Sunday June 25 Trip to Spier Winery and Moyo Restaurant

  Nobu, Sako, me and Dustin

   Dancing

First meeting with iKaya

iKaya is a ‘communtiy trust’ that at this time is lacking focus and a strong vision, especially from its board of trustees.  We (Dustin, Alvira, Lindsey and myself) met with the two members of the Board of Trustees, the Treasurer (who will soon be leaving) and the Manager of the organization today.

We discussed the activities that take place at iKaya and the dreams they have for the future. One of there biggest concerns was communication to donors (‘Godparents’) and how metrics would be assessed given the current underskilled staff. The organization provides pre-school education to about 76 students without a qualified teacher, music training and dreams of establishing a restaurant or coffee shop to attract tourists in the future. Another concern of the organization is an upcoming organization close-by that will potentially duplicate some of the projects iKaya is engaged in.

My thinking right now is that iKaya needs to really concentrate on its focus and outreach to the Kayamandi community, who at the moment see iKaya more as an outside organization, funded and run by outsiders, that provides little in terms of a livleihood for people in the community. Of course, fundraising cannot come to a halt during this process and more effort needs to be focused on reaching donors’ wallets for a general fund to provide iKaya with more flexible capital. Now, all funds are earmarked for specific projects or students and the organization really has its hands tied with regards to general development, personnel and personnel training.

We’ll be meeting with iKaya again tomorrow to get a better understanding of day-to-day operations and hopefully gain more insight into iKaya’s image within the Kayamandi community.

First Rainy Day in Stellenbosch

I arrived in Cape Town last night, 20 June, at about 10:30 local time.  We had a two-hour delay at JFK due to some weather, no problem getting in and out of Dakar, and I rushed to my flight in Johannesburg only to find it was waiting for us because about one half of the plane was being filled with 40 high school students from the U.S. who are spending the next three weeks in Cape Town.

Today, it has been raining all day and I just finished some fish and chips for lunch. Last night, a driver for Stellenbosch University picked me up at the airport and brought me to my dorm. The name of the dorm is Concordia and it’s right next to the engineering building on the campus. I have three other roomates and we share a kitchen and common room. I have my own bathroom off from my bedroom. When I woke up this morning, I headed for the international students building to get registered and to get a student card so I can enter my dorm and whatever else it allows me to do in the future.

The rest of today I’ve spent wandering around Stellenbosch in the rain looking for a foreign exchange bureau and an internet cafe and next, I will try to find a place to pick up some necessities for my dorm room. The rest of the group of 16 of us from the U.S. and 4 or 5 from South Africa, Nigeria and I saw one on the list from Netherlands, will show up on Friday, 23 June.

Everyone here speaks Afrikaans, Xhosa and most speak English or at least understand what I am saying when I am wandering around trying not to look too lost. Stellenbosch is surrounded by mountains (I think 5 of them) and they say it snows heavily on them in July and August. Nothing like leaving summer in Northern NY to see winter in South Africa.