Cape Town

Greer McCormick Spring 2013

South Africa Education &Environment Project

Mission: The South African Education and EnvironmentProject (SAEP) empowers young people who are neglected bySouth Africa's education system. Through tutoring, enrichmentand support, we give impoverished learners the tools to reachtheir potential and uplift their communities.

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SAEP works in the township of Philippi,where over 50% of the population isunemployed. 82% of the employedpopulation earn between 0-R1600 amonth. (UCT Philippi profile, 2009)

My Role at SAEPFundraising & Media Team

Write news updates for the SAEPwebsite about upcoming

fundraisers, student spotlights, and events occurring within each

program

• Update social media sites suchas Facebook and Twitter with

pictures and stories

• Coordinate the writing of the2011-2012 Annual Report

Early ChildhoodDevelopment

Create a lesson plan for 5 to 6 yearold children

• Assist teachers with any of thedaily tasks, such as nap time, snack,lunch, and outdoor play

• Act as a liaison between theprincipals, teachers, and SAEPorganization

• Implement teacher trainingprograms in the form of curriculumdevelopment , fire drill safety, and nutrition

To be honest my biggest success with SAEP didn’t really haveanything to do with me, but I was fortunate enough to beincluded in their strategic planning meetings. I learned SOmuch about the organization in those two days. We wentthrough the entire history and I had had no idea how muchthe organization had listened to the people it was working

with. To me, that’s incredibly important. Not to compare, but Icome from a neighborhood that’s ridden with drugs and

poverty, but we have a ridiculous amount of politicians. But itdoesn’t really help. To hear of an organization that actuallylistens to the people its serving is so special. I left both those

meetings incredibly proud to volunteer for such anorganization.

SuccessesI will never forget those meetings and the timeline and thehistory because it spoke so much to me. I would love to runmy own nonprofit one day and SAEP’s story was so powerfulto me. I loved that they listened to the people. I had no ideathat Bulelani, a program supervisor, was such an impactfulplayer in the organization until that meeting. I love that hegrew up with SAEP and had a say in where the organizationwas going. I think in the future I’d love to have my own non-profit and I want it like SAEP. I want it to be something that

the people not only want, but support and need.

I had such an amazing time in Cape Town. I was really fortunatewith my internship. It was exactly what I wanted: a dual role whereI worked directly with children but also got to experience the

“behind the scenes” of a non-profit organization. Working with thechildren in Philippi was so much fun. They didn’t speak English, soit was difficult to communicate, but they were always thrilled when

we were there. I’ve never met children who were just thatgenuinely happy. They have next to nothing, but that’s not

important to them at all.

The teachers and principals were really appreciativeas well. Every school was different, but most of theteachers wanted us to teach them how to do differentprojects and lessons with the limited resources theyhave. The native language there is Xhosa, which isreally complicated. I’m bad with languages, but I wasable to learn how to say a few things from the

children. It was fun to see their reactions to teachingme. I knew I wanted to work with children andeducation in the future, but after this coop I’mconsidering teaching English abroad.

Life in Cape TownI consider living in Cape Town a successitself. I really stepped out of my comfortzone there. I didn’t know anyone when Iwent over there and can honestly say Imade some amazing friends from all overthe world. I’m not a nature person, but Igave hiking a shot. I tried all different

foods; from ostrich to kudu to wildebeest.

ChallengesXhosa

All of the children I worked with inPhilippi spoke Xhosa. Xhosa is a

complicated language that includesclicks. Here is a shaky video I recordedon the sly at one of the preschools. The

little boy repeats me saying, “Awbeautiful!”. I was so surprised that he

repeated what I said. Earlier in the video,I am talking about a skateboard with one

of the older boys which was alsouncommon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOGeTIr-5NM

Poverty isn’t anything new to me. But this extreme poverty is. Working in thetownships everyday is an experience that I will value forever. Even within theinternship program, I was the only person to be working within the townshipseveryday. It sounds cliche but it did change my life. The children were the

happiest kids I’ve ever met in my life. I never let the townships affect me untilafter I left. I’ve been to orphanages in Mexico and volunteered with kids in the

9th Ward after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, but nothing has everimpacted me as much as the townships.

Challenges

WebsiteFor me, the website was always a challenge. I amself conscious about my writing abilities so I wasworried that anything I wrote for the site wouldn’tbe good enough. I also struggled because I wasasked to write stories about alumni who are wellknown to the organization but are complete

strangers to me. I’m comfortable talking to peopleabout difficult and personal situations, but I’venever had to report on those conversations. Ididn’t realize how difficult it is to interviewsomeone and then write a report on it. Englishwas also the second language for everyone Ispoke to, which also posed some difficulties in

being able to listen and take notes.

I would say that my previous coop and experience in general helpedme at SAEP.

In terms of working with early education, I had multiple years ofexperience with JumpStart. I was well equipped with the skillsneeded to work with children from the ages of three to six. I wasactually able to pass along the different lesson plans and curriculumto my manager who was reconstructing the early educationdepartment when I left SAEP.

I was really fortunate with my first coop at AIDs Action Committeeto be able to work the hotlines and coordinate the volunteers for theentire organization. My position at SAEP was a lot different becauseI was with the media and fundraising team, but I had someexperience in fundraising with AAC because of the annual Walk.

I recommend pursuing an international coopwholeheartedly. I think it’s such an amazingopportunity. I wouldn’t have been able to

participate without the the Presidential GlobalScholarship. I’m so happy that I received theaward because the few months I spent in CapeTown really did change my life. That city holds aspecial place in my heart because I wasn’t just

visiting but living and working there.