Generation Skillz and ToC planning

Most of my time this last week was spent in the Cape Town office, which was certainly a change-of-pace from working in the Townships. The Curriculum and Training team (which is where I’m interning) is gearing up to host four ToC’s (training of coaches) in the month of September, so we’ve been pretty busy getting all of the logistical aspects squared away. I’ll be working with some of the other interns to make sure that the Training team and the Programs team have everything they need to host the first ever “Generation Skillz” (our new pilot program curriculum for high school kids) ToC event.

As a side project (although its taken up a majority of my time this past week) I’ve also been working on designing a small portion of our new “Development Training” curriculum. “Development Training” is essentially continuing education to help our more advanced coaches stay focused and gain a better/deeper understanding of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa. The section that I have been assigned to work on is called “HIV Experts”. Basically this exercise is designed to create a discussion-based learning environment about HIV, its driving forces, and some of the science behind transmission rates. I’m hopeful that the activity will create a “Socratic” learning environment, where coaches and trainers can engage in an open dialogue of the primary forces driving HIV in South Africa. Accomplishing this task however is a little more difficult than I initially anticipated. I’m going to try and post the activity once its been approved but for now I’ll try and provide a brief synopsis of what we’re working on!

HIV prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa is a complex issue, yet research has shown that HIV transmission rates are directly correlated with four primary interrelated behavioral risks. These behavioral risks are certainly not the only means of HIV proliferation in sub-Saharan Africa, yet they are doing more than anything else to spread the HIV epidemic. In no particular order they are: Multiple concurrent partners, age-disparate relationships, alcohol abuse, and gender-based violence. While these four issues may seem unrelated, they are in fact highly integrated. Each risk factor is also a function of the other three, and the highly interrelated web that they form is one of the key lynch-pins in the battle against HIV.

For a better idea of how this exercise actually plays out, I have provided a brief example of what I’m working on. Its designed in a fairly linear fashion. Essentially we start with a FACT, then raise a series of QUESTIONS based on that fact. The “notes” that follow are designed to help the facilitator steer the discussion in the appropriate direction.

Fact: Last year it is estimated that over 500,000 women in South Africa were raped…

Question: How does rape affect the HIV epidemic? What role does rape play in the concurrent partner equation? How does “viral load” effect the proliferation of the disease through rape?

Discussion Points: Make sure the relationship between rape, concurrent partners, and viral load (essentially risk of transmission) is clearly defined. Participants should be able to understand the basics of transmission as a function of viral load AND concurrent partners. They should also be familiar with the relationship that time and rate-of-infection play in transmission.

Well that’s just one example. The Fact/Questions are ordered in a logical progression, this one is taken from the middle so it might seem a little out-of-place.

Alright, I’ll have more posts about Cape Town later today. I haven’t had internet for the past week, so its been a little challenging to get these up. Here are some pictures from my walk to work. Its okay, you can be jealous...

Later.

Work, Gordon Street and CT

So I’ve officially been living in Cape Town for about two weeks, and I’m only now beginning to understand a small fraction of the unique energy that is Cape Town (streets/roads are another story entirely though, I’ve almost been hit by about a dozen cars, usually from looking the wrong way when I cross the street!). Still, despite this daily game of dyslexic frogger that I play while walking to work, the experience thus far has been amazing. For this first couple of weeks I’ve been spending most of my time in the townships, at both the ‘Football For Hope Center’ and various schools in Khayelitsha and Gugulethu. Getting to work in the townships has been awesome and I’ve gotten to meet some incredible people in my first week on the job. Tony Gubesa aka “The Man” has been my coach/tutor in terms of both African culture and township life. He pretty much keeps me in-line, lets me know when my dance moves are out of control (we spend a lot of time dancing in the townships, and my rhythm, or lack there of, has gotten me banned from more than one dance circle) and basically helps me navigate all aspects of the job. I’m going to try and interview him later in the year and hopefully upload the video to my blog. Tony is an incredibly articulate and insightful guy, I’ve had the opportunity to see him speak a few times (in a public forum) and he is definitely a wealth of knowledge on all aspects of AIDS, AFRICA and GRS.

Quick tangent but I feel that I need to discuss the dancing situation here. So, I’ve never really been a big dancer, I don’t know exactly why…actually that’s not true, I have a phenomenal lack of rhythm (thanks Mom and Dad). When I dance in public I’m basically a musical hazard. Unfortunately that doesn’t really fly here in Africa. Every time I go to the schools for an intervention, I have to introduce myself, then jump in the middle of a circle and dance, which is actually my “real” introduction. I have yet to not get completely laughed off the stage, but I will say that I’m improving. Lunga, between fits of laughter the other day, told me that I’m no longer the worst dancer he’s ever seen…but still pretty horrible.

Okay, now back to Cape Town. Now that the realization I’m going to be here for a year has finally set in, I’ve started to try and get more involved in other aspects of the city. Jamison Merrill (a fellow member of the house’s northwest contingent, along with Margaret Owen) has convinced me to try Yoga, so I’ve joined a local Yoga studio with some other members of the house. I’m hoping the increased flexibility will directly correlate to an improved performance in the dance circles. I’ve also joined a local soccer team, which is pretty cool. And last but not least, I am going to finally learn to play the guitar. There’s a guitar here, left by a former intern, so Charlotte Hastings (another one of my housemates) and I have decided to finally learn how to play. Side note, not having a television or Internet is actually really awesome for learning new skills/personal growth/getting work done. Reading is a little tricky here in Africa, I got a library card but the selection isn’t great. If anyone has any good books ideas let me know, used bookstores, from what I’ve heard, are the way to go.

Finally, I need to talk about the food situation here. I’ve been trying to eat as many new, different and exciting foods as possible. I haven’t quite mustered up the courage to try sheep’s head (just fyi, they call it Smiley) but I’ve made some promises and eventually I’ll have to bite the bullet. Other than that, there are a lot of traditional African and Indian restaurants by my house. The food is always delicious and I’m just trying to find new varieties and combinations everyday. Also, on another side note, avocadoes are so cheap here (and when I say cheap I mean about 20 cents a piece) I pretty much put them on everything, even things they probably shouldn’t be put on.

Should also mention that no shops are open on Sundays in Cape Town. Well, that’s not entirely true. The only café (with internet access) that’s open on the weekends is…the Jewish Museum of South Africa. So yes, every Sunday to get my work ready for the week to come, I post-up in the gift shop/café of the Jewish Museum of South Africa. Kind-of ironic but also hilarious.

Also, the pictures that I’m putting up (a little later because we're running low on bandwidth) are from my house, our street (Gordon Street) and my walk to work, along with a few random shots of my roomies.

Later.

My new job...a not so short introduction

I am now officially working/interning for Grassroot Soccer, Inc. The first few days have been pretty exciting, I’ve spent most of my time trying not to screw anything up/not make a fool of myself, learning about the organization AND more specifically, understanding how I will be assisting GRS in the year to come. Technically speaking I am a Global Curriculum and Training intern, which means my job is to…well, to be honest, I don’t exactly know what my job will be. I have a pretty good idea (a basic framework) but as everyone at GRS says, the unwritten rule of NGO’s is that you should expect the unexpected. So with that in mind I’m going to try and paint a slightly clearer picture of what (I think) my job will be. Unfortunately, to do this I will need to delve a little deeper into 1) how GRS operates and 2) how our programs/curriculum are implemented in the field.

GRS is based on a relatively simple principle: that children learn best from role models within their community. Traditional approaches in HIV/AIDS education have been ineffective in sub-Saharan Africa for several reasons. Chiefly among these has been an inability to deliver critical information in a culturally appropriate and socially acceptable forum. What this means (to make the point a little more bluntly) is that having a bunch of recent American college graduates teaching HIV/AIDS in the townships of South Africa is about as effective as, say…me teaching a computer science class at MIT (for those of that don’t know, I’m terrible with computers/technology in general.) To expand on that point a little further (based primarily on my limited observations of the townships) there are several key factors that prevent “outsiders” aka ME or my fellow interns, from successfully disseminating HIV/AIDS information. For starters, most of these kids, at least in the townships of Cape Town, speak Xosha as their primary language. Secondly, adapting and assimilating into township life is not only daunting but also, to a certain degree, impossible. Finally, AIDS, as it is in many parts of the world, is a very sensitive subject and navigating the stigmas and cultural associations connected with AIDS can be a virtual minefield, even the most experienced AIDS education practitioners. This however, is what makes GRS unique…

GRS uses local community members within the townships of South Africa as the primary vehicle for delivering our HIV/AIDS curriculum. By teaching/training local community members, with the skills, knowledge and leadership abilities to effectively communicate our “Skillz” (“Skillz” is the sweet name for the GRS youth-targeted HIV/AIDS curriculum) intervention programs. This is essentially where I come in. As a Global Curriculum and Training Intern it is my job to help train local community members to become “GRS Coaches.” GRS Coaches represent the primary (and most important) layer of the Grassroot Soccer organization. Local community members are trained by “Master Coaches” at TOC’s or “Training of Coaches” events. For those of you who don’t know (which is pretty much everyone) Master Coaches are typically our best and most experienced coaches. They are familiar with every aspect of the program, especially how it is delivered at a “grassroots” level.

TOC’s typically happen about once a month at various sites across South Africa. The four Master Coaches that I work with (Derek, Tumi, Allister (Alli) and Tony) conduct these sessions, leading the trainings and helping to ensure that the coaches are well prepared to deliver the Skillz curriculum.
During this first week I have been working very closely with Tony and Allister. Aside from administering TOC’s another vital step (in the ever evolving battle of “quality control”) is developing a system to evaluate the effectiveness of new coaches. To help facilitate and support this evaluation process, GRS conducts CSV’s or Coaching Support Visits. A CSV is a formal evaluation, where a CTC (Community Training Coordinator…basically a more experienced coach but not a Master Coach) sits-in on an intervention (that’s what GRS calls the Skillz sessions where the coach is delivering the curriculum to the children) and evaluates his abilities. This evaluation is, despite how it sounds, not intended to be a stressful process. Usually the CTC is there to offer advice and suggestions for new coaches. Generally speaking, from my limited experience with CSV’s, new coaches are very receptive to these visits and welcome both the praise and advice of the CTC’s and Master Coaches. The advice is intended to help further develop and improve the quality of curriculum delivery. The picture that I have attached is from an Intervention and CSV at Khayelitsha. The other two are of Khaye. I didn't actually take them, someone else did but I thought they were great illustration of Khaye so I wanted to put them up.

Alright, well I guess that can serve as a slight introduction into what I’ll be doing for the next twelve months. I’ll have some more posts later this week about what I’ve been doing in Cape Town, playing soccer in the townships, eating some crazy new foods and hopefully some videos of these interventions/CSV’s.

Later.

Khayelitsha Pictures

Here are some pictures from my most recent trip to Khayelitsha. On a fundamental level I think I'm still processing most of the experience. Its hard to believe (especially coming from the US) that these two worlds can exist simultaneously, and yet operate on such diametrically opposing ends of the economic spectrum. The last picture is from the Football for Hope Center that I discussed in my last posting. Hope you enjoy.

Cape Town, Lions Head and Khayelitsha

So, now that I’m officially an expatriate here in South Africa, it’s probably time to say a few words about where I live, who I’m living with, and most importantly, what Cape Town is like. SPOILER ALERT, Cape Town is Amaaazing.

For the next 12 months or so I will be living in the Gardens District of Cape Town. Cape Town is a relatively small city, geographically speaking, and the Gardens District is located in the Southwest corner, right beneath Lions Head Mountain (which I woke up at sunrise to hike with my housemates, I'm second from the left in the jumping silhouette picture).

Our Apartment is actually very nice. It’s a two story building with two bedrooms in the basement and three bedrooms on the main floor. The five girls are all living upstairs and the guys have been secluded to, what we’re affectionately calling, the “Man Cave” in the basement. Unfortunately, the only bathroom for the three of us is located in my room. Obviously due to this floorplan/layout defect, one of the first (and most essential) purchases for the new house was a scented candle and air freshener (the ”Cave” doesn’t get a lot of airflow). Other than that the house is terrific. We have some attractive South African girls that live in the flat above us, a driveway for our intern car and a great deck for perfecting my braai skills (traditional South African Barbecue).

Finally on Wednesday we went out to Khayelitsha, the largest township in South Africa. Khayelitsha is located about 30 minutes from Cape Town proper but for all intents and purposes, it could be on another planet. For starters, the sheer immensity of Khayelitsha is impossible to describe. The last census was conducted in 2002 and placed the population around 1-2 million people. I’ll post some pictures later on but for now, you’ll just have to take my word for it. We also got to spend the afternoon with the Football for Hope Center (a donation by FIFA for health services, education and counseling in the Townships). FIFA aka Federation International Football Association, started a campaign called “Twenty 10.” Essentially, FIFA is planning on building twenty Football for Hope Centers (FFHC) in various African countries beginning in 2010. These centers are primarily designed to be educational institutions, providing children and young adults with health education and life skills in a fun, activity based learning environment. The NGO that I’m working for (GRS) was awarded the contract as the implementing partner for the Cape Town Football for Hope Center. This means that for the next five years, GRS will be in charge of all aspects of the center, from its curriculum and programs to the M&E (Monitoring and Evaluation) and project analysis.

Alright well I'll try and post some pictures of Khayelitsha later on. I officially begin work on Monday so I'm sure I'll have a lot more information on my position within this organization then. Later.

Orientation, training and the plane ride from hell

I am writing this post from the "Mother City" of South Africa, Cape Town. It's hard to believe that I left Seattle over a week ago. I've traveled so many miles and missed so much sleep that the last ten days have felt more like a long extended summer afternoon...with intermittent naps. There is so much to see and so much to do, I'm already getting excited for my work and life in this incredible city. The weather is fantastic, evidenced by my sunburn on the first day. But I don't want to get ahead of myself, so I'll save the details of Cape Town, my apartment, and beginning work for another post.
I arrived last Wednesday bright and early (6:33am) in Boston to begin the journey to Hanover, NH. I was wandering around the airport, looking very lost, when Emma Carbery (a fellow GRS intern) pleasantly asked me if I was with Grassroot Soccer. Apparently I look like a tourist even in the United States. From there we caught the bus to Hanover and officially began training. The first two days were pretty intense. We hiked out to a log cabin in the New Hampshire forest to spend two days in a sweaty, proximity induced state of bonding. By the end of our stay in the log cabin, everyone was sweaty (some of us more so than others), tired (again some of us more so than others, I apologize again for my snoring if any of my fellow interns are reading this) and excited for the year to come. At this point I also want to give a big shout-out to Zack, Elise and Leah for putting on a fantastic orientation/training “mini-camp.” Our training concluded with a going-away dinner, we were introduced to the Board members (I got to meet Ethan Zohn, who won the Survivor show) and met past interns, current GRS staff and other people that have been influential in helping this vision become a reality. And finally, after a good meal, a little post training drinking, and bonding around the campfire, we headed out the next morning for AFRICA!

I had heard a lot about how long the plane ride was, there were rumors among the interns about the length of the flight, some said 14, others said 15. In the end the flight was 18 hours from Washington, DC to Johannesburg. And just for those of you who are interested in coming to visit me (spoiler alert) the flight blows. Although, in all fairness, I think my trip had a slightly unique twist. It started out normal enough, around hour six though, the man sitting to my left, who was from Senegal and spoke no English, started poking me in the chest. I opened my eyes and he was furiously pointing to his head. After a little while, the man’s son, who was sitting in the row in front of us, asked me why I stole his father’s fez (little hat like thing). I had no idea what they were talking about, but this old man was convinced that I had stolen his hat. We yelled at each other for a while, neither of us understanding the other until suddenly the man poked me really hard in the chest. Now at this point, I’d been on the flight for six hours and hadn’t gotten any sleep in like three days, so I was a bit irritable. I really didn’t want my first cultural interaction to be a fight, but I guess my “Americanism” got the best of me. And so after his third firm poke to my chest, I swiftly responded by giving him the Heisman stiff arm right to the sternum. I figured that would quiet the situation down, unfortunately I forgot to take into consideration that this man was traveling with his whole family. When about eight of the man's sons stood up all around me, I immediately regretting my decision to go with the stiff arm (Note to self: Try to pantomime a more diplomatic approach next time). I was in the midst of looking for an escape route, when luckily, the stewardess came over and sorted the problem out. (Editors note: His hat fell off his head while he was sleeping) Still for some reason the Senegalese gentleman never really took a liking to me and for the remainder of the flight, we had a silent elbow battle for the arm-rest.

Well, I think that’s all for now, I will write a post later about our first week of training here in Cape Town, seeing our office building, exploring the city and going out to the townships. Later.

p.s. I will post some pictures soon!

Leaving for New Hampshire, then on to Cape Town

Well, here we are. I'm down to my final hours in Seattle. I'll be flying to New Hampshire later tonight, meeting up with my fellow interns in Hanover, NH for a few days of training and orientation at Dartmouth College. From there I'm headed to Cape Town, South Africa to begin my new life. But...before I leave (and take a little break from the blogosphere) I wanted to give a quick shout-out to all of the people who have donated to GRS. I'm so excited for the challenging and rewarding experiences to come, yet none of this would have been possible without the support and generosity of my friends, family and colleagues. So as I prepare myself for the journey to come, it seems only fitting to send out one last THANK YOU.