World AIDS Day

There were two things to celebrate today, World Aids Day and Liberation Day, obviously two very important causes in South Africa. We did a minute of silence at placement with the children and one back at the home base with all the volunteers. When you think 1000 people a day die of AIDS in South Africa alone, the battle is far from being won. At placement, representatives of a cement company came to make a big donation to the hospital and give some goody bags to the kids. The bags were full of sweets so the children were over the moon. Little pleasures….

The children were very agitated again today. It must be the holidays coming. It is hard for me to realise that Christmas is less then a month away when it is 28 degrees outside. I am use to my Canadian white Christmas!

After work, we went to the District Six museum. District six was a multicultural area of Cape Town before the apartheid. When the regime was put in place, they declared this area a white only area so the vast majority of the residents were forced to move to the townships outside the city. Whole families were separated and, since the people were sent far from the city centre, they couldn’t afford the commute to work and lost their jobs. All of this because non-whites were considered inferior and the government didn’t want them to be seen in their cities. This makes me so angry.

On the way back, we stopped at a nice bakery call Charly’s bakery. It is located a stone throw away from Oprah’s office

Charly's Bakery, Cape Town

in Cape Town. Apparently, this is her favourite place to buy cakes in Cape Town. I have to admit they are really nice. Back at the home base, I had my third and last Afrikaans lesson. I can’t say that I can speak the language, but it was good fun trying.

I am going to bed now. This project is a fantastic experience but an exhausting one. Good night…

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