Intruder?

I had my first security alarm scare yesterday morning! At about 5am I was suddenly awoken by literally the loudest sound I have ever experienced in my entire life. It was like an outer body experience - the walls of the house, as well as my entire body, were pulsing the beeping was so loud.  I’m pretty sure that the entire street woke up and that, had I been over the age of 60, I would have had a heart attack. It was inescapable.  After I got over the initial shock, I was terrified because clearly we had an intruder, which isn’t all that uncommon here and you hear so many horror stories about it.  So I stayed locked in my room, holding my pepper spray, unsure what you are supposed to do in that situation!  Luckily, no intruder was found but it sure made for an unpleasant start to the day. Now I know that South African’s don’t mess around with their security and alarm systems.  I think I am pretty safe between the electric fence and the deafening alarm system!

In other news, I leave Friday afternoon for a roadtrip adventure to Lesotho and Kruguer National Park with my friends Whitney and Jess.  We plan on having a leisurely drive up to Lesotho (a very small, rural, mountainous nation in the center of South Africa), spending a few days being nomads in huts there, then making our way to Johannesburg where we will start out Kruger safari adventure. Hopefully I will be posting lots of animal pictures this time two weeks from now! That is if I am not eaten by a lion…

roadtrip mates

Workshops and protests!

Last week I attended a workshop about an hour away in Sunset Beach, which is on the western coastal side of Cape Town.  The conference/workshop was for a group of about 10 NGO's from South Africa that were all jointly funded to conduct a survey on land access and hunger.  The survey phase was completed before I got to Women on Farms but now I will be the one using the SPSS statistical program to analyze the data.  The workshop last week went over how to use SPSS and what type of results to look for.  The nice part about the conference was the venue - literally right on the water with a great view of Table Mountain and the city.  I don't think you would find too many work conferences in the states with venues like this!!

I participated in my first (illegal) protest! This past Saturday, Women on Farms Project organized a protest to raise awareness of land in the Ceres, South Africa area that is not in use.  There are many farmer workers in the area that want land either for food gardens for household use or larger plots for income generation farming. We started the protest in the city center, then walked to the Farmer's Association where we handed over a letter requesting land, and then ended the walk at a plot of unused land as a symbol of intent to occupy the land.  We had a much lower turnout than expected because many farmers threatened their workers by saying they would be fired and evicted out of their homes if they attended the march.  One farmer went as far as stealing the keys from a bus we rented to pick up farm workers so that they could not attend. There were still over 100 people there and I think we at least raised awareness of the issue! 

 

Besides that, there is nothing much new here! It's still pretty chilly and wet on this side of the pond so enjoy the warm summer weather at home! I am missing it! 

Gelukkig Vroue se Dag!

Today is a national holiday here in South Africa - Women's Day! To wrap up the long four day weekend, myself and two friends took a leisurely hike up a nearby mountain.  It was absolutely beautiful today, not a cloud in the sky and mid 70s. Just a perfect winter day right? 

I spent most of this weekend in Cape Town with the other two American interns from Women on Farms Project.  We had to go out to farms Friday and Saturday to conduct focus groups and surveys on women's health care access. The focus groups and surveys are not my project so I just got to spend the days playing with the farm children. They go crazy when you pull out a camera! Friday night we ate at an amazing Ethiopian restaurant and went out, Saturday night we were exhausted so we rented a few movies. Sunday we went to a place called Mzoli's which is basically a butchery in the townships that became huge during the World Cup last year. Now it is the place to be on Sundays and was thus packed but a good time nonetheless!

 

In other news I started another project at work. I will still be working with the women's mushroom cooperatives but I am now also developing a ten session course on gender equality for grade 8 learners. The sessions will be an hour long each and will focus on issues such as South African rights, gender based violence, child abuse, responsibility, decision making, and opportunities post-school and off the farm. We plan on going into 5 or 6 schools and teaching 30 students in each school for the time being.  

All in all things are going great here! I keep reading bad news on the US economy but for whatever reason, the worse the economy is over there, the more the exchange rate goes up in my favor! I'm loving it! You can actual watch the rand per dollar exchange rate increase by the hour lately!

Well, check out my picasa site - I posted some more pictures! And lastly, anyone want to donate $2,500 to me so I can come home this weekend and go bridesmaid dress fitting with my cousin?!?! Let me know!