Molo (hello) from Wylie

Lindsay and Wylie arriving in Rondebosch 11 Jan 2013

Molo from South Africa!  My name is (Sarah) Wylie and, as previously mentioned, I am a junior pursuing degrees in Political Science and Human Rights with a minor in English.  While I still plan on taking the LSATs this fall, I am becoming more curious about alternative directions my studies and experiences can lead me.  I am very interested in applying to public policy graduate programs, specifically for non-profit management, or other graduate programs through a Human Rights institution.  I would also be interested in writing for an economic rights-focused magazine.  My internal deliberation on careers, goals, and priorities is currently very loud and confusing, and this blog is not the appropriate forum to panic about my post-college life.  I will leave it at this: I hope to live a positive, meaningful life regardless of which career path I take. 

I am extremely confident and excited for my internship placement at Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) (**visit TAC’s website: http://www.tac.org.za/), which is a grassroots organization well-known for its activism surrounding individuals infected and affected with AIDS/HIV, as well as for their role in the roll out of anti-retroviral drugs.  As a peer educator at UConn’s Health Education Office, which also collaborates with Planned Parenthood and Students United for Reproductive Justice, I have some experience with the work I will be doing.  I am most excited by the fact that my internship is located in Khayelitsha, a township of 800,000+ individuals in the Cape Flats.  I feel honored and motivated to be right in the heart of the community that I will be working with and learning from.

I will be honest with you, dear readers (unlikely as it is that actual human beings are reading this): Cape Town is unquestionably beautiful.  Touring and exploring a small piece of the Western Cape reminds me very much of Southern California, where I lived and worked last summer.  At the time, I thought I was in the most glorious place in the world- Cape Town is the same but better, with more dramatic vistas and intensified color.  One can see cliffs rising out of the Atlantic, with clear water, blue sky, and city spread across the hollows of the mountain bases.  Standing near the waterfront, or on top of Cape Point or Signal Hill, I felt overwhelmed with feelings of luck and love, of skyward possibilities and of complete peace.   

 

Another disclaimer: in these blog posts, I am prepared to be honest regardless of whether the truths I want to share are heavy or pessimistic.  My first impressions of Cape Town show me that South Africa is simultaneously beautiful and definitely not beautiful.  South Africa’s people are still in much pain, a situation brutally evident as soon as one drives out of the airport complex and increasingly obvious as one travels through the Cape Flats.  It is clear to me that Apartheid is only over on paper.  I feel very conflicted about how to share or describe such entrenched inequity, poverty, and sadness, and will try to begin unpacking my thoughts over the next few posts.

Finally, on a lighter note, I am excited to announce that I have ALREADY waded with African penguins (!!!!) and have eaten (several) Samosas.  Both were definitely worth the wait. 

 Until next time, impilo.