I’ve decided to write a weekly reflection on my experiences to consolidate some of the ramblings I’ve had throughout the week. It’s crazy to think a week has already passed by since we boarded the plane and set for South Africa, and the first week has, I’m sure, defined much of what the rest of the trip will be like.

Today is a good place to start, bringing an end to the ‘introductory’ period of the trip by offering us our schedules for work, with a 9am start at the Vegetable Gardens (woop!). Today is also the first day where I feel properly settled, in the town and at my new home. Whilst this is largely a good thing, it can also mean paying less attention to the good habits I’d like to encourage as the time passes by.

We met in the morning to decide where we’d work, only a handful being granted their preference. We then visited the Lief en Leed group – Lief meaning love and Leed meaning hardship, an apt name for the town’s disabled group. It was inspirational to see the group; their work is fantastic – fashioning hand crafted baskets to tailored cushions. After each of the group was introduced they sang a rhyme for us to welcome us to their town. Further uplifting was to learn that the board of the group was made up of its active members, itself being established by a disabled man. From visiting the crèche the previous day and being followed by children the day prior, to seeing a group of largely mature disabled adults, was quite a powerful transition. It gives a stark example of the diversity of the town, something often missed or avoided in the cosmopolitan areas from which we hail. Respect to one of the previous groups (yes you may gloat) for bringing together the youth group and the disabled group for the first time last year.

The afternoon consisted of a mass consumption of ‘Go Slo’ tomato flavoured crisps, easily some of the nicest crisps I’ve tasted. We then had our ‘weekly meeting’, ending the week with discussion surrounding what we’d done so far and highlighting any issues or problems that had occurred. Whilst the majority of it felt like a purely bureaucratic task, the atmosphere transformed when we reached the section regarding issues or complaints within the group. At first everyone was quiet – expressing that so far we’d been getting along well. As soon as one issue was raised, however, they came pouring out.

Today I wore my Palestina Libre T-shirt in support of the Floatilla. It depicts Che Guevara as with a Kafiyeh, a popular drawing by artist Latuff to symbolise solidarity in the common struggle for freedom. It received a good few looks and comments, including one from the library security guard who said “You’ll get me one of those sweaters yes? I like General Gaddafi.” The comment which frustrated me was when a fellow group member said: “I didn’t imagine you were a Che Guevara supporter. Why not? Well, Che Guevara was a terrorist.”

I can’t express a better example to summarise the week than that quote, apologies if you don’t get it.

The field was swamped with young people playing sport. Despite the hype surrounding the World Cup, Football, or Soccer, is not South Africa’s sport. I walked to the field and joined in a game (something I’d struggle to do in the UK). Guys were just sat around on the floor, others wandering around the pitch, uninterested. When I questioned why they weren’t playing – they answered with one word: “Rugby”. I was surprised to see them take the game so light heartedly, and with such little enthusiasm. We abruptly finished as a group of other young guys arrived, and I saw that they were now ready to play a real game of a real sport – Rugby.

The day drew to an end with a visit to the drama group’s rehearsal at the house where one of the volunteers is staying. I’ve never expressed huge interest in song and dance, but watching the group of all different ages was fantastic. Not only were they well choreographed, but they could actually sing, and listening to those voices lifted my soul. Speaking to another volunteer later, I heard how everyone in the room was in tears listening to the slow, moving songs they performed.

And that is the week in summary! Random mutterings interspersed with uplifting moments, eye opening events and let’s not forget the quotes:

“I used to have a microwave so I could do ‘ping n dings’…but then it broke.”