Lion's Head Friday Evening Hike

Because this amazing rock feature is literally in our backyard (about a 10 minute drive) a group of us took the opportunity to do an evening hike one Friday after work. It ended up being a full moon which meant that more people had the same idea. We started up the path at a quarter to seven pm to watch the sunset. To avoid the crowd we found some rocks off to the left near the top to enjoy the sunset and hang out. A great Friday evening!

Looking down at Camps Bay

Looking at Sea point

A quick sunset

A look up to the top of lion's head

Portsville- cottage trip for the weekend

So randomly one Friday a couple of the roomates and some other GRS folks decided that we should plan a weekend trip at 4:30 pm in the afternoon. Nothing like late planning when you need a place to stay for 6+ and 2 rental cars and if anyone knows South Africa service...nothing is easy to figure out if it requires outside help. Luckliy Jamison found a random cottage in the middle of no where (lovingly called Portsville) about 2 and a half hours inland from Cape Town and decided to book it on a whim.

We lost some companions due to last minute planning, but 11 am on Saturday 6 of us (Laura, Charlie, me, Jamo, Hooter and Justine) left Cape Town for our adventure. After passing through Portsville to pick up some groceries (note that on a Saturday the 2 block town was packed with people who were 90% already drunk at 1 pm in the afternoon), an hour on a dirt road that required you to drive 10 mph...we arrived at our cottage...in the middle of no where...

Terrain of the drive

View of the valley from the mountain we had to pass over to get to the cottage

Upon arriving at the amazing cottage the boy ran out of the car to jump in the random lake that was right by the cottage. Me, having watched too many animal planets before I left the states I opted to observe from the shore. The water was frigid as well. After settling in by about 3 pm we all decided that a good hike of the rocky terrain was in order. We packed backpacks full of drankwankels (what they call alcohol beverages here) and started off on a 2 hour + hike...

The green roof is the cabin and this is the view they look out onto...amazing

View from the cottage

Another view from the cottage

At the top of the rock we called "Pride Rock"...this scenery looked like it was was stratight out of lion king...minus the lions.

We headed back and barbecued and just took in the night. Early the next morning we all went for a swim and then decided we should do another hike. This hike proved a little more challenging and there were a couple of moments where we all joked that our mother's would kill us (in the middle of no where, have no clue what lives out here and if anyone gets hurt we are screwed...sorry Mom). We successfully made it back to the cottage with little more than a few scrapes and a good sunburn. It was so nice to be out in the middle of no where and just have time to think and bask in the sun. We all headed back to Cape Town late sunday in time for our soccer pick up game. A great weekend had by all and only cost around $65.

Cool shot while driving...the mountain range was continuous since we left Cape Town

Llanddudno

The weather has been up and done since arriving in Cape Town. One moment it is sunny and then the next second it is pouring rain and then sunny again all in a 10 minute time frame. But...fear not beach season is almost here!!  In order to get into the summer (weird for me seeing as on this particular Sunday it was snowing in Denver) spirit a group of us (current house mates and visitors from Jburg) decided to take a Sunday drive to one of the more exclusive beaches within 20 minutes outside Cape Town called Llandudno. We left in the middle of a rain storm to drive there and it ended up being super nice...no thanks to the jeans and sweatshirts we all had on.

Not too shabby of an everyday view

Reminds me of a beach from a romance novel

Rebecca (Ribs), Katie (Jburg), Laura (Lo), Charlie and Ben (Jburg)

A look from the water back up the land

So not prepared for the beach until someone discovered an unopened cold six pack in the car

A look at Khayelitsha

The Wednesday of my first week in Cape Town (10/19) I was able to go visit one of Grassroot Soccer's main sites in Cape Town and where the Football for Hope Centre (FFH) is located. Khayelitsha is Cape Town's largest township and one of the fastest growing townships in South Africa. It is literally about 20 minutes from where I live on the N2. One minute you are in the city and the next minute you are on a highway that is surrounded by a township made up of a mixture of concrete low building and shanty houses that stretch as far as you can see with little to no street signs. The FFH centre was the first centre to be built by Fifa as part of its world cup 20 centres for 2010. Fifa put up the money to build the center, but GRS manages and runs the centre.

Mosaic that the kids from the township helped make during construction

View from upstairs office

View from upstairs office

The turf field

My favorite shot

At the FFH in Khayelitsha, GRS was running its Skillz Street curriculum. This curriculum is targeted at young girls in the surrounding community aged 12-17 that uses soccer to instill knowledge about HIV risks/preventions, sexual and gender violence, and a number of other life skills lessons. More than anything it brings together about 100 girls from different schools every Wednesday to the centre for a good 3 months where local coaches from the township build relationships and are able to make a direct impact in their lives. At the FFH centre there are a number of other community programs run such as photography, pre-school program (that I hope to help out with), community soccer league, etc.

Skillz Street Program

It was great to see the community centre first hand and how lively it was from the youngest to the oldest participants. I loved being immersed in the culture and getting to see how my work would help to impact the lives of the people I was getting to see first hand. This little girl in the picture below kept wanting me to take her picture. She is one of the local little girls who hangs around the centre everyday. The children love to take pictures and have their pictures taken. At one point she wanted the camera so bad she grabbed it out of my hands (good thing I was paying attention).

These kids kept getting kicked out during the practice, but kept jumping the wall to get back in...I was supposed to keep them out, but let's just say I was a sucker :).

Me and Sinhle (local 9 year old that every person at the centre has befriended and literally hangs out everyday...he loves to play music on the computers, Skye people and watch YouTube videos of his favorite Barcelona player...)

I will be out at Khayelitsha many more times in the next year, but wanted everyone to see what it is about. Plenty more pictures to come! Please do not hesitate to email me if you want more detailed information on what all we do out at the centre. It really is all about the kids at the end of the day!

Welcome to Beautiful Cape Town

Week 1:

Day 1

I arrived into Cape Town on Friday, October 14th after a 9 hour flight to Heathrow, London, a 7 hour lay-over and a 11 hour flight. Two of my house mates were supposed to pick me up at 8 am, but I arrived through customs to find only 3 people in the waiting area. It was a very weird feeling to not have any foreign currency, no phone and no phone numbers to call. i did, however, have the address to where I was living so an hour later (I was holding out hope) as I was negotiating my cab fare two friendly faces popped around the corner. Boy was I glad to see them.

From there we drove to our humble abode...3c Gordon Street, Gardens, Cape Town, 8001. The house is basic at best and has been through 3 years of prior housing for GRS volunteers...needless to say it is not in the best condition. The location, however, is stellar. We are a 10-15 minute alk from the downtown office, 1 minutes from decent grocery stores and 5-10 minute walk to Long Street which is home to restaraunts and bars galore (don't worry mom).

The front of our house (we have the first 2 floors and the top is rented out)

Street in the Gardens (what the neighborhood is called in Cape Town of the Westerm Cape)

Looking up Gordon St. (table mountain is straight ahead)

Just around the corner from the house

Roommates side of the room

My fine twin bed with springs that stick through (very pleasant)

Lovely kitchen with a fridge that shuts on and off

Family room to hang out (note the coffee table of cinder blocks)

I was able to unpack, shower (which we all know I love) and then was asked to head into the Grassroot Soccer office for a quick meeting with my "boss" who was heading out of town on Monday of the next week to Johannesburg (Joburg). I ended up "getting" to sit through 3 meetings and left the office with the rest of my house mates at 5:30 pm. I made it to 11 pm hanging out with everyone until I passed out sitting on a chair in the living room while everyone pre-funked around me prior to heading out to Long St.

Day 2 and 3


The weekend was a blur as I tried to get settled, organized and learn the lay of the land (which I stil have a ways to go). On Sunday I made it to cathoclic mass at the local St. Mary's (go figure) which is a 10 minute walk down the street. After mass I went to a cool breakfast place called Buzz before heading to Camps Bay  to a beach call Clifton beach # 4 (supposedly #2 is the best).

View from the sand

Camps Bay and the beaches remind me of so. cal beaches- there are some nice house around there

Looking up from the beach- Lion's Head

After the beach we headed back to play some pick up soccer with GRS staff and other NGO staff based in Cape Town. It felt so good to play again. There are turf fields about 5 minutes away from our house (when I say 5 minutes away I mean walkin distance if you haven't caught on by now).

First week of work (Oct. 17-21, 2011)

To come shortly...

Packing...

So I know I have not yet posted much, but thought I would share with you all why packing took me so long... :).

Thank you to all who helped to get me ready, supported by efforts and contributed to my adventure. I am sitting in London on my way to Cape Town feeling good, but missing everyone already. More to come soon!

Why I need your support

I will be departing on a journey to Cape Town, South Africa for a year commitment with a non-profit organization called Grassroot Soccer. It started with a large "what if you did this" from my brother, random, fated connections that made the thought into a realization that led to many months of decision making (going back and forth multiple times in the same 5 minute frame), that thankfully led me to a British Airways October flight to Cape Town...and a few million other documents to seal the deal.

For me, this journey is my time to reset, to find out what makes me passionate on a daily basis and more than anything my time to make a difference in peoples lives who need it the most. I will be working for Grassroot Soccer, but have also committed to volunteering 1-2 days a week at a local children's orphanage. I will get to take care of 1-3 children each day I volunteer as they put it "simply do anything with the children that stimulates them."Volunteering at an orphanage has always been a calling of mine and this journey will finally enable me to fufill that desire.

Grassroot Soccer (GRS) is an international NGO that trains African soccer stars, coaches, teachers and peer educators in the world’s most HIV-affected countries to deliver an interactive HIV prevention and life skills curriculum to youth in order to provide them with the knowledge, skills and support to live HIV/AIDS-free.which uses the power of soccer in an innovative curriculum to educate African youth about their HIV/AIDS risk. GRS is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID, Nike, (RED), and many other global partners. As a GRS intern, I will be supporting local programs teams in five main sites as well as partner programs across South Africa in finance, accounting, budgeting, account and donor management. I will be able to utilize my current industry knowledge on the non-profit side.

That said, I am writing my first blog post to ask for your support in my journey. GRS suggests a minimum total fundraising goal of $10,000-$20,000 per intern. No matter the size of your donation – be it $5, $50, $500 or $5,000 – I am extremely appreciative of every gift given to help me reach this target. 


If you donate to GRS through the Google Checkout button on my blog page below, the funds will be used to directly support my work in Cape Town, South Africa. You may also send a check made payable to Grassroot Soccer with “Intern Name’s Internship” in the memo, to P.O. Box 712 Norwich, VT 05055. All donations to GRS, a registered 501©3, are tax deductible to the extent provided by law.

If you do not care about the tax rebate and would like to support me please feel free to send a check made payable directly to me with GRS in the memo to 2295 Orchard Valley Rd., Colorado Springs, CO. 80919 or feel free to use the pay pal donation button below. This money will allow me to directly control my own donations without having to go through GRS to be reimbursed.

Please continue to follow my blog throughout my year in Cape Town. I promise to only write about interesting happenings...and if they aren't interesting you can feel free to tell me that too. Looking forward to any and all visits as well.

Much love to all,

Kell