Gap Year Students

Caitlin

There are literally no words to describe the feeling I get when I think of my experience in South Africa. Whether I’m thinking of the inspirational people I met, the amazing friends I made, or the places I visited and volunteered for. South Africa really is the most lovely place, and as Fiona said, although it is filled with such corruption, it is masked by the friendly occupants and blinding smiles. It has that loving homely feeling, which makes it a place sure to be missed by anyone who visits.

I have been back for over two months now, and it still hasn’t sunk in that I have left. I miss every single person I met, because no matter how close I got with them, they all made an impact on me as they all had such inspiring, gleeful personalities that I could never forget. I look at all our pictures and think of all our memories a lot, and of course it always makes me sad, but at the same time I can never help but smile. I still feel joy when I look back on their optimism, and the songs they would sing - it comes so naturally to them and is lovely to see how happy it makes them.

It was such an honour to volunteer for the people we did, and since I have returned from Durban, I have been asked the same question countless times - ‘What was your favourite placement?’ I have no choice but to give the same answer every time - I couldn’t choose. All the placements were unique and inspiring in different ways.

Place of Safety was definitely an eye opener. I met lots of children there who ranged in age from week old babies to primary school pupils. It is a halfway house, which is where the kids go until they are either adopted or put into a childrens home. It was an amazing place, as it had various different rooms to match the childrens needs. There was a room for the babies, rooms for the toddlers, classrooms for the primary school girls, and a creche (the creche definitely being the most stressful to work in - the kids saw this as an opportunity to run wild and test us Scottish girls’ patience!) We saw some heartbreaking moments in Place of Safety, such as children becoming ill and we would see the changes in them each week, however we also witnessed some children becoming healthier each week which was amazing as you could see how the staff at Place of Safety were caring for them. We also saw children being adopted, watching them being taken into a car with a standard South African grin on their face! Charis and I left earlier than everyone else, but we were told that after we left, many more were adopted or put into childrens homes which is great news.

Fiona described Bobbi Bear perfectly, it really must be hard to work with these kids because they all have such heartbreaking stories - but you would never know it. They are all really brave, and I’m not surprised at their bravery, as they have Jackie and her team giving them support and hope every day. They really are inspirational.

As Alex said, it is nice to see my friends and family here but I will never stop thinking about my friends and Jabulani family over there. We had a Jabulani reunion a couple of weeks ago and it was amazing (thanks Waldo!) - it felt just like we were back in Tekweni and it was so much fun to reminisce.

I am so proud of how far Jabulani Project has come, and I’m excited to see how far it will go as Isaac is still out there, doing us all proud and keeping Jabulani alive, and our duty over here in Scotland is to think of different ways to raise money to put into the project. It is an honour to be a part of this, and to be part of our amazing South African family! Being in South Africa has without a doubt been the best experience of my life, and I can never thank Waldo enough for giving us all the opportunity.