Report 3 - Welcome to Africa

Cape Town, November 23, 2009

Monday the 16^th of November I have had an experience, which has had quite an impact on me. On my way back to the hostel a man and woman have mugged me. Most of my family and friends probably heard about it already and therefore I’d also like to share my experience on my blog.

For a few weeks I have been member of a target-shooting club, located on walking distance from the school. On the Monday I’d been going to practise and at 4:30 PM I was on my way back to Littlewood hostel, walking on my own for the boy that usually joins me was sick that day. On my way I pass a guy carrying a 1,5 meter stick and I hear him shout something at me. I just ignore the chap and continue walking. He comes running after me though and tries hard to start a conversation, saying it’s unnecessary to ignore people, he would never harm anyone and he's a friend of the community. Sincerely not expecting someone to run after me and to start talking like this I didn’t have a clue how to respond and being worried about the stick he’s carrying, I just decide to be friendly and not to upset him. He’s a coloured man, somewhere in his mid-thirties (I think) and introduces himself as Jarin. He starts an entire conversation, wants to know about me, tells about himself, suggests I should join him to church some day and I definitely needed to meet his sister. She was single again and I made a good chance to hook up with her, he told me. At that stage I thought he was just a weird, but harmless fellow and figured he’d leave sooner or later if I’d just stay friendly. He called for his sister, which joined us. Strangely enough however, she was Caucasian. They ask me where I stay, I tell them I was on my way back to hostel and they ask if they can walk with. Uncertain how to respond I agree and they walk with me up the road leading to Littlewood. Once we reach a more quiet area away from the crowds, the friendly conversation is becoming a little unfriendly and they begin to implement that I am insulting them by walking home that quickly. At that point I finally start to realise what the true intentions of these people are. Obviously too late by then. Jarin demands from me to show my apologies and he starts threatening me. Hitting his stick on the ground he says to me the stick won’t break but it will crack me. He tells me he’s a gangster, member of the “26” gang and shows me his tattoos. He ensured me that his mates could be there in 2 minutes if I’d make him angry. He could protect me however if I’d show my apologies and wouldn’t start to be cheap on him. Eventually I give him my cash (± €30) and fear that he’ll also be taking the watch I’m wearing. To my relieve however he doesn’t take it and Jarin and his “sister” finally leave me alone.

Thinking back on this incident I’m glad I nothing serious happened. The boys at the hostel and the teachers have been very supporting, which was very comforting. It bothers me however how easily they tricked me into this and that I didn’t see the thing coming when I could still prevent it from happening. When looking back now I realise it was so obvious it was going to happen. I’ll just consider it as a harsh “welcome to Africa” and a lesson for the rest of my stay.

Report 2 - Start at Wynberg

Cape Town, October 28^th, 2009

It is now week 7 of my stay in Cape Town. The first two have been holidays and now I’ve spent almost 4 weeks as a staff-member at Wynberg Boys’ High School. During the last few days of vacation I had become very excited about my time at school. To be honest I had no idea what to expect from neither school nor the hostel, which I would move in to. What follows are my first impressions at one of Cape Town’s most traditional boys’ schools.

During the weekdays I stay at hostel Littlewood, sharing a room with Calum. Life at the hostel is much better than I expected. Served dinner every evening, nice breakfasts, our room is being cleaned and laundry is taken care of. No complains at all. The downside I quickly discovered on my first day of school. 6:30 – bell rings to wake up the boys. 6:40 – bell rings, all boys must be out of bed. 6:45 – bell rings, last warning for boys still in bed. 6:55 – bell rings, 5 minutes ‘till breakfast. 7:00 – bell rings, breakfast. 7:40 – bell rings, boys must leave to go to school. And this happens 5 times a week.

Everyday I am expected to attend at school at 7:50, formally dressed (collared shirt and tie), to witness the teachers meeting. Lessons start at 8 o’clock. At school I was expecting a lot of guidance from teachers showing me around and explaining what was expected from me. To my surprise however this didn’t appear to be the case. Mr. Richardson invited me in his office to have a talk with him. He explained me that I now was considered a staff-member and therefore would be treated as an adult. Also would I be expected to be individual and to find my own way at school, but most importantly not to be bored. With other words: look for jobs, but don’t expect too much help. During my first weeks at school this was quite hard for me and sometimes it still is. I have been talking to many teachers and tried to find out where I could be useful and which teachers I would be able to help out. Fortunately are most of the teachers very friendly to me and am I pretty well accepted as a staff-member. When I tell about my interests in science and maths I usually get surprised reactions and even more surprised when I tell that I don’t play rugby or cricket. As it appears I am the first gap-year to be actually keen on academics rather than on sport. Some teachers are therefore very enthusiastic about my stay. During school hours I am asked to do a lot of admin. Beside that I am free to see where I can be useful. Since the end of the year is approaching many projects and programs in which I could be involved are rounding of. Therefore some days can be very quiet, in which I’m not doing that much, where as other days can be very busy.

Wynberg Boys’ High School is different from any Dutch high school in many ways. The most striking point for me however was the attitude from the boys towards the staff. When walking through the hallways I’m often greeted: “Good day, sir”. Boys always call me sir and when I enter a classroom during a lesson the entire class stands until the teacher allows them to take a seat again. Another difference is how valuable Wynberg considers traditions. All the boys wear uniforms. However they do not just wear it. During the past few weeks I discovered that most of the boys wear their Wynberg clothing with pride. Pupils are actually proud of the school they go to. Some other examples are the big assemblies in which the headmaster will talk to the boys from stage and the great amount of awards that are given for outstanding achievements in sports or academics.

Momentarily I’m trying to get more and more involved with projects and activities at school that gain my interest. During school hours I’m starting to assist with drama classes, the life-science teacher would like to involve me in a biology club, I will attend during practical science classes and I can do some tutoring. Also when the lessons are finished I’m getting more and more occupied. The fact that I neither play rugby nor cricket is sometimes a problem for these sports are very big at Wynberg. However I now provide my assistance with basketball and tennis matches. I do also accompany the Wynberg chess team on their games. Beside the sports, I found that there are plenty activities provided in the neighbourhood. Since last week I started target shooting with air rifles, Wynberg organises a scuba diving course that I’ll join and I’m planning on starting surfing at one of Cape Town’s stunning beaches.

To conclude I would say that I have so far experienced a sometimes difficult, but overall interesting and challenging start at Wynberg. Slowly I’m trying to find my place at the school grounds and with time I discover more and more wonderful things to spend my time on. Also in Cape Town there is still a lot to discover for me. I keep on saying that it is a huge city and there are many places I’d still like to visit. I look forward to the remainder of the year and I’m trying to get the most out of the time that’s still ahead.

Report 1 - first 2 weeks

Cape Town, 29 September 2009

10 days so far have passed since the day I arrived at the Cape Town airport, late on a Saturday evening. During this 1½ week I’ve been overwhelmed by new impressions, met dozens of new people and I’m still busy getting used to the South African life. Within this first edition of the blog I will describe what the first days of a Dutchman in Cape Town have been like.

The KLM flight from Amsterdam took 11 hours. As agreed by e-mail, family Lok was waiting at the airport to take me to their home. For the coming 9 months, they will be my host family and I’ve been assured that I will always be welcome alt their home during the weekends and holidays. The family consists of father Victor, mother Sharon and their two children Ryan (18) and Megan (14). Ryan is now finishing his last year at Wynberg Boys’ High School – the school where I will be working – and will be going on a gap-year to Holland in January.

Immediately the week after my arrival I would be joining the grade 10 (4e klas) on their camp organised from Monday ‘till Wednesday. Therefore I was taken to the hostel where I will be staying during the weekdays on the Sunday before. The hostel is called Littlewood and is one of the several hostels that are connected to Wynberg. Here I met Calum. He’s a Scottish boy who’s on the same kind of gap-year as I am and I will be sharing my room with him. I must say that I was very glad that he was around, so that he could show me around, introduce me to some people and I would have somebody to talk to. The pupil boys that live at Littlewood are a mix of white and coloured kids, varying in age. At first sight they seemed to me like a bunch of out of control wildebeests. However, I noticed that once you get to talk with a few, they are actually very well mannered and polite as they introduce themselves and show interest. I still have a very difficult time ahead learning all the names of the boys, especially the hard-to-pronounce African names.

The camp itself in many ways differed from my expectations, mainly because most of the tasks that I was usually assigned during the camps in Holland had already been taken care of by a specially hired staff. The Boys were staying at a campground with one big hall in the middle and surrounded by dorms containing 12 beds each. 5 teachers joined the camp to look after the boys, 3 maids took care of all the cooking and the activities were organised by an entertainer. So, basically there was barely anything expected from me. The thing that amazed me most however is the way the pupils are being treated during these camps. Over all the boys and the teachers were quite close in the way they treat each other. However, when it comes to regulations, the teachers can be very strict. Just two examples:

1) The first thing the teachers asked me to do after the arrival at the campground was to do a bag search as soon the boys gathered in the main hall. Simply open all their bags, forget about privacy and just look for alcohol and cigarettes. The few cigarettes we found were taken by the teachers, which they then smoked themselves. The owners of the forbidden goods were reported the school’s headmaster.

2) For the boys, 10:00 PM was bedtime. However, boys are still boys and not every dorm managed to be quiet after the fixed time. Here the teachers have their special “ways” to punish pupils that don’t consider it necessary to immediately go to sleep. One of the teachers would first warn a few times, but then just storm into the room and order everybody outside and stand in a row faced to the wall, the kids only wearing a t-shirt even though the temperature had dropped to ± 10 °C. The teachers would just make them stand there, easily for 20 minutes without allowing them to say a word. Those who were still cheeky after these 20 minutes were asked to do 30 push-ups, surrounded by a laughing group of teachers and prefixes (4+’ers). If the push-ups didn’t went fast enough, 30 sit-ups were added. While I was watching this happening overruled by amazement, one of the teachers came to me and said: “Welcome to Africa”.

The rest of the week and the week after were holidays, which I spend home with the family Lok. The family looks after me very well. Ryan takes me out and Victor shows me around in Cape Town. What I noticed is the breathtaking environment Cape Town is surrounded with. Many beautiful mountains are to be found around Cape Town, among which of course the famous table mountain, partly covered with bright green vegetation. Baboons, whales, hippos and seals are all to be found in Cape Town in the wild. Especially the baboons don’t seem to be afraid of humans at all. I’ve been to several look out spots and only then I realised how huge the city actually is. “Walking distance” doesn’t exist here. During my road trips I’ve seen the most luxury mansions, stunning beaches and huge shopping centres, but also the less fortunate part of Cape Town. The difference between the wealthy and the poor is devastating. Outside the city centres you will find many townships, where thousands of people live very close together in extremely poor conditions. Beggars and vendors stand at every traffic light junction.

For now I’m still enjoying the holidays. Ryan’s been teaching me the cricket rules, I’ve been taken to a rugby match and I am still exploring the many suburbs of Cape Town. I’m also trying to catch up some of the slang they speak around here and I’ve been able to speak Afrikaans to some people. It’s very funny, because to me the Afrikaans sounds like a little child trying to speak Dutch. Monday the 5^th, school starts again and I will start with my tasks. I am still very curious about the life at Wynberg and I wonder what my tasks are going to be like. I am sure I will find out soon.