Four months in South Africia

Sarah described her work at Ikamva Labantu "The Future of our Nation".  Ikamva Labantu started as an anti-apartheid movement and over the years has come to offer many services, including programs for preschoolers, foster children and parents, seniors, youth and people with disabilities. Sarah spent all of her time in the foster services sector where she researched, planned and implemented two out of three behaviour management sessions for foster mothers. Here, she used research and her own experience with difficult kids to present principles and strategies to deal with challenging behaviours in foster homes.  These women dedicate their lives to caring for children who otherwise might not have homes. They care for up to 25 children in their homes with few resources.
Ryan described his work at the South African Environment and Education Project (SAEP). SAEP leads a variety of outdoor activities including extracurricular activities such as English enrichment, tutoring, debate club, arts, entertainment, day hikes and overnight educational trips for township students. SAEP's initial focus on environmental education was expanded to meet the academic needs of children in some of Cape Town's poorest informal settlements. They work under three umbrella programs: early childhood development, high school support and enrichment programs and "gap year" program that assists post matric students (high grad graduates from high school) with receiving acceptance into university.
They are a very small not-for-profit-organization operated by four full time staff and numerous, often transient volunteers. www.seap.org

While both Sarah and Ryan were both busy with their placements they also took time on the weekends and at the end of their stay to travel around SA. Their recommended places to see were:

1) Capetown
2) Stellenbosch - South Africa is well known for its wines. In particular, the western cape region which encompases Cape Town and The Winelands is world renown for its wine tasting and wine production. Hosting more than 120 wineries, Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Paarl is a popular place for both locals and tourists to visit. In particular this region boasts the worlds finest Pinotage wines.

3) Kruger National Park - a safari adventure where you can see the "big five": elephants, lions, buffalo, rhinos and leopards.

4) Tsitsikama National Park - a hiking spot where Sarah & Ryan found an entirely isolated water fall, where you could swim in the fresh water pond below the falls, overlooking the ocean

5) Bulungula - situated in a small village within an area called the Wild coast, which is still very rich in Xhosa culture. Bulungula is a community owned lodge, which allowed Sarah & Ryan to become better acquainted with the Xhosa culture.

For Photos click on Africa