This week marked the final week of orientation and began to
prepare us for the rigors of actually living in Cape Town. It began with a
religious experience in one of the townships. This religious experience
involved going to a Baptist church in one of the rougher areas in Cape Town.
For most it was an exciting and new experience that moved them dramatically. Most
talked about how they had never been to such a musical church service and
despite the message being in Xhosa everyone was thoroughly touched by what they
heard. This was not as novel of an experience for me because other than the
difference in language the church was exactly like the one my grandparents go
to and I visit often. I am far from a religious person and am not a very big
fan of church services. With that being said it was pretty amazing to see that
in one of the most impoverished and feared parts of Cape Town such joy and
excitement could be found. The members of the church were not just going
through the motions but were genuinely showing a love for life. Seeing the
church service was an excellent way to start the week. It demonstrated that no
matter what pain and challenges we would witness in the coming weeks it is
possible to overcome them with a smile.
It was especially important that this message be remembered
while touring the internships. The first internship at Red Cross Children’s
Hospital served to really reinforce the concept of finding joy in the midst of
suffering. After a short walk across the street from our house our group arrived
at my roommate Andrew’s internship in the burn ward. I don’t think anyone was
prepared for the horrors we saw there. We saw children with severe burns and
terrible scars that were so severe they brought more than a few members of our
group to tears. Despite how it was affecting us, the children, for the most
part, were happy little children who did not even seem aware of their plight. The
nurse that was giving us the tour told us that she had come to learn that
children were resilient and could adapt to any circumstances. The vast majority
of the internships are with organizations similar to the Red Cross Children’s
Hospital in that they strive to help those less fortunate in some capacity. These
internships include everything from environmental NGOs to schools for children
with disabilities and they took us everywhere from the city to the townships.
Despite all of the internships being wildly different everywhere we went we
found problems and people with a hope that they could make a difference.
After seeing all of the other wonderful internship
opportunities it was finally time to go to my internship on the last day. I had
a mix of thoughts going through my mind. After seeing how everyone else planned
on helping people while in South Africa, I kind of felt a little bad about the
fact that I chose my internship for a more selfish reason. On the other hand I
was excited to get the chance to intern at the State Attorney’s office and
learn whether or not being a lawyer was truly for me. My excitement only
increased after meeting the person I would be shadowing for 3 months, Colleen
Bailey. Within moments she proved that she was an accomplished, educated, and
driven individual. She has experience in everything from labour law to criminal
proceedings. Her extensive knowledge of the legal system will hopefully help me
narrow down my interests. Although my internship will not have me directly
helping those less fortunate I will certainly do my part to help leave Cape
Town slightly better than I found it through my activist project. In the mean
time I will be working alongside a very talented attorney and hopefully grow a
great deal.
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