YFU SOUTH AFRICA – NEWSLETTER MAY 2010
TIME TO SAY GOOD BYE AND WELCOME IN 2010
This is the time of the year when we say goodbye to those have been with us since 2009. We are also preparing to welcome those joining us in 2010, so ... Good bye to Inbounds 2009/2010: Much too soon the time to say good bye is upon us. We enjoyed having you with us, wish you all the best for the future but also know that you will be back! In this issue we have two letters from students’ last fun days in sunny South Africa as well as in input from a former exchange student that is now an intern in Port Elizabeth. This newsletter contains a farewell letters from an intern as well as from students departing in June. Welcome to the Inbounds 2010/2011: This time of the year we are also preparing for the new arrivals on 6 August 2010. YFU SA staff members and volunteers are finalising the placements of the 35 new inbounds with their host families and schools. In the next newsletter we will have news of their arrival and orientations. Junior Volunteer Council: YFU SA has also established its first Junior Volunteer Council (JVC). We are very proud of this achievement and look forward to their contributions to the greater good and growth of YFU SA in future.
Mia, one of the interns from Germany, writes from Port Elizabeth; SANIBONA YFU SOUTH AFRICA! Hard to believe: it is almost six years ago when I left South Africa as a 17 year-old exchange student with mixed feelings – being so grateful for my awesome exchange year, happily excited about going home and deeply sorrowful about leaving my South African home. And now I am back! My name is Maria Hoffmann, however, YFU knows me as Mia. In 2003/2004 I was an exchange student in Durban and since my return, I have been involved with YFU in Germany. It was rather a spontaneous idea to take a gap semester at university to come back to South Africa for seven months. So when my plane landed at O.R. Tambo in Johannesburg in February 2010, I was immediately excited about the South African clime that I had missed for quite some years. After having stayed in Joburg for two months, I went to visit my wonderful South African family in Durban. At first it was such a strange feeling to be back, but after only one hour it felt as if I had never left! My host sister Shenee
and brother Calvin, who were 13 and 11 years old back then, have kind of grown up, there is a new dog in the house and my host parents have changed their jobs. But there are some things that will probably never change: it is my second home after all! In April, there was a lot of time for me catching up with some old friends and neighbours, spending fantastic days at Tugela beach and a great visit at the Umfolozi Game Reserve. Furthermore, I was fortunate to go on a two weeks’ trip to see a bit more of beautiful Southern Africa: Zululand, Swaziland, Gauteng and Lesotho.
African experience, to work with zealous YFU volunteers and to contribute to a successful exchange year for our exchange students this year.
From the 1st of May I am now the new intern at the regional office in Port Elizabeth, where I am staying with the Goeda family – one of the most YFU committed families I have ever met. I was particularly excited to meet Keegan again, as he was an exchange student at my mid-year seminar in Berlin in 2007. Likewise I enjoy meeting old YFU friends (like Fezi and Koki) as well as making new friends. At the PE re-entry orientation last weekend, Nadia and I had to discover that the YFU world is rather small, as we had actually met six years ago in Cape Town!
Mia
It is truly special for me to come back to South Africa as a YFU intern to re-live my South
So now I have spent one busy month in Port Elizabeth looking for host families and taking care of the inbound and outbound students. I am so looking forward to a grandiose stay with YFU in Port Elizabeth! I am looking forward to a great World Cup 2010, of course! I am looking forward to so much more of South Africa!
Port Elizabeth: Keegan, Nadia, Elena and Nosh.
During our free time we enjoyed the seaside, even spotting some whales and dolphins far out.
A GALA DINNER IN PORT ELIZABETH
The highlight of the weekend was, beyond doubt, our fantastic gala dinner on Saturday night, when Iris’s cookery spoilt us exceedingly! Everyone had dressed up smartly; most stunning however were the guys wearing best suits. So we enjoyed an amazing threecourse banquet by candle light. For the Family Day on Sunday afternoon, a bunch of different people gathered for a lovely braai by the seaside: exchange students, host families, students going abroad and their mothers, YFU volunteers and friends. Gala Dinner: ( left to right) Irina, Elli, Fabz, Mara, Anni, Mia and Nadia with Iris Goeda in front
OUR FANTASTIC SEASIDE RE-ENTRY WEEKEND By Mia (YFU Intern in Port Elizabeth) The students in Port Elizabeth together with the teamers enjoyed seafront weekend accommodation for their re entry orientation.
We had a fantastic YFU weekend ahead of us, with beautiful sunny weather, fruitful sessions and loads of the weird energizers (Funky Chicken, La Banana, The Little Bird – just to name a few) which, to my surprise, some moms joined in at Family Day on Sunday afternoon.
As I was a teamer at the South Africa predeparture orientation in Germany, I was more than excited to meet some of the German students again and listen to their stories. It really gives me goose bumps to see how much students change and how much they grow in their personalities during their year. This is why we do exchange! Ayoba!
crocodiles didn’t really want to move so we could just watch them lying around. The whole day already it was quite cold but we “crazy” people couldn’t resist jumping into the sea afterwards. The water was even warmer then the air and the waves were huge. We had an amazing time.
KZN Durban Trip 23. – 27. 04. 2010 At the end of April, a group of 11 exchange students went to Durban for the long weekend. After an about 9 hours drive we arrived in Illovo. In the middle of the night we pitched up our tents and hit the sac. On Saturday morning we explored the beauty of the ocean and the beach right next to our camping area. Later we visited Croc World, it was actually a bit boring because the
In the evening we spent time together, telling stories and had some really good pootjie kos. Sunday morning after breakfast we headed to Amazimtoti and then it was beach-time! Tanning in the sun and swimming in the sea. In the afternoon we discovered the awesome predators of the sea at the SHARK BOARD in Durban. There we watched a dissection of a shark and we were all amazed by this dangerous animal. We spent our last day in world. After a great dolphin show some of us went shark or scuba diving. I went shark diving and it was amazing to be so close to this beautiful creatures. The WILD ‘N WET world right next to it offered us some really nice slides and we all had lots of fun. In the evening when we came back we were really tired and we all just wanted to sleep.
On Tuesday when it was time for us to go home we didn’t want to leave because we all had an awesome time in Durban. I want to thank you Werner for the great time and I think we all enjoyed it a lot. Cadine from Austria
MY MEMORY OF SOUTH AFRICA It was Friday the May 21. When I went to school the last day before the June exams, I felt a bit sad because the time for me to go back home comes closer every day and now I already have my last normal day at school. When I arrived there this Friday morning all my friends seemed a bit weird to me. As the first four periods past we had break and after break some of my closest friends just disappeared. Then we had test period and I wasn’t writing so I sat in class and felt quite bored. But then my friend Shanal came into the class and she said that she wanted to take me with. As we went out of the class she put a scarf around my eyes. She walked with me through the whole school building and at the end we arrived at the field and she took the scarf off. I couldn’t believe what I saw...all my closest friends were standing there and they started singing. It was amazing and I was really surprised. They backed cake and we had a small picnic. I
got a big box that said A MEMORY BOX FROM SA and in there was lots of pictures and other souvenirs. This day was just wonderful for me and I will never forget it. I am really sad to leave all this beautiful people because they are all so special but I know that I am going to take lots of memories with me and South Africa was for me a time that changed my life and I will never forget. Cadine from Austria
[
JVC CONFERENCE From 23 to 26 April 2010 YFU South Africa’s Junior Volunteer Council (JVC) gathered for a conference in Cape Town. The much anticipated conference was a great success, and it was inspiring to have an enthusiastic group of young, like-minded people gather to decide on a new course for the JVC. Bonding- The team bonded on Friday night in the unique Stellenbosch student-atmosphere, with everyone really enjoyed getting to know the ‘less serious’ side of their team members. Working - On Saturday morning the team was up bright and early, and the JVC Conference 2010 was opened on time by JVC Co-ordinator, Jaymion. The agenda involved receiving feedback on how YFU was running and the status on the amount of volunteer work being done by the junior representatives of each region. We then went on to discuss the history of YfU International, as well as the role of YfU South Africa and its importance for promoting inter-cultural tolerance and understanding in our society. New faces- Yvonne Matheison, who runs the Durbanville Kinderhuis in the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town, receives many foreign exchange volunteers from YFU, and is one several new
JVC members. Her experience with volunteering and working with abused children, granted us the opportunity to learn more about what volunteerism entails. Her words were very inspiring to the team, and she gave invaluable and perceptive guidance to the Council throughout Saturday’s discussions. New portfolios - The JVC was very excited and proud to announce the birth of 7 new portfolios namely Marketing and Media, Administration and Databases, School Presentations, Host Families, Orientations, Volunteer Training and last but certainly not least, Social Responsibility will be addressed. More news about these later!! Saturday evening- Everyone was feeling quite drained from a very productive day. We had a great braai and spent the rest of the evening playing pool with some other, rather enthusiastic… backpackers. Last day- The team took a little longer to emerge from bed on Sunday morning, but we tackled the JVC’s identity, the International Basic Standards document, created our own mission statement, drafted a Constitution; and elected a board of volunteers to oversee the functioning of the JVC for the next two years.
The JVC’s new board comprises of: Chairperson- Jaymion, Vice-Chairperson – Fez, Secretary – Erin, Treasurer- Keegan Portfolio Representative – Ngoako. Goodbye till next time - Sadly, the weekend came to an end however, the JVC has just begun, and promises to do wonders in the year to come. Well done to who attended as we made phenomenal strides in a short time. We will strive to become an indispensable asset to our great organisation!
More news next time – as well as photographs!!