0 Back Home

I think today I really owe you an apology! I promised to write this post more than two months ago…but somehow I just couldn’t make myself write anything because on the one hand there wasn’t a lot to report about and on the other hand it would have been so terminatory for my year in South Africa. But now I am settled in Germany again and ready to tell you everything about it – except that there still isn’t too much to tell you.

Before our group of nine remaining volunteers – some had to leave earlier for internships – left our “home country for a year” we still had an End of Stay Camp at a lodge near the airport of Johannesburg. We all met there for one night and had some group sessions where we talked about leaving South Africa, our personal feelings and plans and the theory of the reverse culture shock. The sessions were quite short, so there was a lot of time to compare notes with the others and to enjoy some last beams of the generous South African sun!

On the first of August we all left for the airport. Most of us were quite happy and excited to see the family and friends so soon, some had to fight back the tears and were quite sad to leave the new country and friends and some already made plans to come back for university. We all definitely had very mixed feelings, but for me actually the positive feelings prevailed. I had a great year in South Africa, but there also were so many things that I was looking forward to in Germany, beginning with being able to walk outside on my own and even in the dark without having to be overcautious, riding a bike again, drinking sparkling water, jogging outside in the forest  and many other little things.

After enjoying a last beautiful African sunset above the skyline of Joburg through the big glass windows of our terminal  we could finally enter the big plain and only then we really realized that we were about to leave for good.

The flight itself was quite nice. We were flying overnight so that I could sleep a bit and for the rest of the time I explored the movie selection. After disembarking in Frankfurt the four of us that went on to Hamburg almost missed our connecting flight, but luckily we made it in the last seconds before the gate was closed. When we finally arrived in Hamburg at 8am our families were all waiting, we quickly said goodbye and then set out for our homes.

Since the very first second that I set foot on German ground for me it seemed like I had never been away, but in a positive way. I still have all those great memories but now it seems a little bit like a dream. Only when I meet the other volunteers this dream becomes true again and then it’s definitely a great dream! At home and everything with my family and friends is exactly like it was before and I didn’t have any trouble to settle at all. In the beginning I always had to remind myself that I don’t have to check the streets for possible dangers when walking outside anymore, but even these habits I gave up very quickly.

Two weeks ago we had our first of two post processing seminars together with the volunteers from Ghana, that we already knew from the preparing seminars, and some others from different countries. It was really cool to see the others again and to exchange everything that had happened and I think we all had a really good weekend. Of course we also had some group sessions where we reflected on our experiences – it was also nice to compare experiences with those from other countries such as Columbia, Mexico or Australia – talked about possibilities to stay involved here in Germany and also had the chance to share our criticism and suggestions for AFS’s future.

I definitely plan to stay involved with AFS, by joining the local AFS committee and by becoming instructor for seminars. For our second post processing seminar we have the choice between seminars treating various parts of development politics or a seminar that’s the first part of our training to become instructor. I chose the second option and so I am going to have my next seminar in three weeks in Rottweil. Then I will write another short report on the seminar for you and this time I will really keep my promise!!

In the meantime I just moved to Heidelberg for studying medicine from tomorrow. So now I am quite excited what is expecting me in the next few days and weeks, but nevertheless already looking forward to the next seminar!

0 Already halftime: AFS Midstay Camp

After more than five months here in South Africa it’s already halftime of my stay, so last week it was time for our Midstay Camp which is one of our seven preparing and postprocessing camps. Before we have already had two preparing camps of five days in Germany and our two-day On-arrival Camp here in Johannesburg and we are still going to have an End-of-stay Camp and two postprocessing camps back in Germany.

Our Midstay Camp was basically about sharing our previous experiences, thoughts and feelings with the other German volunteers of our group and trying to find solutions for possible problems. At first we all had to present our projects to the others which was very interesting because even though we approximately knew what everyone else is doing it was quite nice to get some more details and personal opinions about the work. After that we talked a lot about our expectations that we had in the beginning - if they were met or if there are new expectations for the rest of the stay – about changes that we underwent, problems and challenges that we were confronted with and everything else that was on our minds. Even though some discussions could get a little bit exhausting all in all our camp was quite relaxed especially because of the nice location. The 15 volunteers of us, two AFS South Africa volunteers and one employee all met at a backpacker in the Drakensberg Mountains in KwaZulu-Natal, an eastern province of South Africa. The backpacker was very nice and big with a pool, Jacuzzi, sauna and good food and above all beautifully situated in the middle of nowhere surrounded by the mountains which was a nice relief to the hectic and noisy life in Johannesburg. On one of our five days we also had the chance to take place in a tour. Some of us went to Lesotho, which was only an hours drive away and some went hiking in the mountains – I chose the hiking tour and it was really great.

All in all it was a very nice week. I enjoyed to see everyone again after almost half a year and to compare all of our very different experiences. Unfortunately my project problem still isn’t solved and it looks like I can’t do anything else than to wait and see. Our babies are all gone by now so we are desperately looking for work most of the time. So far we found something to do for most of our working time – even though it sometimes was tidying up the cupboards of our co-workers which is not the most interesting or challenging job – and hope that there will be more for the next weeks.