Newsletter YFU South Africa

October 2013

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Contents

Hello!

Farewell students of 2012-2013!

New interns

Welcome new students!

PAO

CANSA Relay

A South African experience

AGM

On internship in Sweden

YFU to Soshanguve

Reminders for the summer

What to expect for a South African Christmas

Upcoming events

Contact information

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Dear YFU friends and families,

The winter season is finally over and Jacaranda trees are taking over the city of Pretoria. I should not complain about the winter,

since I came from Swedish Summer to South African spring, but oh well, a Swedish summer is more or less like a South African

winter.

Time flies when you have fun! Our inbound students that arrived in August have already been here for two and a half months, what

happens with time? I am sure they are enjoying their time in South Africa and I wish them the best for the up-coming exams!

My name is Henrik by the way and I am the new office intern in Pretoria. You will find me and Leandro, my intern-mate, further

down in the newsletter. As a new person in a new country and culture you will find things that amaze you and wish you could take

back. In my case it is the South African people. Coming from a country and culture where greeting a stranger or hugs and body

contact is rare, South Africa is a big difference from home and that is what I like the most with South Africa!

As you probably know, it has been a while since the last newsletter, but here it is again, this time full of adventures from our

students, volunteers and families all over the world. We will get to know our new interns in Pretoria, get to know how it feels to

come as a new student to a South African school, meet one of our volunteers who is doing an internship in Sweden and much much

more!

I want to say thank you to all the contributors in this newsletter! Thank you!

I hope you will enjoy it!

Regards,

Henrik Ocklind, intern in Pretoria

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Farewell students of 2012-2013!

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New interns!

In September 2013 two interns joined the YFU family in Pretoria. One from Sweden and one from Argentina.

Name: Henrik Ocklind

From: Uppsala, Sweden

Age: 20

Where did you go on exchange? Colorado, USA

What are you doing in YFU SA? I am the regular office

intern in the Pretoria office

Best thing with SA? The people!

Name: Leandro Elvio Garcia

From: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Age: 23

Where did you go on exchange? Minnesota, USA

What are you doing in YFU SA? Sustainability intern

Best thing with SA? People diversity

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Welcome new inbound students!

Pretoria

- Fabian, Germany

- Isabel, Belgium

- Jonas, Germany

- Mariesa, Germany

- Santiago, Mexico

- Sophie, Germany

- Vince, Germany

Johannesburg

- Jule, Germany

- Kenneth, Sweden

- Lea, Germany

- Ray, Germany

- Siri, Denmark

- Xavier, France

Middelburg

- Annagrete, Estonia

- Axel, Finland

- Capucine, France

- David, Hungary

- Felix, Germany

- Gustav, Austria

- James, Australia

- Johann, Switzerland

- Karl, Estonia

- Lucas, Germany

- Marie, Germany

- Matilda, Finland

- Melanie, Austria

- Paula, Germany

Piet Retief

- Prune, France

Nelspruit/Lydenburg

- Anne, Denmark

- Frederikke, Denmark

Cape Town

- Birte, Germany

- Saga, Finland

Polokwane

- Fanny, Finland

- Maren, Norway

- Pauline, Germany

Port Elizabeth

- Andrina, Switzerland

- Ansgar, Germany

- Nick, Germany

- Rahel, Switzerland

- Pascal, Germany

- Salome, France

- Silverio, Mexico

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PAO in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo!

The post arrival weekend for the 2013/2014 students

took place 6 weeks after the students arrived in South

Africa. The weekend of 13 to 16 September was spend

with them at Athalia Eden, in Mpumalanga. Students

and volunteers arrived at Athalia Eden throughout the

Friday morning and early afternoon and were all

pleasantly surprised by the well maintained tents,

ablution facilities and of course the small swimming

pool. The first afternoon was spent with a little bit of

reflection on the first 6 weeks in the country, with their

host families and in their schools.

Two busy days followed. Serious topics like culture shock

and communication problems were followed by fun

energizers, the learning of our National Anthem and the

singing of their own anthems. A visit by the South African

Police dog unit had everybody all excited and a surprise

drug test on volunteering students opened the floor for

serious discussions about drug abuse and the treatment

of drug addicts. On Saturday afternoon we had our first

ever YFU SA baby shower for volunteer Thabiso

Dibakwane who with his wife Hilde is expecting their first

child. Hilde who could not travel to the orientation

unfortunately missed out on all the fun and ‘Thabiso had

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to endure the good natured jokes, answering of “serious”

baby questions and being fed something horrible that

resembled baby food. Also on Saturday was our YFU

concert. The students made us laugh with their shows

about transport, school, family life, food, security and

music and the teamers and volunteers opened their

program with a Sunday school song that quickly changed

to some toi-toiing about equal right, electric lights and

big corn bites. It was a fun evening that ended around a

bon fire.

Sunday was there too soon and although we could sense

that the students just wanted to have fun there were still

some sessions the get through. Some of the volunteers

had one on one meetings with students that were

identified as having had a difficult time so far and that

also went well.

The first students and volunteers left on Sunday

afternoon and early evening and by Monday morning all

left Athalia Eden feeling tired but satisfied. All are

looking forward to the rest of the year with their families

and new friends.

Magda Buitendach

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CANSA Relay on October 5th in Gauteng!

On the 5th of October YFU participated in the CANSA Relay in Centurion, outside Pretoria. For those of you who do not know what CANSA works with is it the cancer association of South Africa. The relay was to walk about 400m around an area between 4PM in the afternoon until early morning at 6AM the next day, a total of 14 hours. On the sides of the lane, organisations and companies had tents to promote their business, while we were all thinking of those who could not make it. We started out at 10 o’clock in the morning by setting up the tents and lay out information sheets. We also had German and South African cookies we gave out to people around us with South African flags with information about YFU. It was a warm day and we tried to stay away from the sun as much as possible. When the relay started, the organisation estimated a total of 3000 participants in the relay. During the night they called out different themes and we then had to change our clothes. Some of the themes were feathers and Ferraris, sports, pyjama lap, worst dress etc. When were done the next morning I think we were all tired and tried to get home as soon as we could. I would summarise the day as successful where we got the chance

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to spend time with each other and promote our organisation and who knows next year we might be there again? Henrik Ocklind, intern

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My experience in South Africa Out of almost 50 students, Prune from France is the only inbound student in Piet Retief, Mpumalanga. This is her experience so far: “My experience in South Africa have been awesome so far. I'm having a lot fun, a lot of great time and discovering so much! I live in Piet Retief, in Mpumalanga. It's a really small town, there's not that much to do, but I like it. It's very calm and quiet! I love my host family so much. It's a Zulu family, with a whole different culture from mine. They are Christian, like most of my friends and people at school. We go to church every two Sunday. It's a whole new world for me, because I've never been taught about religion, but I find it very interesting! My host sister is 17 and we are very close to each other. It's been really helpful to have her, especially during the first days of school. I made a lot of friends here. Everyone is very welcoming and warm. My English has improved so much since I came here, and I know a tiny bit of Afrikaans and Zulu by now. My school is half Afrikaans half English so I have to be very concentrated to follow in class! Meeting all the other exchange student was also really nice. We have a lot of things to talk about together and it's always a lot of fun when we get together! South Africa is a wonderful country, I love it.” Prune, France

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AGM

Between the 10th-12th of October YFU South Africa’s Annual General Meeting was held in Johannesburg with 20 YFU SA volunteers and staff members. This was the first time the meeting was held somewhere else than Cape Town in the history of YFU SA. Board members and staff members started out on the 10th with meetings and the rest arrived the day after. The weekend had a full schedule with meetings and activities, but we still got a little time to take a swim in the pool. We summarized the past year and got reflections from the volunteers and regional updates on how it is going right now for the students in South Africa. After that we talked about what we can improve in the organisation. Hans started out the meeting by telling the audience about the past year and how the organisation is doing and Limpho gave us a report from the JVC.

The next morning Nina gave us reflections over the past year and how we can build on for the next year. YFU SA’s marketing intern, Lena, gave us report over her marketing tour has been over the last months. We also got a view over how our regions are doing. Rynette told us about Gauteng, Limpopo and Mpumalanga and Iris over Port Elizabeth. Leandro, the admin intern, showed us how he will make the office work easier with less files. After that two workshops followed; one with application process and one with how we can keep the volunteers in the organisation. The meeting ended with a gala dinner on Saturday with great food! Henrik Ocklind, intern

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Internship in Sweden

For the past ten or so months I have had the wonderful opportunity of working in the organization that I love in the country I previously spent my exchange year in... Youth For Understanding SWEDEN! This has been an enriching, interesting, fun and a year I will take many experiences from and I still have two more wonderful months to look forward till! I have been the office intern at the Stockholm offices of YFU Sweden since late January and what I have done has ranged from plenty of administration work to meeting students at orientations to meeting and speaking with volunteers from all across the country. It is very different than being an exchange student as you can imagine, but it is similar in some ways as well. I stay with a host family like I did as a student, but I know get to see Swedish culture as an adult and with the eyes of a more mature me. Working at the office also means I get to see the other side of being an exchange student, which is ALL the work that goes into being a student and the behind the scenes action. As an active volunteer for YFU South Africa, I took this opportunity because of course I loved my exchange so much I

decided not just to keep saying "I want to go back", but instead just go back! Then of course I knew it would also be a great way for me to develop personally and uses the experiences I gained here back when I continue volunteering for YFU back home. These are just one of the few opportunities an exchange offers beyond the great experience as a 15 - 18 year old exchange student. I have had a tremendous time thus far, but I indeed look forward to coming back to YFU South Africa and continuing the great work YFU does all around the world in my own backyard, not literally of course :-). And of course I have to thank these two YFU organisations South Africa and Sweden for sending me and accepting respectively. Thank you and tack! Ngoako Mashitisho YFU South Africa volunteer Intern at YFU Sweden

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YFU to Soshanguve A Monday in late September, the students in Gauteng had been invited by Mariesa’s host father to join their church in an outreach in Soshanguve, a township outside Pretoria. Five students (Fabian, Isabel, Jonas, Mariesa and Sophie), two volunteers (Barbara and Helene (exchange student in SA five years ago)) and the two interns (Henrik and Leandro) participated in the outreach.

When we arrived to the place where we were supposed to be at, children had been running after us for minutes. Less than hour later we were out of food, clothes and other things we had brought with us. After we went back home with a new experience that many of us probably will never forget. Henrik Ocklind, intern

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Reminders for the summer

As you might know, the South African sun is stronger than in Europe and many other parts of the world. Here are some protection tips from CANSA: - Stay out of the sun between 10am and 3pm. Stay in the shade or under an umbrella as much as possible - Wear protective clothing and thickly-woven fabric hats with wide brims. Avoid caps that leave the neck and ears exposed. - Wear sunglasses with a UV protection rating of UV400 - It’s important to know the best SPF for your skin type. Use sunscreen with an SPF of between 20 and 50 and SPF 30-50 for fair to very fair skin - Always apply sunscreen 20 minutes before you go outside and reapply at least every two to three hours. - Look out for the expiry or manufacturing date as products usually expire two years after manufacture, however, no product should be used once opened after a year - Avoid sunbeds and sunlamps

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Christmas in South Africa

Exchange students from Europe in South Africa often have a

huge culture shock during Christmas. Gone are the white, cold

Christmases of their childhood; the lazy winter evenings in

front of fires snuggled in warm clothes, hats and scarves.

Christmas in South Africa is so different but is can also be a lot

of fun. December is normally spent in a flurry of shopping or

lazing on our beaches or with the extended families visiting

together. We are having endless braais and eat lots of fruit

especially watermelons that are being sold everywhere.

I asked some of my friends and colleagues to share with us how

their family spends Christmas and most Afrikaans families

starts out with a braai or meal on Christmas Eve after which the

family visits together listening to or singing Christmas songs.

Gifts are exchanged or delivered by Santa depending on the age

of the children. On Christmas morning families go to an early

morning service at church and spend Christmas day eating,

visiting and playing with their gifts. Our Christmas meals are

mostly of lots of meat (warm and cold) and salads and for

dessert ice cream and the old favorite trifle.

Thabo, one of my colleagues wrote the following about his

Christmas:

“As kids, we used to visit our grandparents for the holidays

and spend the Christmas with them. We would get home-

cooked traditional meals that you can never find in the

suburbs or townships. We would stay in a place with no

electricity but only use candles to light up at night. On the

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Christmas Eve in the afternoon we would look at the brightest

star in the west which we call “Kopadilalelo”, which I got to

learn later that it is actually the planet Venus. One can still see

it every evening just before sunset and other stars are visible

at night.

On the morning of the Christmas we would be woken up very

early and wait for the sun to rise. We would all look at the sun

and were told that the sun would be dancing (and yes we

believed it because we could see it really dancing). We would

also get gifts that our parents had bought us earlier, hid them

and only revealed to us on that day. We would be told that the

presents came from Father Christmas, and yes we believed it

all. We would then all dress in our new Christmas outfits and

go to church.

Today we spend the day with many extended family members

and have dinner/braai with candle lights. But for younger

children, the same tradition we had still continues… “

Something else lots of South Africans have in common is the

feeling of goodwill towards the less fortunate. Lots of churches,

children’s and old age homes have lists of people that need

food, treats and/ or gifts to also make their Christmas special.

My family always tries to buy a gift or two for those that cannot

afford to buy their own because Christmas is a time for giving

and we are so blessed that we also want share with others.

To sum it up, Christmas in South Africa is a time for sun, fun,

family, gifts, good food, goodwill towards others and a quiet

reflection in church of why we celebrate this holiday.

Magda Buitendach

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Upcoming events November 16th – Family Day – Middelburg 30th – Cape Tour December - 10th Cape Tour 7th – Family Day – Cape Town 14th – Family Day – Gauteng January 9th – New IB-students arrive New OB-students leave Semester students leave Mid-year orientation February Cultural Exchange March Cultural Exchange April Kruger Tour

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Contact information

YFU National Office – Cape Town

Dr Nina Voges

E-mail: nd@yfu.org.za

Telephone: 021 423 1677

YFU Regional Office – Pretoria

Rynette Scholtz

E-mail: Scholtz1@telkomsa.net

Telephone: 012 549 2362

YFU Volunteer – Port Elizabeth

Iris Goeda

E-mail: iGoeda@aspenpharma.com

Telephone: 082 5192590

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South Africa?

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