Now that all our holidaying is pretty much over (for a couple of weeks, at least!) we have gotten back into our routine here at Refilwe. We are finding that we are becoming more and more familiar with our surroundings: while in the beginning everything was new and different, now we are very used to how things are done around here. This post is really just an update on a few things that have been going on for us.
I’m sure it made the news over there (wherever ‘there’ is) that the ANC predictably won the national election 3 weeks ago. Jacob Zuma was inaugurated as president last Saturday, and he immediately went to work rearranging some of the ministries and their functions. In my opinionated opinion, he has made some positive changes and introduced ministries (such as a minstry of youth, a ministry of disability) which communicate more focused attention social development . Since South Africa became a democracy in 1994, Human Rights and development have theoretically been at the centre of all governance here. In practice the government has met several challenges in implementing its programs successfully- the economy is certainly the biggest challenge, as the less funding the government has from taxes, the less infrastructure it is able to build. The new government has the difficult job of leading South Africa through the financial crisis while at the same time battling the conundrum that economic growth improves social development, but social development is necessary to grow the economy. Let's hope they're headed in the right direction...
I recently started a counseling program with the students at Hands of Hope. I am currently meeting with 6 students individually, as well as working with a group of 6 together. The way I envision the program running I will meet with each student for one term, which means I have a designated number of sessions with each student. I studied counseling as part of my Social Work education, but this is the first time I have done it with real people! Naturally I have felt a little nervous about it, but has I have gotten into it I have realised that mostly the students are just enjoying the fact that get someone's full attention for an hour and want to talk the whole time!
Cliff has gone away this week. He and 8 others from Refilwe are attending a training run by ACAT for the week. On Sunday they traveled the 6 hours to the training facility and they will return on Friday evening. The week is going fairly quickly for us left behind- and of course we are making the most of 'girls nights' every evening!
The American Summer has begun, which means that college students are now on their 3 month break. Refilwe will see many teams from the US coming through for a few days to a couple of weeks at a time. These teams will do mostly short-term work: helping to build things, paint things, running programs for the kids during the holidays. It seems that this week is the beginning- we had 2 teams of 10 on site today! Things are going to be busy for the next couple of months!
Well, that's a general idea of our last couple of weeks! Catch you soon.
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