I’ve realized, with all my introspection and freaking out over safari animals, I haven’t really broken down what it is I do here in a day (or even what I am doing here in the first place), so I decided to write this post as kind of a cover-all summation of just how I came to be in Pietermaritzburg. A part 2 will cover "day in the life" info, so stay tuned!
I’ve definitely not taken the most sensible road through my undergrad degree. It started after a gap year, and has been a winding path ever since; this April was technically the end of my 6th year of university, and I won’t be crossing a stage in a cap and gown until (at least) April of 2020. As probably a lot of you know (cause lets face it, this blog is mostly just gonna be read by my mom and dad), I study anthropology at UVic. This field is my favourite thing in the world, in large part due to the broad nature of the study – the field itself is broken up into biological anthropology, which covers everything from primatology to medical anthropology, cultural anthropology, which is more the ethnographic-researcher-in-the-community branch, and archaeology, which itself is quite a spectrum with focuses like bioarchaeology or marine historical ecology. All this has meant that for the past 6 years I have been bouncing between areas of focus and ideas about my future in research; it seems that after an archaeology-heavy term, I am set in being the next Indiana Jones… but come the next term as I spend my time under a pile of primate behavioural ecology notes, I am destined to be the next Jane Goodall. Basically at this point, the only thing I actually am certain of is that I love anthropology, and can’t picture myself doing anything else for the rest of my life.
Another huge draw for me about anth work is that it is inherently work that takes you around the globe. Because of this, it only made sense that I balanced my in-classroom learning with ‘educational fieldtrips’, right? In this way, I have been unbelievably lucky; all in all, I’ve done 3 months in the UK in the fall of 2013, 3 months in Europe in the spring of 2014, 4 months in Southeast Asia in the spring of 2017, and 4 more months in UK/Europe in the fall of 2018. That brings us up to today, where I am spending a whopping 7 months in southern Africa. I may be a little behind in my future savings and investments (sorry dad), but the way I see it, I’ve invested in my future in a different way (okay, this one *might be* total bullshit - just what I tell myself to feel better about my bank statements after a trip). In the end these adventures, explorations, ‘fieldtrips’… whatever you want to call them, they have been indispensable for not only my growth as a hopeful anthropologist, but also keeping my sanity.
It was in early spring of 2018 that I first heard about the Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives (CAPI) at UVic. A woman named Robyn Fila (who, unbeknownst to me, would change my life in about a years time) came into my Anthropology of Southeast Asia lecture and talked to us about CAPI and all their intern opportunities. I was immediately intrigued – a 6-month internship, fully funded, to one of my favourite regions of the world? The catch was that the positions ran from May-November every year… and I was already committed to a semester exchange in Scotland that coming fall (not like that was some huge burden to bear) and I had plans to graduate the following April. Can’t exactly do an undergrad internship post graduation. So, I put it out of my mind and happily went off to Scotland that August for 4 of the best months of my life – more on that later.
Back at UVic in January for my ‘last’ semester of my undergrad degree… but I couldn’t get CAPI out of my head. After talking with my parents, friends, and just about anyone who would listen, I decided to apply; no harm in just seeing, right? Narrowed it down to my top three choices (in which South Africa was actually in the #3 spot), held my breath, and sent in the application. That’s where it gets interesting – I didn’t actually get called in for an interview. Now, if you know me personally, you are well aware that my communication skills leave something to be desired, and I never been great at handling rejection. But there was something about this chance, that I just couldn’t leave it at that. So I emailed Robyn. For the first time in my life I wanted to learn where I had gone wrong and get that feedback - I never wanted to miss an opportunity like this again. I’m not a huge believer in serendipity and ‘meant-to-be’, but I have to admit, it feels pretty special that I am writing this post from South Africa. That I made it here in the end. I had never been the one to follow up on things like that – simply take the rejection and move on – but I wanted to give being an adult a try, and I ended up with a second chance at the internship placement!
The only catch? South Africa was the only place left that still needed an intern. It was on my list, even as a third place choice, and so Robyn asked if I was still interested. The more we talked about it and the more she explained what it entailed, the more butterflies I could feel in my tummy. It was a more hands-on experience than some of the other placements; I would be working with Ukulapha Community Outreach Project, an organization set up by Carolyn Burns, a white South African who had lived in Canada for nearly 27 years before heading back to her homeland and beginning to work in the Slangspruit township (a place where her nannies as a child had come from). Ukulapha, which means “healing” in isiZulu, works directly with Slangspruit Primary School, and as the Project’s interns, we would be working directly with the school too. Working with kids every day, in both classroom and camp settings, sounded like heaven to me – getting to experience a completely new culture through a sort of mutually beneficial relationship, where I help them with English and maths (sort of) and they help me see what life is really like in post-Apartheid South Africa; the ultimate emic opportunity. The final 2 things that completely K.O’d any lingering hesitations I had were meeting the other South Africa intern Ariana (immediately hitting it off with someone doesn’t happen everyday, ya know) and watching the videos the past interns, Emily and Ainslee, had put together about their time at Slangspruit. So, a final meeting with Robyn (that life-changing moment I mentioned), a call home to assuage any lingering hesitations my mom had, and next thing I knew I was booked on flights out of the country 2 days after my 24th birthday.
In a way, it was a stroke of luck that I didn’t get in to CAPI on that first try, that I didn’t get my ‘first choice’ position. While I’m sure life in Indonesia is amazing for the interns who did end up in those spots (hope you’re having a blast Maeve and Jemma!), I can’t imagine being anywhere else. A lot of the other CAPI interns are working in rights-based offices, handling migrant refugees and displaced peoples; all work that is absolutely amazing and so important, but has very little to do with my education, experience, or passions. In no way am I trying to say that I am not a complete supporter of efforts to aid refugees, immigrants, and IDPs, but I have no experience or qualifications for that kind of work; and if I’m being completely honest, Microsoft excel still gets the best of me every. goddamn. time. So office work is probably not for me. On top of that, South Africa is one of the only placements where interns have daily interaction with the people they’re trying to help… and those people are children! Again, if you know me, you know that little humans are my favourite kind of humans. So… fate? Maybe. But I am sure that I am exactly where I am meant to be (whether there was some higher power involved in that or not).
Some basics:
CAPI – the Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives at the University of Victoria; they run a multitude of programs, and here is their vision (as copied from the website)
“Through the continued excellence of its research and programming, CAPI will be recognized as the pre-eminent Asia-Pacific focused academic centre in North America. The Centre will engage with institutions, civil society and leading scholars at the University of Victoria and across the world to broker and facilitate meaningful relationships that will make a difference”
Township – we were a little hazy on just what exactly a township was and how it differed from a village/town/community/suburb. From what we can gather, a township is kinda like a reserve back in Canada; a designated area where, during Apartheid, the black South Africans were allowed to live – a place with low-income housing and few social services provided. Today, even though schools across the country have been integrated, because townships themselves are still all black South Africans, the schools within them are much the same. Our school, Slangspruit Primary (which takes it’s name from the township it is in) is 100% black South African students (or ‘learners’, as they are called here) and all the teaching staff is black as well. Ariana and I are the only non-black people on the grounds daily – which also means that it is not safe for us to be walking alone in the township, outside the gates of the school.
I'll add to this as I go, in case anymore terms/concepts need to be explored in a little more depth!
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