GVI Cape Town Half Marathon

I’ve been working in my Regional Coordinator role for GVI in South Africa for just over 15 months and my time here is now coming to a close.

During this period I have become very attached to the Cape Town Community Projects and the fantastic work that all involved are undertaking. Whilst I wasn’t here from the very beginning, I have seen them develop and grow extensively during my time. What with around 400 volunteers having joined the projects since I arrived, I have had the privilege to meet many generous, kind-hearted and wonderful people. For the vast majority, to have been able to volunteer in South Africa is no mean feat. For many they have had to give up a significant amount of their time and money to be able to travel half way across the world to help children they have no connection with. I have always found the efforts of these volunteers to be very inspiring.

Drawing on this, I could often be heard saying that before I leave South Africa I wanted to do a fundraising event to make my own contribution to all the children. And so last Saturday I did. I ran a half marathon to raise money for the Cape Town Community Projects.

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Now, not being aware of my current level of fitness, how are you the reader going to be able to gauge exactly how difficult a challenge this really was for me? Well to help you with this, I must first point out that I have done little to no running in the last 4 years. Whilst I think I could walk or hike almost indefinitely, running is a different activity. When I first started training for this half marathon, 3km felt like my limit. Let alone 21km!

Conditioning my muscles and joints to handle the impact of running for that distance was crucial. So with only a 3 week period within which to train prior to the race, I had to undertake a fast and intensive training schedule to get myself up to standard. By the end, I had covered 70km in 17 days.

Back in 2007, I completed the London Marathon in a 36 degree heat, not having been able to complete my training, starting from near the back, in 4hrs 15mins. So whilst at first I wasn't too concerned about my time for this half marathon, in the back on my mind I always thought that I could, and should, be able to break that significant 2hrs barrier.

So on the day, running a pretty tough trail run that included a good number of hills, I was more than happy with a time of 1hr 56mins. In fact, that is an understatement - I was very happy with that!

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If you would like to donate towards this fundraising effort, you can do so via the following link:

http://www.justgiving.com/Jim-Bacon-GVI

And to see exactly where this money is going, do please visit the GVI Cape Town Community Blog:

http://gvisouthernafrica.blogspot.com/

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Safari Day-Trip

There is a safari day-trip that our volunteers in Cape Town often go on. Up until last weekend, I’d encouraged others to do it but never actually done it myself. Now that I know exactly when I’ll be leaving Cape Town, I am acutely aware of various activities I want to do, and sights I want to see before I go. This was one of them.

Owing to the fact that the game reserve is very small in size, it is possible to see a whole range of amazing animals in quite a short space of time. Although I know it will pale in comparison to what I’ll see in Zambia, it was still a great day out! Here are some of my favourite photos.

Raising Awareness About Climate Change

350 parts per million is the concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere scientists say is the safe limit for humanity and the earth to survive. Above this level, the damage by global warming becomes self-perpetuating. 350.org is an international campaign that is building a movement to unite the world around solutions to this crisis. A new sense of urgency needs to be created. They are encouraging people to organise rallies and demonstrations around the world on the 10^th October as worldwide support of this message.

GVI Cape Town, including both our office and field staff, jumped the gun on the date last weekend by carrying out a South African version of an event. Since the Western Cape is famous for its stunning winelands, we joined forces with three of the finest vineyards in the region; KWV Laborie Estate, Nederburg Wines and Fairview Winery. They all showed their support of the 350.org message by planting with us an indigenous tree in each of their grounds. The trees were Olea europaea subsp. africana, more commonly known as a ‘Wild Olive’ (or 'Olienhout' in Afrikaans!)

If you would like to find out more about the 350.org campaign, please visit their website – www.350.org And keep your eyes and ears alert for all the fantastic events happening globally this Sunday...

Expanding Our Orphanage Work

On our Cape Town Orphanage Program we at GVI have just started sending volunteers to a third location. Just last week I paid a visit to find out how things have started off – ‘very well’ is the short answer.

Whilst the volunteers live in the small and pleasant coastal town of Fish Hoek, situated about 25mins out of Cape Town south along the peninsula, the main focus of the project work in this area is in the West Lake Township. Here there are three nurseries typically trying to care for 60 to 70 children with only the smallest amount of regular help. Some of these children are orphans, while a lot are there for the day as it is a 'safe-house' for them. Their families are often destitute and extremely ‘disrupted’, for want of a better expression. Without the existence of these nurseries, the children would usually be left on their own during the day to fend for themselves. Ranging from newborn up to seven years in age, this is a very poor situation. All these children are in need of love and care, and someone to give them the attention they require and deserve. A lady by the name of Cynthia is trying to provide this for them but is in desperate need of help from volunteers.

So when I went to find out how our first group of volunteers have been finding things, it was fantastic to see so many happy, smiling faces. It is difficult to express how excited these children were that they had someone to play with them, to interact with them and to teach them. The value of GVI’s assistance there is clearly evident. 

On a personal note, as it is my job to encourage volunteers to take that step and make the commitment to come and join our project work out in Cape Town, my job satisfaction soars every time I go and see not only the difference that is being made to these children’s lives, but also how glad the volunteers are they decided to come and help. It gives me great pleasure to connect those who need the help with those who want to help.

'A Simple Freedom'

Sunday 13th June was the anniversary of the day when the Rivonia trials concluded with the sentencing of 8 men to life imprisonment. Since these men were political prisoners, the term ‘life’ was to mean life. Nelson Mandela was one of these men and Robben Island was where they were to start their sentence.

Another of these men was Ahmed Kathrada. On this anniversary day a small group of us were to be part of a special audience and tour of Robben Island with Mr Kathrada. This was in fact my first visit to the former prison and having a tour of it with one of Mandela’s oldest and closest colleagues was a real privilege.

Mr Kathrada spent 27 years on Robben Island. Calm, collected and yet full of life, you could tell that his principles are still as strong as ever. He has returned to the island many times now since his release in order to tell the story of their struggle, to educate others and spread their message. Aside from other stories, recollecting how himself and Mandela worked together to smuggle out Mandela’s writings, it was fascinating to hear.

This trip coincided with the release of a new book by Mr Kathrada. ‘A Simple Freedom’ is a compilation of various quotes and writings that he collected and drew upon to help maintain his courage and optimism during his captivity. One quote in particular caught my attention:

“Without the power to sacrifice self, great ideas will never bear fruit”, Louis Michel at the burial of Blanqui, 1881.

As one can imagine, the emotions invoked by making return visits to the prison were very present in Mr Kathrada. And yet he continues to go there, time and again, to educate and to inspire others, still sacrificing his own comfort to promote freedom and how so few can ‘make a difference’. He sets an example for us all.

Great White Sharks

 
Great White Sharks are one of the finest predators this world has ever seen and have always been a source of fascination for so many. South Africa is one of the best countries to see them.

Now, I don’t think I would be alone in saying that the film ‘Jaws’ had a profound effect on me when I first watched it as a child. So during the two encounters with these animals that I have now had whilst in South Africa, the phrase “We’re gonna need a bigger boat...” was definitely one that sprang to mind. Although this time it was rephrased as a question – “Are you sure we won’t need a bigger boat...?!!”

Cage-diving was the first of these encounters. The way it works, they start by ‘chumming’ from the back of the boat. This is where they mix a bucket full of bloody sardines (or some other such small fish) with sea water and regularly tip a bit of this over the side to create a stream flowing from the back of the boat. The particles of blood in the water attract the sharks. Once they have attracted a few into the vicinity, this is when they lower the cage into the water along one side of the boat. This was a long, thin cage wide enough to be able to fit seven people in side by side. Kitted out in a wetsuit and a mask, climbing into the cage there is a rail on which you stand and one to which you hold onto. Standing at the back of the boat, the Captain has a few tuna heads tied to the end of a rope. He throws this into the water, gradually pulling it towards the front of the cage. As the sharks snatch at this bait, you see them in full feeding mode right before your eyes. As the sharks draw nearer, the Captain yells “Down, down! To your front!” or “Down, down! To your left!” You take a deep breath and dip your head underwater.

If you go cage-diving around July, the visibility in the water could be as good as 10 to 15metres. At that time of year, you’d be able to see the sharks swimming quite a way off, and obviously have more warning of when they are approaching the cage. Going in January as I did, the visibility at the time was only 1 to 1.5metres. This meant that you had no time to prepare yourself for seeing a shark close-up. One second you can’t see anything, the next the biting jaws of a Great White are flashing a foot in front of your face! Holy shit!!
Needless to say, it was quite a thrill.

Now my second encounter with these amazing animals was when I went to visit the Great White Conservation Program that GVI sends volunteers on. When we went out on the boat with them, I had the opportunity to try out the ‘tuna head on a rope’ task. You are not supposed to let the sharks eat the tuna, but being unpractised in this art it is easy to underestimate how quick the sharks are when they properly go for it. On one occasion I was too slow. The shark latched onto the tuna. Then there was one of those moments that seem to happen in slow-motion. This was when I realised that I had a Great White Shark biting onto the end of the rope I was holding. Again...holy shit! At first not wanting to let go, as if who came away with the tuna had become a contest, my colleague quickly pointed out that there is no point wrestling with a Great White – quite right.

First note to self: ‘Choose one’s battles wisely’.

Second note to self: ‘Learning to surf in shark-infested waters is now even less appealing’.

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Cage-diving with Great Whites is a bit of a contentious issue in regards to disturbing these creatures in their natural habitat. Attracting them to the boats with the lure of food so that a profit can be made from them can be considered exploitative. This is an issue regarding tourism and its interaction with wildlife that always comes up. I am not going to go into this whole argument here. Suffice to say that I am aware of it, and in fact the Great White Shark Conservation Program does regularly monitor the cage-boat operators nearby. Investigating their impact is one of the program’s current research topics.

Mountain Guide Course

I have just completed an intensive 8-day Mountain Guide Course. This has been a fantastic, thoroughly enjoyable experience.

Run by the outfit VentureForth who I recently undertook an excellent 2-day Sport Climbing course with, I was confident that it would be of high quality. However, I was still slightly unsure as to exactly what to expect. Starting in the classroom to begin with we studied topics that included navigation, route planning, mountain weather, emergency procedures and other various aspects a mountain leader should know about. Some of this acted as a refresher of my knowledge, some of it was new ground. Either way it was all good!

The course culminated with an overnight hike up in the Matroosberg Reserve. For those unaware, Matroosberg is the highest peak in the Western Cape of South Africa. This was the real highlight of the program. In particular, it was when I took the lead to successfully guide our group of ten on a steep climb over difficult terrain with tricky navigation to our 2,000m summit. My overriding thought at the time was that this is where my true passion lies, in leading. That has been a conscious thought for a long time, but it is always good to be able to get out into the field to put it into practise.