Week 11: Team Building and Empowerment

At Lego's Educare, my team will help to develop a workplace in which cultural differences are respected and explored. We will bring differences to the forefront in order to celebrate them and to analyze how these differences result in a collective group of strengths that allow them to work together for their children's best interests. We must first begin by challenging the staff to explore their own differences so that each member will understand the ways in which they bring valuable attributes to the work environment. After we learn to appreciate ourselves and foster a sense of cultural awareness, we can learn to appreciate others in the same way. Through various team building activities, we will learn about each other and grow relationships. This inclusive atmosphere will certainly influence their skills pertaining to childcare and will model supportive collaboration for the children.

Team Building Activities for Daycare Teachers
This is a short and sweet article that includes some great ideas including a staff bulletin board in which everyone posts their picture, a short essay of what they like best about working with children, a fact sheet (birthday, hobbies, favorite food and color, etc.), and kindness notes that the staff write for one another. I love this idea because it suggests a team environment where everyone is viewed as a valuable and important member of the group.

Empowering Your Staff
This article talks about the importance of creating an empowering learning environment. It requires building skills to resolve problems as well as allowing everyone to share their ideas/opinions in a safe place free of judgement. Constructive communication between staff is crucial to build trust and confidence in their own abilities to play a part in the success of their children.

Additionally, we will be assisting with general maintenance in and around the center, helping update their website, and creating excitement around Diversity: The Daily Program.
I am so excited to learn more about our cite during our time in South Africa! I can't wait to play a part in their development as a successful childcare center!

Week 10: Lego's Educare

I am so overwhelmed with appreciation and excitement to be placed at Lego's Educare, a black owned daycare serving colored children ages 0-6, for my service learning project. The business is profitable and possesses a diverse, talented staff. Some challenges include: a lack of staff training in team building, personal development, and cultural awareness/cohesiveness, the need for a website, and a shortage of developmental resources for older children. During my research, I discovered 3 articles that were useful in learning about the economic affects on children in South Africa.

Child and Youth Care Workers in South Africa

Political Systems and Health Inequity: Connecting Apartheid Policies to the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in South Africa

HIV/AIDS and the South African State: Sovereignty and the Responsibility to Respond

Additionally, here are two articles discussing specifically the need for palliative care in South Africa:

Assessment of the Need for Palliative Care for Children: Three Country Report: South Africa, Kenya, and Zimbabwe

Children's Palliative Care in South Africa: The Facts

South Africa's current economic situation, especially concerning the young and upcoming generations, is inevitably tied to the outbreak of HIV/AIDS during apartheid. It is not only an individual and medical disease, it is a social, economic, and political dilemma at the same time. 280,000 children under the age of 14 and 17.8% of South African adults aged 15-49 are living with HIV, and there are almost 2 million South African children under age 17 who have been orphaned due to HIV/AIDS (Scrubb). Efforts to care for the growing population of highly vulnerable children affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic and other risk factors have led to an increasing demand for social service programs, such as Lego's Educare. These programs are designed to meet and protect children's physical, emotional, spiritual, cognitive, and social needs, but there is a huge gap that still needs filling.

Informing ourselves about our placements and the causes behind the need prepares us to join in and work with professionals in this new environment. I have much more to learn about my placement specifically, as it has been difficult to find articles that pertain to information about day care facilities (without pulling up countless sites about volunteering). I am most definitely looking forward to the opportunity to work toward a solution for under-served families and children in townships, to collaborate with experienced individuals who will no doubt teach me and open my eyes to unknown disparities in communities, and to pour my heart into these little children, my passion.

Week 9: Top of the Top Ten

Power and Privilege Definitions
Apartheid Timeline
Not White Enough, Not Black Enough
South Africa Progressive on LGBT Rights but Gays Still Battle for Social Reform
Cape Town: Gangs, Race and Poverty 20 Years After Apartheid
Realizing Women's Rights in South Africa
Here's How South African Students Talk About Race and Gender
'Winnie' Fails to Capture the essence of Mrs. Mandela
Bucket List to Visiting South Africa
Culture in South Africa

           Our exploration of these articles has opened my eyes to the complexities of South Africa. After viewing our collection of research, I have formed and reformed my opinions and knowledge on a range of topics, from race to culture to gender to sexuality to political influence. This information is extremely useful in that it prepares us to step into South Africa for an entire month in various ways. We are about to immerse ourselves in a rich culture, and these pieces of research, in my opinion, are a prerequisite for our arrival. We dug deeper and discovered how the issues occurring in South Africa compare and contrast to those in the United States, and this is important because it reveals the ways in which we can personally relate to South Africans. Through our study of South Africa, we have gained a sense of empathy and we have also learned more about our own personal identities. It has helped me grow into the person I hope to be; one who not only believes in equality, but fights for it and calls for the justice of the oppressed. I am anxious to see how what we've learned plays out once we are in South Africa. I am looking forward to learning and growing alongside my eager classmates. It's going to be the experience of a lifetime!

Week 8: Top 10 "Need to Read"

After reading my peers' research from the past two weeks, here is my top 10 'Need to Read' list in no particular order:

• Here's How South African Students Talk About Race and Gender posted by Maria: insight into the opinions of students on race and gender and its oppressive effects.
• Cape Town: Gangs, Race, and Poverty 20 Years After Apartheid posted by Denise: a video about township residents living in a country that still struggles with inequality.
• Not White Enough, Not Black Enough posted by Elisa: offers a new perspective from the coloured community.
• South Africa's Ticking Time Bomb posted by Nestor: discusses the dangers of youth unemployment and economic inequality that South Africa is currently experiencing.
• Rachel Maddow: History of Apartheid in South Africa posted by Josh: From the Population Registration Act and passbook laws for blacks, to the Immorality Act, to the Reservation of Separate Amenities Act, to the massacre at Sharpeville, to the role of Nelson Mandela, Maddow offers a brief history of apartheid. 
• The Sharpeville Massacre posted by Larisa: the impact on apartheid and lasting effects of the event on South Africans.
• Why is Crime and Violence so High in South Africa? posted by Tiasha: discusses the inequality shown to those who do not have the advantages of wealth or class to bring their case to court.
• Apartheid in South Africa posted by Faith: an interview of Black, Coloured, and Asian South Africans about their views on aparthied.
• South Africa's Post Apartheid Generation posted by Connie: video about being born into a "free" South Africa.
• South Africa Progressive on LGBT Rights but Gays Still Battle for Social Reform posted by Ignacio: discusses the slow transition from discrimination against the LGBT community, especially in townships.
• Additionally, I would like to re-suggest two of my articles about education: The Complexity of Human Rights in Global Times: The Case of the Right to Education in South Africa and also Race Differences in Educational Attainment of Youth aged 7-18 in Post-Apartheid South Africa: The Role of Family Structure, Resources, and School Quality