Samantha – GW Blogs from Abroad

The Final Goodbye

AdminMay 7, 2013December 14, 2018

What a whirlwind this experience has been! It has gone by faster than I thought possible. As I am finishing up at my volunteering site, I have been thinking about this whole journey and how it has impacted me and what I have learned. I started my volunteering experience happy with what was ahead of me, but unclear of what types of relationships I would build with my students. Over the course of this experience, I have seen my student’s achievements as well as their struggles. I supported my students by listening and helping, and as a result I gained their trust.

For me, the best part of this experience was building the strong relationships that I now have with my students and will continue to remember. It is hard for me to think that when I say goodbye to my kids, I will not be able to keep in direct contact with them and see how they are doing in school and in life. I would love to be able to know how they are doing and where they end up. Although most of my students have been exposed to certain things that no one should ever be exposed to, especially as 9 and 10 year olds, I see the drive and passion in many of them to get past the negatives in their lives. I believe that many of them will persevere against the odds and end up in good places later on in life. ...continue reading "The Final Goodbye"

Difficulties and Successes

AdminApril 8, 2013December 14, 2018

By skatz14

My most recent volunteering experience was really different for me because I was the only volunteer in my classroom. It was the day before UCT’s spring break started, so the three other people who volunteer with me in my classroom could not attend, due to pre-break midterms and papers. Every classroom was really lacking in volunteers that day, so I learned what the schools must be like, since they tend to be so understaffed. Because I have around 15 students in my class, the beginning of the lesson was really difficult. SHAWCO aims to have a 3:1 ratio with students to teachers, so 15:1 seemed like the impossible. Eventually, I asked if one of the volunteers who had a much smaller 15-person 5^th grade classroom could join me since it was too much, and she agreed. There was another volunteer in her class that day, so she was able to help me ...continue reading "Difficulties and Successes"

SHAWCO: The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship

AdminMarch 4, 2013December 14, 2018

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! ...continue reading "SHAWCO: The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship"

The beginning of my experiences in Cape Town!

AdminFebruary 10, 2013December 14, 2018

By skatz14

Hello from Cape Town! So far, this trip has been indescribable and I have begun falling in love with this place. While I have been exposed to all of the wonderful things that Cape Town has to offer, it has also been shocking to see the huge wealth disparity between the different people of Cape Town. Although it can be comparable to the U.S., I have really never seen anything like it. ...continue reading "The beginning of my experiences in Cape Town!"