Work in Khayelitsha

FFHC (Courtesy of Katie Pelo)

I imagine there are few jobs in the world like being a programs intern at the Football for Hope Center FFHC in Khayelitsha. There are also few, if any, days at the FFHC that are the same as any of those before it. If anyone asks me what a typical day looks like for me, I can't really give them an answer. Even if the other interns ask whether I will be at the center at 2:30 on Tuesday because they were hoping to visit, I can only shrug. I can be on the computer working on an assignment one moment, then I'll be driving coaches to an intervention at a local school (which is without question the best task), then I'll be pulled in to a meeting with GC, our site coordinator, before finding out that Anna and I need to head back to HQ to print a large volume of coaches guides, pre/post tests for Monitoring and Evaluation, or graduation certificates because the printer at the center is not only small, but also unreliable. As you can probably imagine, the biggest thing that I've learned so far about work at the center is to be ready and flexible for ANYTHING. Yes, I certainly have tasks to accomplish, but there is so much going on around the center and in all the townships that I need to be ready to change gears at a moment's notice.

Speaking of tasks, Anna and I are currently focusing on multiple concurrent projects. She has been hard at work writing budgets and recruiting schools for a program called Skillz Street - the GRS program for girls in grades 7,8, and 9 - that starts this week (woohoo!), while I have been working on a variety of smaller projects. In addition to a few writing tasks, I have focused my efforts toward planning one-on-one sessions that Anna and I will be conducting with coaches in two weeks to improve their computer and employability skills for post-GRS life. Coaches can only be part of GRS for two years and they gain so much valuable experience from those years, but they still have an extremely hard road to travel before finding a job. I have had way too much fun with organizing these sessions, and have created a restaurant menu to present at our meetings to make them seem less formal, and therefore more enjoyable. Or in one of the former interns' words, I'll simply be making a fool of myself, which the coaches love to see. Here are a couple of my sample dishes:

Fried Email Setup and Navigation

This is a classic delicacy in South Africa, and yet still many have not tried this fried dish, full of Gmail, Outlook, and many other varieties of email servers.  

CV and Cover Letter Burrito

Our most popular dish, this Mexican Dish includes hefty portions of “Drafting CV’s” as well as “Cover Letters.” We also recommend having this with a side of Linked In.

In addition, I have been racing around the center to register as many coaches for a new fingerprinting pilot project. The goal is to have every FFHC staff, volunteer, or GRS coach fingerprinted so that we can track who comes to and from the center (especially coaches going to/from the local schools) without tracking the attendance on paper. Everyone will simply have to place their finger on a little scanner and the system registers them before automatically sending it to a database online. While the vision is quite cool, I have been given the heavy lifting: the task of recording everyone's prints so we can match those to our list of staff and coaches. It has been a bit stressful (especially when the program decides to shut down with no warning), but it has also given me a chance to get to know almost all of the coaches, who continue to amaze me. They are really a great group.

GRS Coaches at a weekly coaches development session
(Courtesy of Betsy Kaeberle)

Although this last segment is rather disconnected, I'm going to say it anyway. I mentioned printing earlier, and we have found out very quickly that printing will be a very large part of our job description. For instance, we found out last week that we needed to print 1,000 graduation certificates back at HQ. And when you think about printing over 1000 certificates, the task seems tedious and and daunting. Essentially we sit on our computer printing 50 or so at a time (sometimes competing with others who need to print curricula or something) and  get up when the printer jams to remove errant paper. But then as soon as you realize how all these certificate will be given to 1,000 children child in or around Khayelitsha, the task becomes much more enjoyable. And each of those children has the ability and knowledge to "make there move" to prevent themselves from getting HIV as well as educate others in their community about what they have learned. That is the essence of Grassroot Soccer, and I will spend hours battling with printers for the smile of one kid as she smiles and holds her GRS certificate out in front of her.

Week 1

Wow...there's so much to report since my last post, so I will do my best to get the majority of it all.

Looking at Lion's Head and Camp's Bay from Table Mountain

Well, last week ended with a great hike up Table Mountain with fellow interns Anna, Caitlin, and Kat on an absolutely beautiful day. In addition to the amazing view, an a cappella group called AfricaJams provided a great soundtrack for our ascent as they sang traditional African songs that reverberated off the trail's rock walls. It was one of those experiences where I couldn't help but smile.

This week marks my first days of work for GRS, and it has started off well. Anna and I have been driving out every morning to the Football For Hope Center (FFHC) in Khayelitsha, the biggest township outside of Cape Town, and every day has been completely different from the one before. We spent most of the week driving around Khayelitsha and the neighboring townships to watch GRS interventions in primary schools. Interventions are the sessions run by GRS coaches, who are all young adults from townships around Khayelitsha that GRS trains to implement their various curricula, for students in local middle and high schools. We have spent an extensive amount of time with these coaches in our travels, and they really are a special group of people. They engage the students (or "learners" as everyone says around here) so well, they have an amazing amount of energy, and it has been great sharing stories and laughing with them as well as learning from them. This was especially evident on Friday, when Anna and I watched a Coaching Development session at the FFHC. Most of the 35 coaches were there presenting certain topics and gaining feedback on their facilitation, and I was again blown away by their charisma and skill. They lie at the core of GRS, and they really are making a name for themselves in addition to GRS.

NOTE: I promise I will have more photos of the FFHC and Khayelitsha soon...I definitely need to get my act together in that department.

Sunday Pickup near the Nelson Mandela Stadium in Cape Town
(photo credit to Betsy Kaeberle)

Outside of pure "work," my days have been full of soccer (to my chagrin, as you can imagine). A bunch of the younger GRS staff and interns play in a 5 vs 5 league Thursday nights, and there is an open weekly pickup with all of GRS on Sundays. In addition, I have managed to play pickup for almost an hour every day with the locals who show up around 3 at the FFHC. Although we can't communicate very well, and their English is much better than my Xhosa, we have no trouble playing together as soon as we step on the FFHC's field turf. It continues to amaze me how you can make friends as soon as you touch the soccer ball. The first time Anna and I tried to play, the kids would barely even look at us until we split into teams and started playing. As soon as each of us had received the ball and played it smartly away to feet, they wanted to know our names and were giving us as many high fives and sharps (a local standard handshake) for goals and good plays as any of the other players. So cool. I also had the unique opportunity to run a session with RV United, the one and only women's team from Khayelitsha. These highly skilled group are normally coached by Vuyo, one of the great people on staff at the FFHC, but I stepped in for the day. I ran a practice that I have done with the Colby Men's Soccer team, yet there I was on the sun burnt dirt of Khayelitsha as dusk arrived with close to 100 young kids running around and watching both our practice and a game on the adjacent turf field. It was one of those experiences when you feel obligated to soak in everything around in that one moment before moving on to the next your next thought.

Bear with me, I'm almost done. I have just one more thing to say, because I'm overdue to thank all the amazing interns with whom I get to spend most of my time. This weekend's trip to the Cape of Good Hope provided a perfect example of how much I enjoy their company. Eight of us piled into our aqua green Toyota Avanza (or "Intern Car") and drove the hour and fifteen minutes to the historic final resting place of the Flying Dutchman. Although the weather wasn't perfect, we braved the blasting coastal winds and found ourselves face to face with penguins, baboons, ostriches, and cliffs that fell away into churning waves that seemed like the end of the earth. I know it may be hard for some of you at home to believe, but this Cape Town crew are just as weird as I am, and we have so much fun together. Thank you for being the fantastic people that you are, and here's to more penguin posing in the near future!

The Cape Town crew (or most of it) at Simon's Town with perfect penguin form.
(photo credit to Betsy Kaeberle)

   

MADE IT!

I have made it safely to the great city of South Africa! After getting settled (partly...still a work in progress), we had a great couple days getting to know all the wonderful people at GRS Headquarters and the walk from the office to our amazing house on the the Kloof Street. And while I'm on the subject, it hasn't taken me long to fall completely in love with 115 Kloof Street. Rather than try and fail describe it without any cliches, I'll give you all a glimpse:

Yes, that it a small turf pitch, yes that's Devil's Peak (to the left) and Table Mountain (to the right), and yes, we have already done Body by E on the turf. It's easily the most beautiful place I have ever done a Dana Roll.

Other than that, Anna and I have been practicing our Xhosa clicks after meeting a wonderful GRS intern from Cape Town named Notula, and have reached the point where we can say "Hello, how are you?" "I'm fine, and you?" as well as "Thank you" and "You're welcome." Not too shabby for Day 2.

That is is for now, but before I sign off I have to give a huge thank you to Hooter, SCal, Leah and Austin for a perfect sendoff to our year with GRS. When all the interns went our separate ways in Johannesburg, we kept remarking how it seemed impossible that we had only met less than four days prior. Our intern class is full of such great people whose weird quirks all meshed seamlessly, which is almost exclusively down to the preparation, energy, and care from our orientation leaders. That last little piece or credit goes out to Brudad, Cindy, Soy Dog, Junior, and co for giving us the perfect atmosphere to...well...say goodbye to our home :)