The concept of working on an activist project was a very smart and well-balanced idea. When I first started the program, I was getting stressed out about the fact that we are already working at an internship and now we have even more community service to do. I felt like it was a lot of helping we were going to be doing. As I near the end of the trip though, I realized that our internships were not so much all of us helping out but all of us being helped. I’ve never learned so much in my life from the values and children of Christel House. I now understand the fact that the internships weren’t for American’s coming in and changing lives, it was really for our internships to change our lives. With that said, the Activist project was our way to express thank you to the community and all that they have done for us. It was our chance to really help by putting extra time outside of class to help a cause. Instead of just sticking to one activist project for all twenty-four hours, I decided that I would rather do a variety of different things to explore different aspects of South Africa that are involving aspects of my internship and things completely outside of my internship.
The first activist project that I helped out with was at the University of Cape Town where I worked at the Center for Students with Disabilities. The idea of the Disability Service Computer Lab is so that UCT students who are blind, partially sighted or have another kind of disability can go to feel comfortable and safe. This safe haven is also a great place for people who are blind or partially sighted to do school work, especially involving typing on a computer. In this computer lab, they have special computers for people who need them for all varieties of schoolwork. As a volunteer, I would help by scanning hard copy study materials into the computers. Then, when books were completely copied into the computer, volunteers need to read the scanned books on the computer and check to make sure the spelling matches the hard copy books. The point of the scanning into computers and checking is so that when the automated computer reads the story to the student with disabilities, there isn’t any confusion. I worked there for about eight hours and I really enjoyed it. It was definitely tedious volunteer work, but in the end it felt very rewarding knowing that you are helping out. As an American, I felt that I needed to come over here and help “save the world” so to speak. This activist project was perfect for that reason because I feel like it definitely humbled my way of thinking. Every little bit helps. I’m sure that the students with disabilities were definitely appreciative for the effort I put in, as tedious as it truly was, it felt really great to help. I think activist project went hand in hand to what we have been learning about this semester. The idea of segregation comes strongly into play for what I’ve learned working at the center. Segregation still unfortunately is on the surface of this country and most of the time I only think of color and race segregation, but it really is so much more including disabilities. The center is such a great way for people with or without disabilities to come together and grow together. This problem of segregation is also a huge issue in America and I’m truly realizing this a lot more than I ever did before. After working at the center I definitely want to help out as much as I possibly can at Uconn when I go back.
The second activist project that I participated in was working at T.E.A.R.S animal shelter. T.E.A.R.S is a pro life, non-profit animal rescue organization whose core aim is to rescue, re-habilitate, re-unite and re-home lost, abandoned, abused and neglected dogs and cats. I worked about seven hours at this animal shelter and I’m really happy I did. I had a chance to walk the animals, feed them and play with them. It is such an amazing organization. The fact that they find animals in the townships and house them, give them food, and most of all give them love is phenomenal. For me, this activist project was the perfect opportunity to take a break from the 24/7 issues we have been dealing with since arriving here January 15th. I can just play with animals, which gives me completely different volunteer work than I’ve been doing working socially with people. One thing that I really took from working at the animal shelter was the fact that there are so many stray animals in South Africa based on the poor conditions of the townships. It makes me wonder what the ratio of animal shelter to stray animals is. When I go back to America I would love to explore that more and help out in anyway I possibly can.
My final activist was getting a chance to work with the social worker at Christel House on Fridays by going into the townships with her. This has been the most eye opening experience so far during this entire trip. The social worker told us that we had a chance to pick any of the children in our classes that we would like and she would take us to there houses. So Pamela and I picked our children and we drove to their houses. It was the most intense feeling of my life. It really connected the pieces for me and I have never understood the hardships of poverty more. Going inside the shacks on the side of the road and talking to the parents really squeezed my heart in a way that I have never felt before. The fact that those who I love live on the side of the road made me cry. I am still overcoming the shock I experienced yesterday. Never in my life have I felt more privileged then at this moment. The social worker is giving me another chance to go back into the townships to see more of my kids’ houses. The hours we will spend doing this is about ten. I’m still processing how I could possibly help this problem. Giving money unfortunately will never help the problem. The biggest thing I could do to help the problem is to start at the root, which is raising awareness. I know after yesterday I will not stop talking about this problem for the rest of my life. I will make sure I let everyone in America know about these problems here because I know people don’t actually realize the hardships.
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