James House

As many of our plans have changed, so did our most recent volunteering in South Africa. We had originally arranged to stay and volunteer at a monkey sanctuary in Pretoria, which is the capital of South Africa and located just north of Johannesburg. But after our time volunteering in the community in Kenya, we had a change of heart and decided that there are probably so many more people in need of our help. We had seen so many community projects that were looking for help just traveling along the way, and we were sure we would come across something in Cape Town too.

Not Imizamo Yethu, but one of the other townships we passed by on the way into Cape Town

What we landed upon was James House; a small non- for-profit in a suburb of Cape Town called Hout Bay.  It is involved in many community projects for the nearby township called Imizamo Yethu. Townships are areas of the town where many people are below the poverty line, so they can't afford land or electricity, and running water or other utilities are no where in site. For this reason, the government provides free space and energy for those that live in townships (which are spread throughout the major metropolitan areas of South Africa).   There are just rows and rows of metal shacks next to each other which are people's homes. We rode up through the township of Imizamo Yethu a couple times and it reminded us very much of the small shacks dispersed throughout Kenya and Tanzania, but they were all on top of one another.  The people that grow up in the townships often have little opportunity to raise their standard of living, but James House is trying to do just this.  Not only is James House an orphanage, it creates workshops for high school graduates to help give them skills to obtain better jobs (or just jobs in general). When there are orphans who have extended family, they offer counseling and services to help keep the family stable and give that orphan a good environment in which to grow up.

The playground at James House.  It's hard to see, but the swings on the right are old tires that were cut up into seats.

 When we called James House, they were very welcoming and said to just stop by the next week.  Their website stated that they accept volunteers from all walks of life for any amount of time, and we were very hopeful.  The project we ended up helping with was called Safe Park.  Every day after school, James House gave the primary school kids from the nearby township, Imizamo Yethu, a place to come play and stay safe while their parents were still at work.  The staff would go out across the busy street to help the kids cross to get to James House everyday.  There was a playground and few toys to keep the kids busy.  Just before they left, they were always given a meal or snack to make sure they were well-fed. 

Time to circle up and sing songs together.

So while we were hoping for a project that was more involved, we learned very quickly that two weeks is very little time to make an impact as international volunteers (unless for a specific work-camp project).  We made it to James House every day just as the kids were getting out of school.  Soccer of course was the most common past time, but we played on their swing set (with swings made out of cut up tires) and colored with them.  A couple of times the ladies on staff would gather the kids in a circle for singing and dancing.

A common sight during play-time.  They liked to use us as their jungle gyms!

Criag (how he spelled it) was supposed to draw a picture of a bear, but it turned into a camel.

On our last day. Asemahle, who was often attached to my hip is on the left.

Most of the kids were between the ages of 7 and 9 years old. Often, the kids would attach themselves to us as soon as they saw volunteers there to play with them.  A little girl named Asemahle always immediately came up to hold my hand, and then she would drag me around the playground the whole afternoon going from one thing to another.  Sam was often a human jungle gym.  Even though we were only there for a very short time, we hope we served as role models  for the kids to look up to.  We are still fundraising for all of the volunteer sites where we are helping throughout the journey.  The money we raise will be divided and a quarter will go to each of the sites when we return to the U.S.  If you want to see more about James House, the website is http://www.jameshouse.org.za/.

(Written January 27th)