So, our microfinance conference ended a few days ago. It was interesting, and it gave me the feeling that it was something monumental in this country's future. The word "entrepreneur" means so much more to me now than it did before this conference and trip in general.
At one point during the conference, my mom was asked to be a speaker, and Ryan and I decided to volunteer to be a part of the presentation as well. We had 15 minutes in total to explain YouthGive and the Africa trip we are on. It was during the plenary session, which consisted of around 800 people, from all over South Africa and even other countries in the world. As I walked up to the podium, I could feel the energy in the room, which made me feel exhilarated and nervous all at once. Ryan and I each spoke for about 2-3 minutes each, but once we were both done, we felt proud of ourselves. During my speech, I explained how a delegation of us from YouthGive had met Mbogeni, the COO of the organization hosting the conference at another conference on microfinance in Washington DC in September. I went on to explain us being invited to the conference, and what we were focusing on during our trip. Ryan discussed our plans to create digital curriculum using the Flip cameras to show what positive change is taking place in Southern Africa.
The conference taught me a lot, and I hope to use what I learned to empower my peers when I get back to the US.

There is such a large variety of people at the EDC (Entrepreneurship Development Conference). From young entrepreneurs, to business managers to music DJs. Everybody has their own story, and when asked to share it they are more than happy to do so. A couple of times I've had interviews last up to 15 minutes, sometimes with only 3 or 4 questions asked.

I've gotten a lot of business cards and had a lot of solid conversations usually sparked by the interviews that just took place. Hopefully we'll have a lot of good footage for the films we will be making and hopefully I keep in touch with at least some of the people that I met.

Looking up at the mountain is a treat within itself, but being on top is in a league of its own. Table Mountain isn't on its own up there in the sky, there were a couple of other peaks surrounding it but they weren't nearly as big. There was certainly a plethora of mist layered mountains in the distance as well. God's thumb lay lonely near Table Mountain (to those who've seen Holes), but it was a beauty on its own.

I've tried to sit and think how the earth managed to make these steep, green, rocky faces surrounded by flat, which is now Cape Town, but my brain can't comprehend it. And it's all within an arm reach of the water. Who would think the ocean was neighboring these wonders. It just makes the view that much better. Scanning the view from the top, seeing islands, white beaches with rolling waves, small sky scrapers, wharves, misty mountains, god's thumb and plenty of green I realize I can't ask for anything more rewarding to the eyes.

At some point in life I want to make the hike up the face, not just the hike down it. We made the hike between the steep faces where hiking was actually possible. We ran down the mountain, so afterwards my legs were dead. It took them about three days to come back to life. Going up was no joke though, the gondola was amazing itself. With the high speeds, soaring heights and spinning floor everybody got to see out of every window in the structure.

Arriving at 1,147 meters above sea level on a flat surface was crazy, hence "Table" Mountain. But I didn't think the surface area of the "table" was so big. Lush with plant life, moss, rock and water, the top of the mountain was a lovely place for a picnic for many families. We were so lucky to experience the mountain and its view accompanied by our friend, the sun and a nice little breeze. The climate was perfect T-shirt weather.

The sight that the mountain gave us was terrific, and made better by the blue skies and water. Even though it's not one of the 7 wonders of the world (which I am surprised), I still think everybody should make their way to earth's highest table at some point in life.

Grayson

Grassroots Soccer is a program that raises awareness of HIV/AIDS with youths through playing games and soccer. The games were originally designed for 5th graders, so they were pretty goofy and involved a young mindset. Regardless, everybody seemed to enjoy themselves, including me. The instructors were pretty cool, and all of the other kids were very nice.

We started with introductions involving everybody getting in a circle. We moved around in a circle, and everybody announced their name and either what they were good at or what they learned quickly. Along with that we gave visuals. For example I said I was good at basketball and acted out a fade-a-way shot.

We did a number of different hand shakes to meet everybody and played several games. The games all had morals which tied in with HIV/AIDS and every once in a while the instructors would throw in some facts. I had fun and I think I speak for everybody in the group in saying that.

After the games, Grassroots Soccer set us up to play in an 11-on-11 soccer game with a team from the area. It was the varsity soccer team, so all the kids were our age, but way better at soccer. Luckily we were all split up evenly so the teams were pretty even. It was fun being on the field again just like my elementary days.
Regardless of their extreme advantage in talent, the Africans made sure to keep everybody involved. They played the game because it is fun, not necessarily to win. They didn't play easy on us, but they were lenient on those that couldn't really handle the pressure. We all exchanged handshakes and names so it was a fun, friendly match. My team won, of course. Ha, just kidding...but we did win haha.

In the U.S. kids would not have been down to play on a dirt field with sharp rocks spread about and no nets in the goals. These kids were more than happy to. We were too, I guess their enjoyment for the game rubbed off on us. I'll always appreciate the sports facilities I play in more now. I'm glad I had the experience. It was an experience that all athletes should experience at some point in life.

Grayson

Last week we had the chance to participate in a discussion with some Zambian youth. The most interesting part of the discussion was when we shared our preconceived notions about one another’s country. Some of what they said about the United States was dead on but others were completely wrong. For instance, they thought that we had a lot more job opportunities but they also thought that we had no consequences for disobedience in schools. After the formal discussion we had a chance to talk with some of the students one on one. I really enjoyed learning about daily life in Zambia from a local’s perspective. I was surprised to hear that one of the twenty two year old girls was already married. This experience gave me a good glimpse of what daily life was like.

While in Zambia our group also went to a village. The village still follows all the traditional rules that have been used for centuries. Their chief is extremely smart and charges people to come to the village. We took a guided tour of the village and our guide told us about some of the traditions they take part in. As we walked through the village, we saw many aspects of their culture. One of the first buildings we saw was the chief’s palace. The guide told us that people inherit the throne and the heir must serve for their entire life whether they like it or not. The chief must also swallow a stone which he carries in his stomach for the rest of his life. When the chief dies, it is against the law to say “the chief has died”, if they do they will be put in prison for three days and must pay a fine of one cow.

Within the village there was extreme poverty. Everyone lived in small mud huts. We were allowed to look into one of the homes. It was a collection of small huts with a grass fence around it. We were told that four children slept together in a tiny room.

After we saw the village, we were taken to a market. There were about fifty booths of people who all tried to sell souvenirs. it was pretty intense. Everyone would try to get you to come to their booth using any tactic possible. They would ask you questions to get you to stay as long as possible. Then when you tried to leave, they would try to make you say you would come back. It made me really uncomfortable. Eventually I realized that they were only trying to make a living. It was a really powerful experience.

Umsobomvu Youth Fund (South Africa): I was very surprised by the success of the organization and the number of people that they have loaned money to. Since our group is focusing on microfinance, I found it surprising that Umsobomvu makes just about all of its profits on the loans. Which therefore makes me feel even better about being a non-profit organization because if we were trying to get money we probably wouldn’t be doing that well.

The mindset seemed great to me in the organization. It seems like most organizations sit back and wait for people to come to them asking for help. But Umsobomvu’s methodology for microfinance is “the institution goes out and finds the client, not the other way around.”

Umsobomvu really opened my eyes to what microfinance really is and what an up and running organization does. They put it in simple terms for me. The meaning of microfinance is to create sustainable development for people. Visiting Umsobomvu really helped me get ready for the rest of the trip.

Safari: In total we went on five safaris: three morning safari and two late afternoon/night safari. I have concluded that the three days spent in the South African wild were quite probably some of my favorite days spent on this earth.

I have always had a passion for the wild and the animals that rule it, but my passion for the wild and the animals that rule it, but my passion was taken to another level when spending a few nights in the bush. The discovery channel and animal planet are enough to intrigue a mind, but the wild itself can capture it. I was a victim to the forest, plains, and tundra of Africa and find that a career may lie there for me in the future.

Between the sky-scraping giraffe, the elephant retreat, the baboon families, the lion families, the lion napping and all of the other amazing species that we saw (including flora as well as fauna), I would classify the experience as one of my best and know that my toes will point me in that direction again.

Village: Visiting the village Mduku was part of the three day “retreat” so to speak. The three days were life changing in many different ways. The safari sparked my wildlife side while the village struck me in a different way. Seeing the happy joyous people and their lifestyles and the way they reacted to outsiders was amazing. They’re all so happy for such a large percentage of their lives. It’s really something to strive to be like.

Having all of the kids run to the gates to greet us and sing for us and all of the people wave and smile at us as we pass by is humbling. The appreciation for the gifts we gave them was beyond any I have previously seen. It was inspiring seeing their extremely positive attitudes knowing all of the conflicts and hardships that they have to push through and fight with everyday.

As much as I thought that people in remote villages like Mduku wore traditional clothing, only a small percentage of the people wore tribal robes and hats and such. Many people were very well dressed and all of the children wore school uniforms. Everybody wore nice suits and dresses on Sunday for church services. Which brings me to what bewildered me most, religion. I didn’t realize people were so religious here, especially in small villages so far from any big cities. I would understand the passion for religion if it was that of their ancestors but they so passionately followed Christianity. After experiencing their passion for Christ and the bible, I can’t recollect what I really expected of the village religiously, but I know that is not what I expected.

The village experience was very humbling and I feel that my appreciation for life and everything in it will be greater from here on out.

Grayson

Hello,

The other day we all went to Table Mountain for a nice day 3000 ft above Cape Town. Our day began around 10 in the morning when we woke up and went to breakfast. If your son or daughter has not told you, the breakfast at our hotel is amazing. They have everything. We then caught a taxi to our destination. Luckily, it was a very nice and we were too hot in the warm clothes that we had worn. We waited in line for a while, and then boarded the tram to the top of the mountain.

Table Mountain is one of the coolest things that I have ever seen. It is a 3000 ft tall plateau that rises above Cape Town. On either side of the mountain are two other massive rock structures; Devil’s Peak and Lion’s Head.

The top of Table Mountain was also crazy. We got off the tram and saw pretty much what we expected. There were guard rails around the edges and telescopes and blurbs to read about how Table Mountain was a National Park wand whatnot. The view, however, was breathtaking. It is hard to describe what it looks like to look down along the wall of a 3000 foot cliff that overlooks the ocean on one side and the peaks of mountains on the other. After we had taken a few pictures, someone had that idea to climb over the guard rail and take pictures while standing a foot from the edge of the mountain. This was not as dangerous as it sounds, though, because there was a ledge ten feet down from where we were all standing.

Once we were done feeling like rebels for climbing over the guard rail, we decided to explore the rest of the area. We found that just down the path, the guard rails completely disappeared, and it was possible to walk to the edge of the mountain. In a few places, we were literally hanging our feet over the edge of the mountain. Eventually, Jenny found our group and kept a closer watch on us.

Once Jenny had found us, there was no point in trying to go rock climbing any more so we all went to lunch. We then decided that we would walk down the trail rather than take the tram down. Walking the trail was about as crazy as walking to the edge of the mountain. When the trail started to get less steep, a few of us decided to jog down the mountain. Regardless of whether we jogged or crawled, we are all extremely sore – two days later. Overall, I thought that our trip to Table Mountain was one of the coolest things that we have done so far.

John