Hi,

July is always a busy month at Lattitude as we have people coming and going from all over the world. Katie has gone home to the UK for three weeks to visit family so we wish her all the best for her trip.

Laura has embarked on a four week tour of the North Island to do presentations to schools. Watch this space for a list of schools she will be speaking at if you are interested in finding out more about Lattitude.

We have volunteers leaving New Zealand after placements that varied from 6 to 12 months so wish them all the best for their future endeavours.

We have had the first two New Zealand volunteers leave for placements in Vanuatu so good luck to Meg and Lizzie!.

We have had volunteers complete placements in Poland and South Africa so well done to you all and all the best for your travels before you return to New Zealand. This is the first year New Zealanders have been placed n South Africa so we are really pleased to hear all has gone well.

I would like to share with you the feedback from Alvaro Hudson from Palmerston North, New Zealand who has just completed a six month placement at Kosi Bay in South Africa.

"What is the most Responsible thing you have done?

In terms of the most responsible thing I would have to say it’s just what I have to do every day, which is teach classes. I have 3 classes I teach, plus computers for grade 4-9, tutoring and sport 3 times a week. Planning and teaching these classes takes a lot of time and effort, especially since its pretty much up to me to decide what I teach and how I teach it. I have to keep up with marking, tests, exercises and so on. The size of the classes (grade 4 -64, grade 7-42, grade 9- 42) makes it an even larger responsibility. It may sound like a bit of a burden but once you get into it becomes a routine (a slightly hectic routine). So I can't really give one occasion when I've demonstrated responsibility. The responsibility comes with the Placement I have.

What is the most Exciting thing you have done?

The most exciting thing I've experienced would have to be the numerous taxi rides and our unpredictable Easter holidays. The taxis here are just vans which everyone crams into. They only leave when they are full so you can jump in one and not move for a couple of hours. You have people carrying all their shopping, large bags (once a livechicken) and whatever they have to take since for many it’s the only way to get around. They can be very unpredictable. A couple of times, taxis I’ve been in have broken down or the tires have gone flat. You sometimes have to randomly switch taxis without knowing why. One time a taxi I was in stopped in the middle of the road when the taxi driver saw another taxi coming along. The other taxi stopped in the middle, the two chatted for a while, then everyone started getting out. Now this was confusing for a number of reasons. Firstly, I had no idea what they were saying because they were speaking in Zulu. Also, the people in the taxi didn’t speak good English. The driver just simply
said something in Zulu and everyone in the taxi started getting out and moving to the other taxi. All I could do was just follow everyone else and hope for the best. It worked out alright though. It usually does. You will encounter people now and again that will warn you not to take taxis, but they're fine. Just ignore those people… ;o)

Our Easter holiday was virtually unplanned. We just pointed out a few places we would like to go and we left. We booked our first backpackers in Swaziland and from there we made up the rest. One place in Mozambique we went to, we didn’t book for or call. We just turned up. We had seen the placed advertised in a couple of backpackers so we thought it would be alright. However, after walking two kilometers with our backpacks, we found that the posters we had seen were 10 years old, and there were only luxury chalets available for 1500 rand per night. It took us about 5 more hours to find a cheap enough place, which was just an empty tent and for two nights, the 3 of us slept on the ground with all our clothes on to keep warm. So try and at least call ahead if you can.

The unpredictability and freedom of choosing where you would like to go, and for how long, without any real sort of planning was exciting. It’s also good fun carrying your massive backpacks into crammed taxi vans. Try and get the window seat.

What is different about life as a volunteer where you are?

There are plenty of differences between S.A and NZ. Many of them depend on where you end up in the country. The first thing I really noticed is how people don’t really take notice of the time as much. If an event says it going start at 8am for example, it won’t start until 10 probably.

Music was another difference. I'm in a small town and everywhere you go, music is pumping. Out the cars, out of stores, off cell phones… And it’s always usually house music or R n B. They love that stuff over here.

Another thing is the friendliness of the people. Again, this depends on where you may end up. People tend to say hello to each other when walking past and there are often people who will start conversations with you from out of nowhere. I've also been invited into houses without knowing people before. A couple of weeks ago I was walking into town along the back roads and a lady was outside a house. She called out to me asking if I was hungry. Of course I said “sure”. So she invited me into the house and inside were about 20 or more people who were having a Saturday lunch. Now I had never met these people before but they fed me a massive lunch and I ended up having a good chat with a few people. It’s things like this that you don't really see back in New Zealand.

Most likely the largest and most obvious difference where I am, would be the area and surroundings. There is a shopping centre along the main road but as soon as you turn off either side the roads turn to sand and there are houses small buildings scattered along the tracks. Vegetation is quite thick so houses are often hidden. It’s the stark contrast between the shops in town and the reality of peoples living situations that is a big difference.

Another thing I would like to mention is soccer. They love it over here. Rugby is mostly followed by Afrikaans while soccer is largely followed by the blacks. The 2010 world cup is being made to be a big deal for the country, which it is.

There is also a lot of corruption within the government. The President here managed to avoid a court case before he was elected that had documents apparently showing corruption from him. But of course, the trial never happened.

Also when Afrikaans people say they're going do something 'just now', they don’t mean just now. They mean in like an hour or half a days time. I think it’s when they say 'now now' when they actually mean they are going to do something now. I don't really know. It doesn’t make sense
to me.

I am really glad that I came to South Africa. It’s an experience that you will never get from going somewhere like England or America. Although the country does have many faults and problems, it is a place you will not regret visiting and living in.

All the way from Kosi Bay

Alvaro

To find more news from our volunteers you can download our newsletters from our website www.lattitude.org.nz


Take care for those of you who are travelling!!

Sharyn