5/18/09 - The Internship

I had my orientation and a half-day at work today. Since the orientation was scheduled to start between 9 and 10 in the morning, I got to sleep a bit later than I will on normal workdays. I met Jason (different Jason than the one I live with), who taught me about the trains and took me to the Projects Abroad main office. There, I met Alyssa, who is the desk officer for Projects Abroad in Cape Town. I was thrilled when she let me use Skype to call my parents. I had tried to call them the night before using my calling card, but I had not been able to get the card to work.
I soon heard that Sarah, the other new volunteer who flew in on my flight, was very sick and would not make it to orientation today. This reminded me that I’m so lucky to be healthy! (Knock on wood!) Since Alyssa had to go visit Sarah, she introduced me to Lucinda, the Volunteer Coordinator. Lucinda conducted my orientation and told me a bit about her life. She also told me about a trip she was planning to climb Table Mountain and sleep at the top…I told her I’m definitely in! During my orientation, I saw Cavendish Mall and had lunch at a great restaurant with fresh juices--I was so happy to have a glass of OJ!!!
The Human Rights Office Manager, Theodore Kamwimbi, has an incredible background in human rights law. He is extremely passionate about his work. I know I can learn a lot from him. Today, even though I was only at the office for a few hours, I had the opportunity to sit in on meetings for 2 people who came into the office. Both cases involved unfair treatment of refugees. I also got to meet several of the other volunteers at the office.
Dinner at the Martins was fabulous tonight! Mrs. Martin prepared me a special vegetarian meal that I enjoyed immensely. Over dinner, the conversation was very interesting. Mrs. Martin told the story of her family moving into their current home. In apartheid times, only whites inhabited the neighborhood. The Martins were the first colored family to move in, and they faced discrimination from some of their neighbors. As I walked back from work today, I noticed tremendous racial diversity in the area. It made me so happy to see how quickly some types of change are taking place!