October 28, 2006
Cape Town, South Africa

Today is my last day in South Africa after three and a half weeks of travel. In a mere 43 hours of travel, I’ll be back in Eugene. These past four days in Cape Town have been absolutely terrific. I have been able to connect with Oliver Hagan, an alum of UO who now lives and works in Cape Town and his business partner Sean Walpole. His business is to place students in internships in the Cape Town area and then support them in terms of orientation and living arrangements. When we were first put in contact I thought this might be as perfect a local partner as IE3 could ask for and indeed my thoughts have been confirmed. I had a series of meetings with Volunteer Adventure Corps, the name of Oliver and Sean’s company and we have identified five new opportunities for IE3 interns in Cape Town. The diversity of the sites, which include marine conservation, social services, agriculture, advertising and marketing, coupled with the strong on-the-ground support we will be able to provide students, will, I an convinced, provide a strong hub in Cape Town for interns from a variety of academic backgrounds and with a range of previous travel experience. Oliver and Sean’s experience in Cape Town, as well as their understanding of international student needs and their passion for their work will be a great complement to the strong support that IE3 already provides to its students.

Moreover, Cape Town is truly a beautiful place. The coastal areas along the peninsula remind me of parts of Oregon along route 101, where the sheer cliffs drop off into the ocean leaving spectacular view points along the way. However, unless we have some serious global warming impacts in Oregon, the Cape Town climate is decidedly more tropical and the expensive vacation homes probably outshine even the flashiest ones in the U.S.

I paid the 23 rand ($3) toll one day and drove along the Chapman’s Peak road, probably one of the most breathtaking coastal roads anywhere. As you curve out towards the point, there are spectacular views back across the water to the town of Hout Bay. Parts of the road are literally carved into the side of the cliff with no margin of error on either side of the road. At the other end of the road you arrive at the even smaller town of Noordhoek, which has an incredible white sand beach that is almost as deep as it is long. In the strong beach winds people use large kites to actually lift themselves off the sand and fly several meters at a time. The surf is great, too and so there are plenty of surfers. But being the Atlantic side of the Cape peninsula, wet suits are pretty much a necessity.

Certainly South Africa continues to have its problems. A series of heists of cash transit vehicles is causing an uproar among cash truck drivers. Taxi drivers are also protesting against increasing regulations, which has even led to some strikes and minor violence. And the 14-year-old democracy still struggles to find the right balance between racial inclusion and celebration of cultural and ethnic diversity. But it is making progress. And with the World Cup coming here in 2010, one gets the sense that there is anticipation of the event as an opportunity to further pull the country together, take a leap forward in terms of infrastructure and reintroduce the country on a world stage.

So, after such a long and productive trip, I am looking forward to returning home and getting to work on some of the exciting new opportunities that have begun to develop here and sharing more with you. The diversity, complexity and possibility that is everywhere in South Africa is exciting. But more importantly, it demands our attention and respect. I am personally thrilled that IE3 will now be able to offer students a full range of options to learn from and engage in South Africa’s progress.