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.