, this town doesn't lend itself to the world of CB anyway – even I was her..there is no ballet, no cinema, no good looking handsome men to date and sweep you off your feet. In some ways it is a small simple town, where I live quite a simple uncomplicated life most of the time.

So I'd like you to think – who am I? Who do I think I would like to be and then really, who I am most like? Often its not the person we think we are, but it's the person we really are that matters.

Im sure we all have someone we aspire to be, but really, are they, and do they have a better life or qualities than you have right now?

On Saturday I went round to Rita and Jobst to help pack, get the food ready and load up the trailer etc.  From the amount of food we packed you thought we were going for a month not a weekend!

Anyway, I borrowed a tent and a sleeping bag, its been a long time since I was last camping but, tents here go up in seconds and its so easy!

On the first night there was Rita, Jobst and me, with another family from ISA. A couple and their three children (17,12 and 6).  It never ceases to amaze me that people when together in the wilderness find their own role on the camp.  It reminded me of some kind of  survival challenge game show, where you have to set up a camp and function.

You have to decide where the fire will be, where the tents will go and where the kitchen will be. Its great how people, work together to make it happen without dramas -  it just happens. Everyone arrives and starts unloading cars, un packing tents etc.

Of course it was the first time I had met this family, the mum of the family didn't do camping at all..funny how her role was to sit on one of the camp chairs and observe while everyone else kind of created or home for the next three days.

Whilst the rest of us got on with putting up tents, collecting fire wood, organizing the kitchen and improvising with rocks for a hammer to nail in the tent pegs.  It was  like  a scene from a reality show, making the most of the environment …However, once the tent was set up and we had got things pretty much organized I did crack open a Windhoek for me and Rita!

I then played football with the kids in the open space whilst the rest of the adults sat down and put the world to rights!

Our first game drive was at about 4pm..when again, its all fell into place, Jobst drove the bakkie, I sat on the roof with the kids and the two women sat in the back with the other male of the group in the front passenger seat.

It was the most awesome experience of my life..i sat there totally taking in the wilderness and the beauty of South Africa, the vast open plains, all of us had a duty to spot animals…and for us on the roof we had a system of knocking three times to indicate to the driver to stop as we had spotted something!

We just drove throughout the game reserve a family of white rhino walked in front of the bakkie, the next time we spotted a curious family of giraffe just within a few feet of the bakkie.

Sat on the roof, driving around the game reserve really was an opportunity of reflecting for me and how its so important that we take notice of how beautiful our planet it and if we take the time to really see it, natural beauty is a pleasure.

Too many times we take our surroundings for granted, but I have new respect for our world.  If we took the time to look at it, I think one realizes that one doesn't need a new tv or the latest handbag to make one happy, just look at our world, invest in it, see it, for me nothing beats nature and what the world gives us. To see giraffes,
white rhino, the graceful springbok, the wild jackal, impala, kudu my list is endless of the what I was lucky enough to see on that game drive.  We really can soak up enormous amounts of pleasure and satisfaction from the simple things…I was totally content and relaxed, enjoying every minute.  I didn't need any thing flash or expensive at that moment to make me smile, I realized I can be really happy with basic and simple things.  Nothing beats a game drive as the sun sets it's a total awesome sight and I felt like the luckiest happiest
person alive.

The sun sets here almost to the dot of 6.30pm and so far I have seen some incredible sunsets, but to be out in the wilderness and watch the sun set from the roof of the bakkie was just heaven.  The breeze of the drive just providing a coolness from the hot African sun, for me that was picture perfect that night. A glowing round ball of fire, disappearing on the horizon, drawing a close to another day in Africa.

I think Im one of the luckiest people in the world, I have great friends who share amazing experiences with, so after the sun set it was back to camp to light the braai and the fire. Again, people found their own roles and preparation for dinner that night began.  We were spoilt with a selection of chicken and patties (burgers) with an
assortment of salads,  the moon was so bright, it lit up the camp so we all ate dinner by moonlight. We had a roaring camp fire which provided light and heat for us campers. I just love the way that we all in a way have our own skills and characters and when a group of people come together you just find your role. Without allocating jobs it just happened, the food was cooked, the drinks were served, the table was laid, the fire kept roaring, nothing was forgotten and everyone played their own part without a complaint or a murmur.

It seemed a million miles away from even the hustle and bustle of real life, of the rest of the world, if you have never experienced camping in the wilderness of a game reserve then please try and make it one of those life experiences that you really have to do. Forgot the glamour and comfortable world of centrally heated houses with all the mod cons, get down to basics and enjoy a simple life. Be a part of nature and see what it has to offer, you wont be disappointed.

Somehow again, dishes were washed and put away, the fire continued to burn bright and the moonlight was our torch over the camp. We gathered around the fire, telling stories, sharing experiences, each one of us with from different walks of life, but brought together as friends.

After a peaceful nights sleep, with just the sound of the crickets in the air, we awoke early, not long after sun rise, and again breakfast happened in a smooth functional way. A fire was made to heat the water for the shower, and a new selection of campers arrived one by one.  It was relay-camping as Rita called it, not everyone was able to stay all the time, so Rita cleverly planned a rota system for the tents!  The family of 5 were leaving after lunch and a new crew were taking their place.

A very, very lazy Sunday morning ensued, as after breakfast and the dishes were done, we drove to the hide – a secret look out point where you can spy on the animals in the reserve as they go about their daily business. It's a very very quiet spot, over looking a watering hole which attracts all kinds of birds and animals.  It was there we
spotted a family of Harteebeest having an early morning drink.  After the morning game drive, the family had left, the remaining campers, set out the rugs and pillows and chilled out whilst Jobst played his guitar. No one spoke much, it was just a quite, snoozy time. Then at 4pm a new car load of people arrived, So the dynamics of the group changed again they brought water melon which we shared then we set off for a sunset game drive again.

I volunteered to take photos for Wasila as she was going to sit in the car and I was not giving up my spot on the roof for no-one!

Again, we were blessed with a beautiful sun set and a more animals – a herd of buffalo, albino springboks, warthogs, white rhino amongst others.  On the way back to camp, we saw a gathering of maybe 20 giraffes looking for a safe place to sleep for the night, it was awesome and eerie to see so many giraffes together.

The new group found their roles in the camp as easy as the first group, people took responsibility for what needed doing and just got on with it to make dinner happen.  I was happy collecting wood and making the fires, some how I found that to be my place that night. I loved keeping the fire roaring, it was the hub and the focus of the camp, it created the atmosphere and ambience of the camp.

After dinner, the adult group collected around the fire, this time sharing jokes and laughing. We played 30 seconds which is a description game of names of people or things, You select a card from the box and your team have to guess as many of the names as possible by giving clues.  It was a great ice breaker and really relaxed and brought the group together. We laughed with, and at, one and other.

We roasted marshmallows on the fire that night.

The next morning, it was decided to pack up the camp after breakfast, go on  one final game drive and then leave for home.   On the roof of the bakkie, it was competitive amongst the three of us as to who could
capture the best photograph!  As one by one, our camera memory cards got full or batteries died.  But despite the serious competitive nature between the three of us we all pulled our resources together and helped each other out. None of us wanted to miss that moment and we had fun pretending to sabotage each others chance of  capturing that winning photo!  We did find a family of white rhino that we left the bakkie for and on foot attempted to get as close to them as we could. Totally amazing, we were spies in their world for a few minutes.

That weekend saw strangers become friends and brought the wilderness of a game reserve to life. It made me appreciate and realize the amazing world that we live it.  I'm lucky to live so close to one of the most scenic and wonderful places in South Africa.  The world is a beautiful place –the animals that roam, the fauna that grows, and the sun rises and sets without fail every day. That weekend, I discovered a new sense of passion and respect for my planet.

I think if I had "just one more day" it would be spent with my best friends and family enjoying a game drive.

It seems ages since I updated everyone with my trials and tribulations of my life here in South Africa. So here goes for a brief update... my fourth month anniversary here in South Africa has just quietly slipped by, with no mark of recognition, it was just a regular day in the office in Cape Town. I have been in Cape Town now for three weeks, I came down for a some meetings in August and I have just ended up staying. Stefan, my boss is keen for me to re-locate to Cape to do the marketing on a full time basis and since I was here we decided I might as well make a start!

I’m hoping to return to the North West in two weeks as I miss the open roads and the communities - never thought I would want to swap the cosmopolitan and swanky beautiful city of Cape Town for the rural province that is the North West, but I actually miss the people and the life that I have worked so hard to establish. Mafikeng is a small rural town compared to Cape Town - which is like London only it as a mountain and beaches! It is the one place every South African wants to live and I can understand why. Watching the sun set, behind Robben Island in the Atlantic Ocean, every night is special.

But my plan is to return to the North West for a few months and then return to Cape Town for good at Christmas.

Although I am best placed in SCORE using my marketing skills, I moved to South Africa for a break from the corporate world and to do something completely different. I still want the experiences, the memories, the photos and the stories to tell, which I won’t initially get if I’m in an office in Cape Town. The North West has its challenges, but I’m not ready to leave it yet and move to Cape Town, plus it rains in Cape Town. Seriously it’s like England, grey and cold. I miss the sunshine and blue skies of the North West! Summer here starts in about a month or two. Then it will be beautiful.

I am currently staying with a friend in a multi million rand apartment on the beach with breathtaking views of Table Mountain and Robben Island. It is pure luxury and so far away from my life in the shacks South Africa is the most extreme country in the world, severe poverty and immense wealth living next door to each other.

You will probably think I’m mad wanting to leave this lifestyle but it will still be here in December and I don’t want to loose sight of the reason I came here, personally I have goals I want to achieve in the communities.

I did get to visit the new stadium that is being built for the World Cup 2010. Green Point Stadium, is being built from scratch to host three of the games I think, it’s a 70,000 seater stadium. The visits are organized and you watch a DVD about the team who is responsible for the stadium, the design, the architecture, and what it means to people of Cape Town to have this stadium built etc. It’s due for completion next year sometime. The construction is on schedule apparently! It sent shivers down my spine walking into the stadium, it’s very exciting and I can’t wait to see it completed! Knowing that the world cup is going to be held there is unreal!

Another benefit to living in this part of the world is the wineries! Stellenbosch has to be the most stunning region of South Africa and certainly ranks high on my list of favorite places in the world. This is where all the wines come from and on a very rare day off we hired a taxi and did a wine tour! We only visited Spier and Backsberg winery, it was perfect day.

I have lost my camera, so until I replace it this is the most recent photo of me at the stadium, with the rest of the SCORE team. Thanks for sharing in my adventure...

To be continued....

Here is about SCORE, what we do, how we do it and my role here.

I arrived in South Africa on 2nd May,(i celebrate my anniversary of arriving here on the 2nd of every month) I working for a charity in South Africa called SCORE. SCORE is a not for profit organization. Founded in South Africa in 1991 by an Olympic athlete, the organization focuses on children and youth living in underprivileged communities and implements sports and sport development programs.

 

SCORE is a sports coaches outreach programme which works in the rural communities of South Africa, Namibia and Zambia. Using sports to empower the youth and encourage better and positive lifestyles etc. SCORE currently operates in 44 communities and in 5 of the 9 provinces.  24 international volunteers arrive every year and are deployed to the various communities to live and assist SCORE with the development and implementation of sustainable sports structures.

 

I am one of the provincial coordinators and I am based in the North West Province of South Africa. I have 8 communities which I look after  they are Itsoseng, Ganyesa, Schweizer Reneke, Morokweng, Mapoitsile, Pudimore, Amalia, Bloemhof.  I and mainly work with the teachers of the primary schools with football development. The particular project that I’m working on receives funding from UKSPORT. The project is called Leading the Game and SCORE is the Primary Delivery Partner for this project.  I work with the teachers to give them the skills to be football coaches to enable them to run their own teams in their schools.

In addition to the work that Im now doing, it the Cup of Heroes tournament is our flagship annual event.  I was lucky enough to work on the first tournament last year in East London when i came here as a volunteer. It was the event that totally inspired me and gave me the bug to return to South Africa. 

The project objectives are:

•Increased mobilisation through and participation in sport amongst in school and out of school youth

•Increased leadership and organisational capacity in sport amongst in school and out of school youth

•Increased number of girls & women involved in sport and increased awareness of gender issues

•Increased awareness of important social issues affecting and amongst the youth (including HIV/AIDS), and increased skills to address these issues

•Increased cross-cultural awareness and intercultural exchange and dialogue, focused on Africa

 

The competition provides a dynamic forum for awareness of social messages and for building awareness & excitement around FIFA World Cup 2010, making this event meaningful to grassroots communities and promoting a deeper and more real understanding of how such an event is not just a South African-organised event for the participating international teams, but a celebration of sport in Africa and a celebration of the power of sport to bring the nation and continent together leaving a lasting legacy of positive change and empowerment

 

SCORE's mission is to provide youth with new skills and opportunities through sport. 

SCORE aims to build strong grassroots sports programmes, but also utilizes sport as a powerful medium to promote healthy lifestyles and to bring about sustainable community development, individual empowerment and social transformation, in particular mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS at both an individual and a community level.

 

The Cup of Heroes events have taken place locally in all the communities, the winners proceed through to a regional competition and then the winners from that are invited to an all expenses paid tournament at the Loftus Stadium. Quite a prize for most of the children, who have probably never been on  a bus before, least of all out of the community to a city.

August 9th here is Womans Day, and usually a public holiday but this year it has fallen on a Saturday, its the day that throughout the country the regional cup of heroes events are taking place.  I have four communities, travelling any where between 5 and 3 hours to get to the stadium in Itsoseng where the tournament is taking place. You have to remember when organising tournaments here that its impossibe to start at 9am!! So my event is scheduled to start at 10am which still means a 5am departure for the children from their community!  I have four communities participating, each brining a team of girls and boys in u14 and u16 age groups to play football and netball.  The winning community will proceed through to the National Event in Pretoria.

So, its been a crazy few weeks organising it but im looking forward to Saturday! 

Ill report on exactly how caotic its been. Last time the stadium manager forgot to come and open the stadium, i had to go and pick him up! Ah..life in South AFrica!

Hayley

www.score.org.za

Greetings from South Africa! 

How exciting, here i am in South Africa and I get chance to watch and team from England here! Yes, Manchester United are the latest English visitors to the country! The Loftus Stadium in Pretoria is a four hour drive away for me from Mafikeng Man Utd have been here playing a series of exhibition matches against two of the biggest clubs in South AFrica, the Kaiser Chiefs and the Pirates.  They are not necessarily the best teams in South Africa but they are certaintly the best supported!  Tickets here cost R250 ((16pound) which is very expensive for a football match here. Tickets to a PSL Game (the top league here) only costs R20 (1 pound 25).Nevertheless the match was reported a sell out and the stadium holds about 70,000. 
The atmosphere was electric a really good buzz about the stadium, just like home i thought - it came close to the atmosphere whilst watching the millers!

It got me thinking about the forthcoming world cup, I already feel part of the great event that this nation is building up to. The world cup will happen here, despite the stories and reports. Being here i see the challenges every day, but i also see how this country is preparing for the greatest event on earth and what it means to the people and the economy.
 
The legacy of the world cup is not only just about better facilities and better infrastructure here in South Africa, its about education and training for the people of the country and using football as the vehicle to drive that through, every aspect of the game of football.

On a daily basis I try to encourage children to play and adults to coach, and im just working on a referee recruitment campaign and awareness drive in my communities as well.

Its a challenging job, things here in South Africa dont happen very fast at all, electricity at times is tricky, sometimes its there sometimes its not! Which i suffer occassionally with, it makes communication very challenging, but you simply have to find a way round it. For instance, I was not able to charge my mobile phone, so i bought an incar charger so i charge it there now when Im driving. I communication most of the time by fax to the people in the communities, well there was no way around that. Frustrating as these things are, theres is nothing you can do about it, so either figure a way round it or just wait til it works again. There really is no point of stressing about it...believe me  - noone else does!  

I was reading a match report from the million dollar match that was played in the USA last night, and there was a weather report attached to the end of it, so  here goes:
Weather: Sunny, complete blue skies, warm, no clouds in sight! Not bad for winter hey?

Hayley

Well what a great time to be in South Africa, yesterday was the 90th birthday of Nelson Mandela, not sure how big a deal this was everywhere else in the world, but here it was awesome. I felt proud and excited to be here and especially to be in a community, i really got to see and sense what and how much this man means to the people of South Africa. He is their hero, their inspiration, the man who fought for freedom, for each and every one.

They call him the grandfather, and there was like a happy buzz about the place yesterday. He is an important and incredible man, we all know that, but he lives here and he is south african and he means more to these people than anywhere else in the world.

I was in Itsoseng yesterday, where i have been all week, and in assemblies he was celebrated and all the children almost of every school made birthday cards and banners for him. The people owe their freedom and their lives to him and believe me they thank the lord for that every day.

The South Africans dont really need a reason to celebrate or dance or sing, but yesterday they got one. I felt all special to be able to share it with them and be part of it, to see how much this man is loved by the people of his country, its wonderful. The respect and honor one man has in a country is just amazing.

So im in awe even more now of the people here and this country and how things have changed and the struggle and hardship these people have lived through, life really is better for these people because of one man. Nelson Mandela is on most peoples list of "heroes" and "inspiring people", but he is on the top of mine now as I can see myself the difference he has made to so many people - a true leader and legend.

Personally, Ive not changed so many lives, but i think i made some progress in one of my communities this week. I spent three days doing presentations, meeting people and trying to work with the teachers of my primary schools and the young people we are trying to develop into sports leaders etc... I managed to recruit 16 people to volunteer to run and event on 9th August which is womens day here. I visited four schools, greeted and got mobbed by children at them all and spoke with principles and teachers...slowly i think the penny is dropping with them about SCORE and my role there in the community..."A light bulb moment"

(LBM) we call it...they are very precious and when we get them we need to celebrate them...LBM dont come along very often...so im happy to have one and be able to share it with you all! I also had my first training session with my new football team in Itsoseng, and the girls are great, and i discovered Im so unfit...Im along way off match fitness thats for sure, but I'll get there.

My host family are lovely, but the shack they live in only has two rooms - a bedroom and another room which is where they cook, eat and watch the tv! In the house there are only two beds - one for the parents and one for the 15 year old son...well seen as i was having the sons bed, the whole family moved the double matress into the other room each night and all three of them slept in it!! I felt terrible, but they said it was fine - they were just happy to have me in their house and their guest!!
Amazing hospitality from these people!

Its challenging adopting the living in a shack, i get a bucket for a bath and a bucket to pee in...its important not to get the two mixed up!

The houses are made from tin and bricks, they are cold and basic.  You have to try not too think about the bugs and each and everynoise you hear in the night, and what it was...otherwise you would just not sleep!

Despite these challenges, Im surviving and the odd LBM and smile on a childs face when i visit a school or help out with football practice makes it all worth while!

Can you beleive im almost three months in to my adventure?

Hope this finds you well what ever you are doing and sorry to hear that the sun is not shining just now..ill try and send some over!