By skatz14
Alas, I have begun volunteering in Cape Town! I am volunteering through an organization that is run through the University of Cape Town. It is called SHAWCO, and it is one of South Africa’s largest student volunteer organizations. SHAWCO’s goals are to help with skill development and provide educational programming to youth in Townships and communities around the Cape Town area.
SHAWCO is the base organization, but it has many branches, or sub-organizations, which each have programming specific for that branch. The branch of SHAWCO that I am volunteering with is called Kenstep and it is located at a SHAWCO center in a community called Kensington, about twenty minutes from the University. At 2:45pm every afternoon that I volunteer, a bus picks up all of the volunteers and brings us to Kenstep!
On my first day of volunteering, I was excited but had no idea what to expect. I have worked with children in many different situations before, but I did not know how this experience would compare to my other experiences. On the bus, the program leader had asked us all which grades we would like to work with. Kenstep works with grades 4-7. Naturally, most people wanted to work with the youngest kids. I ended up being assigned to 5th grade. I was excited to meet the students and get to know them. As we got to the end of our short drive to Kensington, I noticed what the area was like. It was much nicer than other townships I have been to and seen since I’ve been to Cape Town. There were sturdy buildings and houses, and not the typical “township shacks” made of flimsy materials.
When we arrived at the SHAWCO study center, all of the volunteers went inside and found the classrooms marked with the corresponding grade to which we were assigned. In my classroom, there were 3 other volunteers. There are about 20 students, each with an enormous amount of energy. The second we walked in, the kids started running around and hugging us even though we had just met. Because it was the first day, we spent our time together playing games and getting to know each other. After we played some games, the other volunteers and I passed out new notebooks to the students and asked them to draw. A bunch of the girls at my table were drawing the South African flag, and then a few drew the American flag. They said that they did not like South Africa. I thought that was very interesting. As we continued on, us volunteers were each given a book and we were supposed to read with a group of students in our class. I read with four girls. I was impressed with their desire to each get a turn to read aloud to the group. They had so much energy for such a low-key activity, but they each did a great job reading a part. They would ask me for help if they had trouble with a word. It was a rewarding day and came to an end before I knew it.
Overall, my first experience volunteering at SHAWCO was fascinating to me because I have volunteered with DC Reads through the Higher Achievement program, and these are very comparable programs. Both programs have similar ideas and goals, and I noticed that the students were very similar, too. Because it was just the first day, I feel that there is so much more to understand and learn about these kids. I am really looking forward to getting to know my students better and learning about their lives. Hopefully their excitement continues to grow…it is always nice being greeted by twenty hugs!