What's a Drop Cap?

Nandi has finally filled us in on exactly why I flew for two days to go to the other end of the world. For two weeks we are working with adults doing ‘IT Training’ in the township of Manenberg. I’m working with two women one named Aziza and one named Ghadija. Not to try and paint some hyped up portrait of these poor women, but neither have them have used computers before and they are taking the class to become more familiar with and use the computer to send emails, and hopefully use them in potential jobs. Seriously though, to be honest my patience is tested when it comes down to teaching how to highlight in Microsoft Word. Click and drag. No. Click. No not there. Yes there. Now drag. No, not that far. Now let go. No let go. Now click. Ok it’s gone, try again. It’s challenging to try and be respectful of women who are older than me, while at the same time trying to teach them a technical skill that requires a lot of correction from the teacher in order to get the hang of it. We do training for three hours every morning; we roll in on the SHAWCO bus, and just like in every documentary, BBC special, and commercial on TV for adopting children kids do run up to the car, grab onto you, hug you, want to know your name and play. It’s slightly overwhelming, but they have so much energy and it’s fun to kick the ball around with them.

Seeing that I’m using Word at this moment, it’s strange to see someone who has never used a computer before try and type on Word; and while they are picking it up quickly Aziza keeps apologizing and thanking me for my patience. She seems nervous to make mistakes and cause anyone disturbance or ask too much of them. I really do enjoy the interpersonal connections we’re allowed to make with each other at this level of engagement. I’m getting to know two people extremely well, and Vince, the director of the program, keeps mentioning the amount of empowerment the women in the program feel. Even if they are not able to get a job with their newly learned skill, they have gained the knowledge and confidence that they can use a computer, which is an intimidating machine. I’m also learning things on Word, like Drop Cap. It’s crazy. It makes the first letter of your paragraph really big like an old fashioned book.

Everything else in the house is going really well. Our guide, Nandi, is the best; she has way too many friends and they’re all too nice. We’ve been going out and meeting people wherever we go. It’s kinda strange because a lot of people want to talk to you just because you’re from the states, but it’s still enjoyable to constantly be meeting new people and learning more and more. And not just South Africans, there are students from other schools we are meeting, people from other countries like Zimbabwe, Namibia, and other places. I feel so connected to the global world here not just because I’m in another country, but because everyone here comes from such interesting and new backgrounds (to me, at least).