Hanging at the YMCA... Not the Village People version.

After a fun weekend of mayhem around Cape Town and Camps Bay with the Creme de le Creme of the social scene it's time for me to get back to real life and back to the grind. I can't even say grind without laughing, because I love what I'm doing here. Neil, Simon, Bertha, Elbe, Yendi, Paul, Nadine, Paul and the rest of the fabulous crew thank you for so much, I had a blast!

Today I met with the Cape Town YMCA and was able to see real heroes in action. Llowelyn, Carmen, and Adorian as well as the rest of the staff are living angels. This group runs after school programs, summer camps, drug rehabilitation and a violence intervention and prevention programs. Through "Seeds of Empowerment" I will be running a story telling workshop with their young adults as well as teaching their leaders how to run these sessions so they can empower their youth long term. Everyone has a story....

Llowelyn and Carmen took me to another YMCA office and this one was in the middle of the Athlone Township. I got a crash course in the youth and violence that they are up against. The gangs in South Africa idolize the "American gang". This makes me so sad. As they drove me through the township I was able to see the graffiti and what block is owned by what gang. The numbers that are in the graffiti show what kind of gang it is. 26 means commercial crimes - theft etc, 27 means assault, 28 means sexual violence. The gangs tag (graffiti) might be called "American - British Flag -26". In order to get this number you have to get one in jail. This is the cycle they are trying to break...

I have had a few lessons since I arrived in South Africa - the difference between a black person and a colored person and how the people were put into these townships by the color of their skin, texture of their hair, size of lips etc... Growing up as a Twinkie, being categorized by the color of your skin is so foreign it's hard to wrap my hands around.

Africa Unite meeting and worlds colliding....

Thursday I had my first official meeting with Africa Unite, a non-government organization(NGO). I found this group by doing an online search of NGOs in Cape Town. I read about the great things they are doing in this area and just had to contact them. I sent them an e-mail (who knew I would use my "cold calling" sales skills this year?) and set up a meeting.

I asked the front desk at the hotel if I could walk to the location, and they said I should take a taxi. After hopping in the taxi, we were at a stop light when the fancy Mercedes Benz next to us waved and told the driver to roll down the window. The driver and the Benz guy talked for a second and we both drove off. The taxi driver was very proud to let me know that the gentleman in the fancy car was a MP. In my little brain I was thinking "what is a MP? Master Rapper? No,that would be MR, Master Police Officer?, No that would be MPO". I swallowed my pride and ask what a MP is.... "It's a Member of Parliament" he said... Well I guess you learn something new every day. The taxi driver mentioned that he drives many famous people around.... He had Brad Pitt in the car a little while ago..

I arrived at the Africa Unite office and announced myself to the guard at the front of the building... apparently I did not read the addresses correctly. I went to the wrong building. Happily I was only one building off.

I met Zoe and had a great meeting with him and his staff. We are going to be running story telling workshops to empower the youth in the "Township" area. This is the really poor area. They were also very excited about the CDs from TeachAIDS, and we discussed how this will help educate their people. I asked how far the Township was and they informed me that it's only about 20 minutes away but it's a totally different world. They will be taking me as I am NOT allowed to go alone. We're working out the dates when I will visit and work with the children and young adults.

A little about Africa Unite via their web page. They are looking for any help with their site... should anyone like to do pro bono work I can connect you!

"Africa Unite (AU)is a non-profit, non-governmental organization and was formed in response to concerns voiced by young adults living in Cape Town. Initially started in 2001 as part of IDASA (Institute for Democracy in South Africa), it became autonomous in 2004. AU is community based and believes in working from within communities to create a better future for it's residents. The founders of AU have highlighted the problems of crime, xenophobia, racism, unemployment and lack of education as the basic problems facing the youth of the communities they work into."

After the meeting I came back to the hotel and decided to explore the waterfront area. I took the shuttle and was dropped off at the Clock Tower with the rest of the tourists. This is an interesting area: you may see street performers, soccer ball shaped boats and all the "African Tchotchkes" you would ever want. Zebra pelt... they have them, any kind of FIFA World Cup Gear you could imagine, hand carved wood things... got em..... Nelson Mandela T-Shirts... yep. I wandered over the water bridge and ended up at a mall. Not just a mall, a giant mall. I walked in not really in the mood to buy anything but just wanted to look around. I went into a few local clothing companies... super-cute clothes. Not wanting to schlep them around the rest of my journey, I decide against the beautiful red coat that was calling my name. I walked farther into this mega-mall, turned the corner and both of my mother ships were gleaming in the florescent mall lighting..... Louis Vuitton and Gucci.... I strolled past the windows looking at the the new collections and had a "worlds colliding" moment. In the next few days I will be going to to poorest of the poor areas of Cape Town, Durban, and Kigali... YUPPIE guilt sets in :( I walked back to the hotel and milled over this guilt and my place in the world....

Did I mention I added a few days in Nairobi Kenya? I am :)

My first day in Cape Town..

My first 24+ hours in South Africa have been fantastic. I received a personal tour of Cape Town from my cab driver from the airport on the way to my hotel. It kind of felt like Chevy Chase's 1983 "National Lampoon's Vacation"... with the driver pointing out things of interest, The Harbor, Table Mountain, a few islands etc... He mentioned that Cape Town has many wine areas...I read an article a few years ago about South Africa being the "New Hot Wine Region". I'll be investigating and reporting back on this matter.

I arrived at the Westin Grand, Cape Town, Arabella Quays around 11:00am. Check in isn't until 3 but the nice guy at the desk said it would be ready soon and "did I care to go to the spa and relax"? Ummmm.... Yes I would love to knowing that the gym is in the spa. I've been sitting for what seems like a million years and need to do something. So here I am rummaging through my bag trying to find my gym clothes and not throw panties or other clothes items all over the fancy lobby. I head to the gym and got a nice workout in. How could it be bad when the gym is on the 19th floor overlooking the harbor? I was delighted to shower off all my yucky airplaneness in the serene spa.

I headed down to the lobby and my room was ready. Have I told you how much I love my Starwood AMEX? She's good to me. I'm a big fan of the Starwood Hotels. Very consistent. Nice boy at front desk places me in the King Deluxe room (I think I ordered a queen). Yea! The reason I tell you about what kind of room I'm in is there is no need to worry about my safety while at the hotel. I'm on the 15th floor with a beautiful view of the water! After exiting the elevator you have to swipe your card key to get through the bullet proof glass doors to get onto my floor.

I walked down to the waterfront area. This is like pier 39 on crack. Took some PEEPS pictures, walked through a few stores and decided it was happy hour. I went to a micro-brewery and had a local beer, yes people, I veered from my tried and true Bud Light. The dad-type guys two seats down from me were clearly American, hard to spot. I asked them where they were from. Mark and Greg are from Washington DC and they are here for some convention.

I came back to the hotel and took a little nap. Planned out my first meeting with Africa Unite in the morning.

The journey begins

I know I mentioned this in my first entry but I’m feeling the need to say thank you to my incredible friends and family. Elisabeth threw me best birthday / bon voyage party on Sunday. It was very humbling to have so many people that I care about in one place.

I thought I would be nervous getting my final things together for the trip but was actually pretty calm. I started my day out by getting my 3rd knee injection. Only 2 more to go! Yea! So far so good, still not allowed to run but can cause any other kind of mayhem.

My parents and Elisabeth took me to the airport and waited until I made me way through security. How fantastic, the last thing I saw was my Mom, Dad, and Elisabeth waving…. Very cause celeb.

I walked down to the same gate we took to Cabo San Lucas a few years ago. At least this time I didn’t run into a hurricane warning leading to a flight cancelation. I saw the cutest guy ever sitting 6 rows in front of me. What a doll! No I didn’t talk to him, what was I going to say… "ummm duh… hi"??? You never know how the airplane seat lottery will turn out… lucky me I had a homely older man next to me. Well maybe in the next 16 flights I will have someone fun to sit next to. One can only hope.

The flight to London was pretty easy. I have decided that any flights under 5 hours are a big mountain of suck. You don’t really have time to get any decent sleep and the babies never stop crying. At least when the flights are 10+ hours you can have your little snack and a Xanix to knock you out. I have made it a point to order “special” meals when I fly long distance. They seem to be a little more palpable. I didn’t say good but marginal at best. My choice was the low fat option; sometimes I’ll go crazy and order the vegan vegetarian meal. It’s fun to see how veggies and fruit can be messed up. I watched “Up in the Air” and took a nice little nap.

I’m currently sitting in the Heathrow airport with a few hours down and a few more to go before a hop on my next flight. What is the deal with airports with no Wi-Fi? I’m feeling very circa 1986. Panic sets in… My IPod Touch is almost out of juice and I packed my converters in my checked baggage… the question at hand is do I spend a billion British Pounds to buy a converter? I decide against buying a new one. At least I will have my IPod Shuffle to drown out my airplane seat neighbor. But hooray!!!!! I remember I can charge my IPod Touch via my net book! Happy panda!

What would we do without our IPods? I so remember the day of schlepping cassette tapes with the ever so handy “Walkman”. Half your carry-on bag was full of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pat Benitar, The Cure, Grateful Dead, Bob Marley, Fleetwood Mac, Siouxie and the Banshees, Footloose soundtrack… etc… My parents and I were reminiscing about the worst TWA flight ever… 1997 returning from Israel and our layover in Shannon. Ireland turned into my worst nightmare ever… we were stuck on the tarmac for over 5 hours and not allowed to get off the plane because we were coming from Israel. My mom and I were in the back of the plane. We had 10+ babies and toddlers under the age of 2. And to make things ever better, my Walkman BROKE!!!!!

My shoes got vetoed by my dear friend Agata

Eeeekkk! I leave in less than 3 days and am still scrambling to make last minute decisions.

I had done some shopping in preparation for my trip, trying to be conscious about the haute couture in each of the countries I am going to visit. Did you know that as a woman, showing your knees in Rwanda is like showing too much cleavage? So the hunt begins for skirts that go below my knees. All of my skirts are either right above or at my knee... how embarrassing to show up with your "knees" showing.

I was also on the hunt for "sensible" shoes (this is an oxymoron in my world)... How silly of me. You would think that in my two shoe closets (my dad calls me Imelda Marcos) I would have at least a pair to take.

I found the cutest pair of PINK Manolo Blanik strappy flat sandals. I sent a text to my fellow fashionista Elisabeth to make sure these would suffice for my adventure. I received the "go ahead" on the new shoes! To my sadness the next day I got word from Agata (who has lived in South Africa) that she was vetoing my shoe choice :( I'm back to square one.

Africa adventure extended.... Zambia!

I had a second meeting today with Piya, Founder and CEO of TeachAIDS. Have I told you how amazing this organization is? It is absolutely fabulous! I's so excited to be working with two incredible organizations, Seeds of Empowerment and TeachAIDS. During the last meeting Piya and I discussed extending my trip to Zambia. After a very nice conversation with the people from United Airlines, my ticket was changed and Zambia is added to the "Bethany goes to Africa" adventure.

This is a little about TeachAIDS from Piya.

Founded at the Stanford University School of Education, TeachAIDS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works to educate individuals about HIV/AIDS prevention despite social and cultural challenges. TeachAIDS utilizes a rigorous, research-based process to develop medically-accurate, culturally-tailored HIV/AIDS educational animations. Based on original Stanford IRB-approved research, these interactive applications were developed by an interdisciplinary team of experts in the fields of education, communications, public health, and medicine to target young learners. In partnership with international organizations, and incorporating the voices of global celebrities, TeachAIDS disseminates free animated curricula to educators around the world. TeachAIDS materials have been tested with tremendous success in numerous developing regions and are currently used in more than 25 countries, including South Africa, China, Rwanda, Botswana, India and the United States. www.teachaids.org

The Countdown begins...

In 11 days I will be heading off to my first of hopefully many trips abroad. I'll be representing "Seeds of Empowerment"(SOE) and "TeachAIDS".

I'm so excited I can barely get my thoughts together to start packing! I am ahead of the curve: I've had all my vaccinations and other logistics taken care of except for the anti-malaria medications. Not super excited about these - I've heard they cause funny dreams. Just perfect for someone that doesn't sleep well to begin with.

After 24 hours in the air not including my eight hour layover in London (maybe I'll go visit Harry Potter), my first stop is in Cape Town, South Africa. My second stop is in Durban, South Africa. I will be running story telling workshops, networking with local non-government organizations, solidifying existing relationships for both of my groups, and meeting with some incredible people. My third stop will be a long journey to Kigali, Rwanda. I will be interviewing the women that SOE empowers through micro-finance projects. These incredible women are genocide survivors and HIV positive.

Seeds of Empowerment

After an energizing meeting with the "Seeds of Empowerment" team yours truly is the newest member. Bethany L. Willbanks, Director of International Relations. This is the organization profile from Neha, the Executive Director.

Be a part of the story

The world today is divided into two —the powerful and the powerless. It is the powerless around the world that remain unvoiced and underserved.

Empowerment will bridge the gap between these worlds and education is the foundation of such bridges, because after all an educated generation is the first to break out of the poverty trap. Recognizing the gap between human needs and access, Seeds of Empowerment team intends to plant seeds that will help under privileged communities around the world, break the poverty trap. The Seeds of Empowerment team is dedicated to making sure these people have access to an education and that their stories are heard. Our projects, volunteers work with under served communities in the areas of development of knowledge, skills and abilities in individuals that allows them to become self-sustainable and make a difference in their life and their communities.

Seeds of Empowerment is non-profit arm of XRI, a 501(c) (3) organization, a spin-off of the Stanford University School of Education. XRI Global was formed with the vision to develop educational tools that aim to provide sustainable development in the under-privileged areas around the world. We provide a common platform for projects, initiatives and entrepreneurial ventures to converge and collectively work towards achieving our objective of empowering the underserved.

Our Objectives

ü Self-sustainability: Provide support and assistance in developing skills that becomes the back bone for independence and freedom of under-privileged communities

ü Education: Initiate and execute ventures in taking basic education to those who don’t have access to it. Literacy is the key to empowerment and a primary stimulant in enhancing human skill.

ü Entrepreneurship: Encourage and support individuals to use their skills in building innovative business models. Assist entrepreneurial ventures which help local economies to grow and provide incentives to all.

ü Development: Facilitate the development of projects that help under-privileged societies to prosper, propagate peace and eliminate conflict.

Our Mission

The Seeds of Empowerment team intends to develop and implement projects that will “plant seeds of hope and opportunity” for the underserved around the world. Our projects use cutting-edge technology to create self-sustaining business models that empower the powerless by improving their access to an education.

Our Projects

ü Pocket School: Is a project that aims to use and provide mobile technology as a solution for sustainable education channels, for children who don’t have access to good education. The development of educational programs and the affordability of new devices create an opportunity to help bring literacy and education to those who previously would not have that option.

SOE | XRI is undergoing needs analyses of villages in Latin America. Children at each village are given mobile learning devices, and effectiveness studies are currently underway. We’ve taken this initiative in UN refugee camps in Africa and the project is being explored & volunteers are working on initial stages of the project in Uganda. Our initiatives in rural India have been very successful and we are working with local non-profits to expand our reach.

ü 1001 Stories: Is a project that aims to explore the creation of a micro creative economy which would provide means to fund and promote literacy development in underserved areas. This project focuses on a literacy development and sustainment program by establishing a micro creative economy model – an economy that taps into a natural resource entitled to every individual – creativity. We are working on economic models that are designed to leverage the rapidly emerging social networking infrastructure and the global mobile network in developing countries.

We will help children learn to read and write stories and collect these stories written by children and share it with the world through mobile applications and social networking platforms. The proceeds of sales of these applications and downloads will fund the education of these children. This will help create a self-empowering and self-sustaining blended entrepreneurship model for the under-privileged which will encourage and motivate them to reap the benefits of the creative economy of the 21^st century.

ü Storytelling Entrepreneur: Is a project that is working towards collecting real life success stories of those who tap the opportunities that micro-credit provides. Local entrepreneurs will share their stories in digital formats, talking about micro-finance and launching businesses to become self-sustainable. The success stories are to be made available through mobile learning devices for those who would like to learn what micro-credits are, where to start such entrepreneurial projects, and how to get help. The second stage would be to distribute entrepreneurship education games designed to teach basic computation skills, investment strategies, and planning a venture with a micro-credit program.

Past projects include initiatives towards HIV/ Aids and Avian Influenza education and a Cyber Bully education program