Somali Association of South Africa - Western Cape - Experiences

Bia's experience

Wed, 06 Dec 2017 10:27:00 +0000

The first day of work was full of surprises for a person who had just stepped out the plane coming from Munich, Germany. The Minibus I took to the office did not hold at any formal bus stops or even at any scheduled time. You just waved for the next passing bus to stop, jumped on and enjoyed a bumpy, fast and cheap ride with loud music.

The Central bus station in Bellville was also not quite comparable to what I was used to. The operators of tiny braiis praised their goods (5 for 5 Rand) , curious feathered and hairy slippers were offered from a blanket lying on the floor and on some stalls South African passports could be purchased...

"Having chosen to volunteer in a worthy project"

After only a few steps I already stood in the office of the Somali Association of South Africa. Here my fellow volunteer Frederike and me met Abdikadir the Director and Abdulhakim, who gives Computer classes and facilitates Youth sports. A very informative introduction followed for us, which did not only show me how this Organisation works but also strenghthend my opinion of having chosen to volunteer in a worthy project.

In the following weeks our daily routine established itself: In the mornings we did all kinds of office work ranging from copying bills, typing registers and sitting at the reception to designing posters for the different programs SASA offers and working on the facebook page as well as the homepage.

At exactly 12 PM Felly who does housekeeping had some hot water ready for us, knowing we Germans always eat our packet soup on time. (The quizzes on the back of these soups are very enjoyable at break time and give you an excellent knowledge of South Africa).

"I would not have imagined myself capable of teaching."

At 2 PM our students started arriving and Frederike took of to start writing exercises on the board in her class. My class started not long after that, depending on how long it took for at least half the students to arrive...after the first days I started preparing my own lessons, introducing new grammar and vocabulary each week. I would not have imagined myself capable of teaching my own group of pupils with my own concept but it worked astonishingly well.

In the second to last week all the students wrote a test Frederike and me had preared for them. The week before gave us the possibility to do a revision of everything we had taught our then so far. Even though it was very hard to grade the exams because I didn't want any of my students to do bad, there were pretty good results in the end.

"They are using the words you taught them."

On handing back the grades I started chatting with the ladys I had now gotten to know over the past months. Hearing from your students that they will miss you and that they are using the words you taught them one of the most rewarding experiences I made in Cape Town.

My time at the Somali Association in now nearly over and I can look back at diverse Workshops I visited, two very interesting meetings outside the office, many (and long) political discussions held with our colleagues but especially on meeting so many interesting and kind people.

Frederike's experience

Wed, 06 Dec 2017 10:09:00 +0000

I wanted to start off by writing „I can still remember the thought I had when I entered SASA the first time“ ´- but isn‘t that ridiculous? My first day at SASA Western Cape is just 10 weeks ago, anyway, entering now feels so completely different compared to that day.

"The only relieve – i wasn‘t alone."

So, I can still remember the thought I had when I entered SASA the first time: Ah, um, okay, that‘s kind of smaller than I expected. It wasn‘t love at the first sight. I was new in that country, new in this project, new people all around me. The only relieve – i wasn‘t alone. Bia, a girl from Munich, started at SASA the same day as I. I am glad she was there, otherwise the first days would have been a bit lonely and even more confusing. But together, we both have somehow scrambled through these first days – and had an amazing time after that.

So first of all, let me introduce myself: I am 17 years old, finished school in Germany in July 2017 and went to Cape Town for three month (September to December). I speak English, French, a little bit of Arabic and I learned Latin quite a long time. Since 2015 I have been teaching German to refugees from various African and Middle Eastern countries twice a week. After my exams I started doing lessons every day with a women‘s group.

"I did not only feel lost but also useless."

So, I walked into this office quite confident, thinking I could be a helpful English teacher. I had experience with teaching, my language knowledge was always sufficient (besides a student that only spoke Tigriniyaa). But here now, I suddenly found myself in a class where everybody spoke Somali (and nothing else but Somali – besides some words of English, but anyway, that was the language I should teach them) and I did not know anything about the teacher‘s concept. That was a moment I did not only feel lost, but also useless. And then time passed by. I got my own group, managed to learn their names and somehow got used to teaching without heaving a third language as a common basis. I invented my own concept: Each week a different topic from own concept: Each week a different topic from shopping to health up to way descriptions. Monday for vocabulary, Tuesday for grammar, Wednesday for dialogues, Thursday for talking. Each morning I prepared my lesson: Printing out memory cards, writing down exercises, creating riddles, building my own town on paper… Then at 2 PM my lesson with 10 to 15 students started - and ended after 120 - sometimes more, sometimes less - exhausting minutes.

"Now it feels like a sign of respect, like an honor."

We needed some time to learn how to interact with each other. With some students it was quite easy, with some it took me longer to break the wall between us. But now, I know how every single student is processing the things I explain. I know what their facial expression looks like when they don‘t understand what I am saying. And I even got to know a bit of their lives. In return they got to know me. And even after they discovered that I was only 17 they accepted me as their teacher. At the beginning I was disappointed when they called me „teacher“ because I felt like they just could not remember my name (and I am pretty sure that they really have problems with pronouncing "Frederike"). Anyway, now it feels like a sign of respect, like an honor. Yes, I am their teacher – and very proud of it.

The second part of my work was something in between design and social media. Bia and I together developed designs for posters presenting the activities, created student cards, wrote posts for the Facebook page and – we are really proud of it – build up this homepage. I have never done such a project before and would have never expected it to be so much effort.

By now you should have an overview on my daily routine at SASA. But there were other things that changed the good time into an unforgettable.

"Politics, war and peace, religion and theodicy"

There were for example the lazy Fridays: Believe me, it was difficult the first two weeks. You go to work as usual from 9 AM to 4 PM, but your results are only 25% of your normal outcomes. And then I got used to it and began to look forward to these Fridays. The atmosphere is very relaxed; no English class, no Sewing class, no workshop, no advocacy. Everybody is going to the mosque at 1:30 PM. And eventually you get into a nice talk or a quick-tempered discussion about politics, war and peace, religion and theodicy. Speaking of discussions – they weren't only happening on Fridays. Sometimes we walked into the office at 9 and found ourselves still at the reception at 11 – just stuck into a really long discussion with some of the staff members.

"It has shown me that sometimes I am not aware of my own prejudices."

One important point in my time here was to learn how to deal with women covering their whole faces with a veil. As the political and societal discussion about Niqabs was taking place in Germany my opinion was clear: Everybody should be allowed to wear whatever they want – except when it comes to going into a bank etc. But now I was standing in front of the class and I could not see the face of some of my students. That caused some worries and questions: How should I see if they understand? How should I recognize them the next day? But in fact, I just learned how to deal with it. I recognized their voices, their figure, their eyelashes. Then some day I was taking photos of them for the student cards. I saw their faces for the first time. It was enlightening. One of them was always wearing black or very dark colors. I did not notice that I was not really accepting here as a human being, but rather as a robot until the day I saw her laughing for the first time. So, the next time, I tried to keep this image of her in my mind so I would not forget to smile at her like I am used to do it at other students – even though I would not really know if she smiles back. I have now been seeing here some more times without her veil, we have also been talking about the dis- and advantages of wearing it. This is an experience I will never forget because it has shown me that sometimes I am not aware of my own prejudices.

It is just ten weeks ago that I entered SASA office for the first time. But the hours I spent, the encounters I had, the experiences I made, changed a lot. So the thought, I will have, when I leave the office for the last time, will be a thought of gratefulness and sorrow at the same time. No, it wasn't love at the first sight, but it developed.

Joelle's experience

Sat, 07 May 2016 10:49:00 +0000

I am writing you this letter to say Thank you so much for letting me be part of your NGO in the month of February 2016. It was a really interesting month, in which I learned many things about the work in a NGO, the work in South Africa, about different people with different cultures and backgrounds.

I really much appreciate that you all showed me so many different things and took me to all these interesting meetings. I found it as well awesome to get to know the Somalian culture a bit better and that you all shared some interesting stories with us. I really see great potential in your work (in the work and the concept of SASA) and I hope so much that in the future it is going to be much more easy for refugees and asylum seekers to get integrated and respected in South Africa.

Again, thank you all so much for everything and I really hope to see you again.

Johanna's experience

Sat, 07 May 2016 10:48:00 +0000

My experience at SASA was very memorable. I enjoyed working and supporting the organization with the knowledge I have gained throughout my years of education, however due to certain issues I wasn’t able to fully support and end the job that was given to me at the beginning of my internship, which was organizing a sports event in collaboration with Africa Unite.

Nevertheless it was very interesting to see how an NGO is organized and works. The fact that I was able to join many official meetings with South African officials, such as the police department meeting, gave me a better insight on what problems SASA is exposed to and how it operates and tries to deal with them. This work experience helped me realize and gave me a better idea of what I might want to do in the future and what I would like to specialize on after I have completed my bachelors.

I have learned a lot about the Somali and South African culture. My volunteering work has showed and given me a better insight on what problems and challenges refugees face when leaving their ‘’natural habitat’’ due to harsh conditions and political unrest and how important it is to support the cause in order for them to be able to live a normal life again.

This work experience made me realize how fortunate we volunteers are, having to be brought up in a country where so far no political unrest or war has threatened our existence which I come to appreciate with highest regards.

Lina's experience

Mon, 11 Apr 2016 10:51:00 +0000

I had a great time during my work at SASA. In the few weeks here I collected many different experiences. I supported the organization in the daily office work. Furthermore I was allowed to go to plenty meetings, for example with the UNHCR and CTRC. I am glad that Abdikadir and Abdikarim gave me a lot of responsibility and the chance to improve my skills.

I gained insight in the Somali Society in Cape Town and learned a lot about their culture and way of living here. Now I understood how important integration and social cohesion is. Because of my work at SASA I won motivation to support refugees and migrants in Germany.

I think I gathered many experiences which I can use for my academic studies and for my future way. I would like to say thank you to the whole team of SASA for my great time here with all of you.

Ira's experience

Wed, 09 Mar 2016 10:52:00 +0000

During my time at SASA I got the opportunity to get a lot of new experiences. Working with the refugees was quite new for me and meeting a completely different culture made my work so interesting.

I did some office work, e.g. writing descriptions and proposals, creating a newsletter or sitting at the reception. But I was also allowed to join some meetings with important refugee organizations in Cape Town. One of them, UNHCR, we visited for a whole day to get to know what function each of them have or what their daily work looks like.

Without SASA I would have never had the possibility to get such a comprehensive view into the life of refugees and asylum-seekers. My work here encouraged me to face up more with the refugee issue and to campaign in Germany as well. I would like to thank all team members of SASA for the last 5 weeks I spent here and all the experiences I have made here.

Carola's experience

Mon, 07 Dec 2015 11:00:00 +0000

I participated at the Somali Association of South Africa for 4 weeks. In the beginning I did some office work with another volunteer, which was quite interesting. I get to know how organizations like the Somali Association work, as I did some office work like putting the refugee documents in order or sitting at the reception. As the teacher of the children classes needed some more help, we also managed to teach some Somali children. The children had quite different levels of learning, so for us it was also a little challenge to learn explaining something in an easy way. Generally I can say that I had a very interesting time and it made me think of staying in a refugee organization and work as an organizer.

Michaela's experience

Tue, 07 Jul 2015 10:56:00 +0000

My name is Michaela, I am 24 years old and I live in southern Germany. In summer 2015 I decided to visit South Africa and to work for SASA in Bellville. It was my first time in Africa and I have to say I don’t regret a day over there. The cultural differences were so overwhelming and I learned so much about the Somali and the South African lifestyle. This country with its spectacular nature, especially the mountains, the oceans and the fauna

was well worth seeing it. I volunteered at SASA for five weeks and supported them in their daily office work. I tried to change the standard of services SASA gives to refugees and asylum seekers. Apart from that, I was very happy to teach English to the Somali students. For now I am glad I could improve my English and I am more open-minded for unknown cultures. I advise everyone who I still hesitating to volunteer at SASA in South Africa just to do it.

Marvin's experience

Sat, 07 Feb 2015 11:01:00 +0000

I was working for 8 weeks at the Somali Association of South Africa and I enjoyed the time very much. In the morning there was the children’s class where I could help out the teacher. After the class there was always some office work to do and in the afternoon there was the adult English class. There was always something to do and I was glad I could help out. I got to know how an organization like the SASA works while doing the office work. I’m happy I made the volunteer work for SASA because I could meet a completely different culture here and it expanded my horizon. I actually learned a lot in this short time.