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 :)