Penguins and things

Thursday, June 26
Today was another pretty long day. We had class in the morning then my group went to meet our two clients for the first time, and we all had no idea what to expect. Our clients were both located in the township of Kahyelitsha. Our first client, Chris Bengaza, owns a company, Prints Charming, which provides computer training courses. He was a really dynamic person. He has a MBA from Stellenbosch and spent time working for big companies, including Old Mutual and Standard Bank. He runs his business in a small back room of his house. The house is large in comparison to the other homes in Khayelitsha but probably the size of a shed or garage in the U.S. He was a really interesting man, and excited to help his community through his courses. After visiting our first client, we had some time before our next visit so our driver took us to a small seaside town where we got lunch and watched the boats in the water. Our second client had a slightly less established business…if you would even call it that. We sat in his backyard on cinder blocks while he told us about his “landscaping” business. A red flag went up though when we looked around and didn’t even see a rake or a pair of gardening gloves. Needless to day, we realized that this man didn’t have much of a business so we decided we needed a new client. This day was stressful, but very eye-opening. Although we had already gone on a tour of this township, our visits enabled us to see how people really lived.

Saturday, June 28
This morning I got up at around 8 to go on a tour of the peninsula with the group. It has been a long week so we are all exhausted, and we had no idea what to expect on this trip. As we made our way down the coast, the scenery was beautiful. You can see the water and the mountains in the background. We stopped at a few cute little towns on the way to look around. Our first big stop was at Boulder’s Beach where there are penguins everywhere. It was so cool to see them just sitting on the beach and not in an aquarium. After seeing the penguins, we had another bus ride to the Cape of Good Hope, the tip of Africa where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet. The views were beautiful. When we got there, a bunch of us had lunch at this restaurant which had great views of the mountains and water. After lunch, we climbed the path to the light house marking the cape; there were great views from there of the whole park and the cape too. We also decided to walk along the cliffs to get to the most south western point of Africa. At some points, I felt like I was one heavy gust of wind or one false move away from falling to my death, but then again I tend to exaggerate things. Overall, it was a great day, and we got to see so much. After this day, I could really use a good night’s sleep, and I am looking forward to sleeping in on Sunday.

Monday, June 30
Today we had a class in the morning. An entrepreneur came in and we offered her our advice and help for her holistic healing and aromatherapy company. It was good to be able to apply some of the things we have been learning in the classroom and with our clients to this experience. After class, my group got lunch and started working. We were told at the last minute that we had a new client and that we would be meeting with her very soon so we had to prepare for the meeting quickly in the car. We met Robertha Kalo at the car wash she owns in Khayelitsha. The car wash is definitely not like the ones we have in the U.S. Her business consists of a small patch of ground on the side of the main road at a busy intersection with a hose and some cleaning supplies. Robertha is a very personable woman and very passionate about her business. It was interesting talking to her because she provided good insight into the people of Khayelitsha. She was very open with us about the problems she was having with her business, saying that she cannot find reliable work in the township because many people want money but are not willing to put in the time it takes to hold a steady job. I found it fascinating that she would have this problem in an area of such poverty where so many are looking for work.