Miss Lily

I arrived here as the project manager of a team of local Zulus as well as internationals and had little or no clue of the task set before me and even less about the surrounding area and culture.When you google St Lucia you firstly end up in the Caribbean Islands! But after reading the it was “the pearl of South Africa” I thought to myself it could not be too bad? ;) Four weeks later I got to know the hidden plan and got promoted to Business Manager,

“accountable for the operational and financial management as well as the development of the two volunteer projects”.

Even though I had experience in most of what was needed on paper, I had set myself up for a challenge and little did I know how often I would say ”This was not in my job description!” Most times with a smile on my face but not every time. =) To start the morning with either joining in on a dance in the kitchen or having to fix a flat tyre (oh all the tyres I have fixed or bought this year!) or jump starting one of the cars before the team meeting was not a rare occasion. I do not think many people have spent this much time with their mechanic on a monthly basis but I got not only cars fixed but relationship and leadership advice at the same time, hence the chocolate cake I gave him this week (you better enjoy it Graham!).

Neither was the times in the description when I had to clean the pool pump or measure the pH, fix a toilet and pipes when water was leaking or dig trenches in the garden to get the massive water downpour away from the house that was built during the drought (not your fault Larry, thank you to all the volunteers that helped us!).

Not to forget all the times me as a dog owner was put to the challenge when Maverick and Vlekkie decided to wake us up in the middle of the night, destroy things or eat our food, poop in very inappropriate places or just being dogs that needed too much attention.

I loved every second of it! How boring my life would have been without these moments.

Management wise I would like to see myself as a kind leader that tries to be there as much as possible for my employees and be their friend in order to create loyalty and a nice atmosphere in the workplace, but I would never have imagine having to support the team with the things I have this year as a manager anywhere else.

I was a driving instructor for quite some time, helped one of the team when his roof came off during a storm one night and unfortunately had to support most of the team members in deaths or sicknesses or both in their families. To be called “the police” in town as well as their mother after keeping them straight regarding partying in this small town where everyone knows everything about everyone was something I never thought was going to be a part of the job. Nor to be there as a sister when relationships went downhill even though it was what anyone would do when you live with everyone so close.

All this along with being what I should be; A manager.

The nature of this job has helped us all to become a big family and the support back that I have gotten from my team when things have been tough privately as well as work wise has helped me keep seeing the amazing everyday tasks and activities we have had.

 I have loved our team meeting in the strangest ways and places, being with Alanna in the Toyota Hilux when waiting for the other car to be finished at Grahams, in Kassies bed at Papaya with Carla and Maverick snuggled up in my arms or out on the jetty to watch the sunset with a Savannah in our hands.

One of my proudest moments this year must be the opening of Inkanyezi Crèche. After years of fund raising and months of building bricks for the building we managed to build the classroom this year. It was three weeks of pushing and shouting at the builders in order to work together with our volunteers with the tasks, to get the right material and paint, to know that you would be behind schedule even though they said it wouldn't be (its Zulu land who are they kidding?) while at the same time try to run the projects like normal with an unexpected influx of lovely volunteers from Mozambique making us double up on houses, team members etc. in a matter of 4 days. On top of that we had a group of 22 high school students coming in for three days to help with the building with the need of coordination. Thank you Michelle, Alanna, Carla, Kassie and Stef for being amazing and helping with all the hard work this period! If that was a peak season we had it!

To be able to sit at the opening on the 18^thJuly and see it all being finished in time and hear the gratitude from the community for what we had done will be with me forever. To see that because of our attention to the crèche more children would attend every day and representatives from the Department of Welfare and Education noticed the potential which in later stage can give Mama Gumede the funds and resources needed to keep the crèche grow with the good care and teaching she gives them now.

To not be able to see my Support Group on Tuesday mornings will be hard. We have had so many good mornings of discussions about HIV, TB, Healthy Living and food and other health topics. A favourite of mine was Discrimination where we talked about the way people are being treated because they are black/white, male/female, young/old etc. The strongest stories came up when the ladies talked about how their neighbours shout at them for touching their kids because they have HIV, or wont let them use the same knives and forks or do the dishes. They are sometimes completely pushed away from everyone, even though statistics tell that the people that treat them like that probably have the same sickness, they just do not know it because they are too afraid to get tested. We talked a lot about not being afraid to know and show your status, that the more open everyone are the easier it will be in the future.

So many people still die every day although you never get used to hear about the home based care patient that passed away Tuesday or the support group members family member Saturday. I have been to more funerals in these 15 months than the rest of my life combined and I can only imagine how it must be for the people that live in the community. I loved the fact that our support group gave some of them a peaceful place to talk and support each other every week, with a lovely finale with Yoga David who also invited us to his house for special treats and the bowling club for some games.

This year has been THE hardest year in my life work wise. Everyone kept telling me that volunteer project life is not for everyone, it is the hardest thing you can do and I do believe them now. On paper I was going to make sure that the volunteers experience was above expectations with the help of my team, make sure that the team was happy and hard working and keep track of all the expense and income, budgets and tracking of cost centres with me sitting in front of the computer a lot of times. To balance the administrative work with the actual operation of the project is hard, which is why the long hours of this job is a fact.

In order to make everyone of the volunteers and staff happy you sometimes have to go miles longer than you sometimes have the energy for, being there as a friend, nurse, comforter and coordinator always with a smile on your face. It is hospitality work 24 hours of the day and so many times a planned day in the office was changed due to, as we say on the schedule, weather or Africa.

To live in South Africa and especially Zululand has given me some extra spice on the challenges, anyone who has been a volunteer or team member here knows it. No matter how much we plan and prepare for plan Bs, there will always be room for some unforeseen events. After confirming a meeting three times the person still does not show up, why would he? Being invited to the event at 9 am with the promise of NOT having Africa Time and we show up at 10 just to be safe, only to wait a couple of more hours for it to start can annoy anyone that is used to be productive and efficient in their work day. When you have around ten to fifteen volunteers that are not happy it is even more frustrating, because you know how they are feeling but do not have a good solution other than

“it is the culture”.

There is many things with Zulu culture that I have a hard time accepting, just as much as some of the new generation of the zulus and hopefully that will one day change and make things here better in regards to HIV/AIDS rate. But one part of the culture is why I love it so much here, the singing and dancing of Zululand will forever fill my heart.

The smiles of the children in the crèches we work in when learning the ABC, healthy foods, wild animals and their eyes glistering when singing about bananas and teddy bears. The primary school students and adults who are so eager to learn in the English courses and reading clubs we offer and the happiness after succeeding in our HIV Awareness courses. The smiles of the people that have so little but somehow makes it work. Don't ask me how, but they do. People here are struggling, due to HIV/AIDS, due to unemployment, due to minimal health care and due to bad education system and incentives for teachers. I feel very proud of what we do here in Dukuduku area as I see how much we are needed. Even though it is no one man/organisations job to help everyone in the right way we are following the right track with sustainability in mind and seeing the difference every day, small or big.

 

 

It was with a lot of tears in my eyes I waved goodbye to my team last week, the amazing ladies that has helped me this year. Shwele with her amazing way with children and her acting skills when telling people in HIV Ed how to go into the clinic and get the free condoms without feeling embarrassed. Nokwethemba “the queen” with her incredible networking skills and strong care for our patients and support group members every day. Nonhlahla with her lovely food that I will miss greatly and her laughter that made mesmile every time sitting in the office underneath the kitchen. Mumsy with her perfectionism in the house and her singing when she thought no one heard her, so full of energy. Zakhele with his “I can do everything” attitude in the garden and friendliness out on projects, and all our hours in the car hopefully paid off! Not to forget is Sindie, Mpho, Zanele, Thobile, Nonhlahla who all helped during our busy season. You are all amazing people and you taught me a lot in my time here about strength and pride.

I don't even know how to begin to thank the rest of the team that I not only worked with during the days but also spent my evenings, weekends and most of my time awake and asleep with in my months here. Michelle as my manager before she left has given me so much support all the way through with her wise questions and many times answers. She showed me the way and kept me on track in my days of doubt and exhaustion, even when she was on the other side of the country.

Alanna, my project manager, team ally, friend and saviour a lot of times. How would I have done this without her and her “everyone is replaceable” attitude? ;) The passion she has for these projects are rarely seen. I will never forget our day getting lost in Richards Bay, our discussions in the office even though one of us was in the bathroom, the day we had to record everything we had gotten back from the burglars after our break in when the burglar was still in the police car in our garden and in general all the hard work we went through this year withtears but mostly laughter and internal jokes of “shit girls say” and making fun of Afrikaans language and people. I truly believe that I made this lonely child with little or no desire for hugs and closeness a bit more soft this year. =)

Xenia with her creativity and art skills, her American loudness ;) and fun seeking, not to forget the Iced Coffees that saved our days in summer time! Will never forget our times in Babs.

Stef which (taking away her hate towards cats) I adore! This young girl with her hard working and caring personality jumped straight into my heart and that's where she is staying. Always listening and understanding and always ready for a new challenge.

Kassie that came to our rescue from Mozambique,we wish we could have had her and her organising skills with us longer! Nothing was hard to do and most importantly; without her we would not have found the American rapper in ourselves.

Carla with her love and caring self, always there for me when I needed her. Although Im sure it was one of her hardest years as well she managed to smile when I could not and her happy dancing and games gave us all the best athmosphere at Mangos guest house.

Miriam with her amazing fund raising skills gave us good resources to bring many people good Christmas presents and engage the locals around her to our cause. More importantly she helped introduce our grilled chicken on weekends and supported Alanna in the Kardashians series race we so often had to relax. =)

Oh Yeah.

I could keep writing a book about this year but I will stop now. To have been apart of all this has been an honour, to meet all the 129 volunteers we have had this year, to see the progress made, the love for the organisation grow in the community and to be able to be included in this part of the world like this has been the most rewarding part of my life. A big thank you to everyone involved.

These projects will forever make me sing melodies in my heart.