Cape Town, South Africa - Introduction 2011

Arriving to Cape Town, South Africa

Renata E Mares

Having all the required paper work completed for the South African visa application process, I was packed and ready to fly on May 10, 2011 at exactly 5:30pm from Pearson International Airport. All necessary travel information was completed prior to take–off: travel health insurance sorted and registered with FAITC as a Canadian abroad. The ROCA file was activated on my arrival to Cape Town. The flight to Cape Town was long but I was excited to start my journey in a new and exciting place.



Temporary accommodation was arranged pre-departure at the Green Elephant Backpackers (GEB). Both my supervisor and another UWC (University of Western Cape) staff member were offering suggestions for places to stay on my arrival to the city so this process was stress-free. My supervisor even offered her own cottage as a back-up accommodation. In the end, I chose to spend my first week at GEB as the owner is a dear friend of a UWC staff and assured me that it would be placed central which allows for easy access to all areas of Cape Town. And sure enough, being new in town, the GEB was a great location to start my journey. The owner at GEB replied promptly to my emails (while I was emailing him from Canada) and arranged for pick-up at the air port which made my arrival in the night time extremely relaxed. GEB became my temporary stay for the next 8 days which allowed me to get to know the city bowl (aka: Downtown Cape Town), gave me time to familiarize myself with transportation to and from the university, and most importantly get to know which neighbourhood I wanted to spend my next 6 months.


Even before my arrival, I got a sense that my contacts at the host organization (School of Public Health at the University of Western Cape) and the owner at the GEB were wonderful people. Everyone has been extremely helpful in making my arrival planning a simple process. First day of work at the School of Public Health (SOPH) was on May 16, 2011. At this time I had the pleasure to meet my supervisor and the UWC staff member I was emailing from Canada. Mondays begin with something called ‘the journal club’ which is time spent on discussing and reviewing current publications by SOPH research staff and students and as well gave me a chance to meet everyone at the faculty. Dave Sanders, head of SOPH, and everyone so far has given me a warm welcome.


The second week in Cape Town was hectic with starting my internship at UWC and also looking for a permanent place to live for the next 6 months. My supervisor was extremely helpful and understanding. She allowed me to spend as much time needed to find a place and move my belongings during the first week of orientation. By Tuesday this same week I found a place easily, and by Thursday, May 19th, 2011 I had the lease signed to a 2-bedroom apartment on the fourth floor at 46 Durban Road in Mowbray. It is a suburb south of the GEB. Close to the city, University of Cape Town, and shopping centers. The best part of this location is the 2 minute walk to the bus station which I require to take to UWC each morning. This same hectic week was also the introduction to the research group and the work my supervisor is completing. I was given piles and piles of background reading which after 2 weeks I am still trying to make my way through. My supervisor acknowledged that the literature review on the Global Health Initiatives (GHIs) can go on forever, and I should just take my time in reading the material and use them to supplement my existing knowledge throughout the internship.


Week 3 was the introduction to data analysis. I was given a set of transcribed interviews and asked by my supervisor to analyze it. Then, together we went over my interpretation and categories I have selected from this data. Over the weekend I spent analyzing a few more interviews. At the start of week four, my supervisor again assessed my analysis. We sat together for over 2 hours going through my work on categorizing the data. By the end of the day I was told by my supervisor that I am moving through the orientation faster than she has predicted. Since I have done qualitative analysis just prior to this internship I do feel comfortable with the GHI research projects.

Now that I can continue with the data analysis on my own time, I will spend week 4 developing my learning plan. We have discussed 4-5 areas of work where I can provide my input including, but not limited to: 1) performing some of the never-ending data analysis, 2) editing and developing research papers, 3) providing reports on my analysis, and 4) developing reports which will be later presented to the subjects within the participating districts. All this work will be developed over the next 6 months and presentations will take place from August till November. This is extremely exciting for me as I will take part in developing and possibly presenting some of the work in GHI research. At this point, I feel that the SOPH internship is a perfect fit for me and there is no shortage in resources to complete my internship goals.


Besides completing all the work I have explained above, I have also had the privilege to discover Cape Town and the beautiful areas surrounding the city. Living at GEB helped in meeting some wonderful people. There were people who were traveling through Cape Town and others who were completing an internship similar to the one I am currently working on. Free time at GEB was spent in various ways: movies and all-you-can-eat pizza nights, nightly festivities, group adventures, one where the owner took us on an introductory tour of Cape Town. He introduced Lion’s head, UCT, downtown, and few of the historical sites nearby.


My most memorable place he introduced us was District 6 which today stands abandoned, charged with history and unthinkable human suffering. It is a scar in South Africa’s history that is being addressed by the government each election. The short version of the story would be, Districts were numbered back in the day, and District 6 used to be occupied by the black community. When the white population overtook the Downtown area (known as the city bowl) they declared District 6 their own and shunned everyone from their homes to the outskirts of the city. Buildings were burned and people fled to now areas known as shanty-towns or low-income community housing out of the city.

District 6, Cape Town

UWC is built 30 minutes (roughly) outside of the Cape Town center. District 6 never became a reproductive land. Families from the white community never accepted the land as their own due to stigma attached to the district carried through history. Previous and want-to-be owners of the land are not given the right to build and owners do not have the possibilities to purchase their land back. The story of District 6 is a confusing one and not even those who lived to tell the tale, can explain exactly the current turmoil over this area. It is touching and very sad to learn about creative and intelligent human energy put to such wasteful and hurtful activities not so far back in history.


On a much optimistic note, Cape Town and surrounding areas are filled with natural gems. Table Mountain is a breath taking site. It is close to the city and I wake up seeing the peaks regularly for the past 4 weeks but I cannot seem to get enough of the sight. It is a beautiful piece of nature’s art and I admire it daily. We joined forces one sunny weekend with a few people all staying at the GEB and decided to tackle Table Mountain. The climb took 2.5-3 hours with only a few pit stops along the way. At each stop I took the time to look around and absorb the view. Reaching the top is a true experience. As the clouds go by you see absolutely nothing. As if you were in the middle of nowhere. Then, just a few minutes pass and the entire city down below, the oceans, Devil’s peak and Robin Island are clearly revealed. It’s a view complicated to describe and these photos really do not do justice.


On another lazy weekend we decided it was time for a ROAD TRIP! A few of us (again, from the hostel) decided to hit the road and visit some of the famous vineyards nearby. Spier is one of the Stellenbosch winelands' most celebrated destinations. We decided to try it out for ourselves. Once the wine wore off we realized that we were hungry and hit the road again. This time we were rushing to make the last served dinner at a restaurant called La Petit Ferme in Franschhoek. It is a French influenced area and has stayed that way since early colonization. The food was last minute as we got there 30 minutes before the kitchen would close. The food was absolutely delicious and the view, well ...


There are so many things to do in and near Cape Town that I can just continue to write on the possible adventures. Then, however I would be considered a travel writer and not an HRI intern at the SOPH researching GHI impact on TB and HIV/AIDS services within the communities. I love everything about the city. I enjoy my experiences so far, both at UWC and throughout my travels. The people I meet both locals and foreigners from other African countries have been extremely friendly, accommodating and ready to help anytime I appear lost. People really do use humour to cope with everyday struggles. Just today we walked down the street and a lady carrying heavy bags, walking towards us, stopped near us and said screaming: “Chilly weather today !”, and sure enough I felt like the winds were strong enough to pick us up and away we go. As long as you mean well and speak from the heart, nothing you say will be held against you.

There are challenges though in my days. Walking is prohibited and strongly discouraged after sunset, mostly for ladies walking alone. I love nothing more than to be able to discover the city day and night on foot as it is my true passion. I find it extremely hard and even tempting to just go outside and discover. I have walked to GEB alone just at sun down but the experience made me realize why it is not suggested. Nothing serious has happened but the streets feel eerie. There are people on the streets but none are ladies. It will take some time to adjust. Plus, once winter is over the days will get longer and longer. Safety has not been an issue so far but it is always the first thing we think of when attending public spaces.



Sending our Greetings from 46 Durban Road in what seems for us to be an atypical winter-wonderland.


R :-)