Jessica Ayana: Rotary and Experiencing Cape Town Life Outside of Being a Student

I am continually amazed to see the work of Rotary in South Africa and how fortunate I am to be an ‘ambassador’ of this phenomenal group of service-oriented individuals. In addition to giving Rotary talks over the past few months (including the District Conference), my host club (Newlands) and counselor (Grahamn Finlayson) have allowed me to witness some of their work in the community.

- High: (1) Attending the opening of Emmanuel Daycare Center, a disabled child care center, in Atlantis. This neighborhood was an example of a predominantly coloured area established around a particular industry during Apartheid; however, when the factories were shut down almost the entire population became unemployed. (2) Attending the opening of Noluthando Autism Center in Khayelitsha. In addition to the joy of hearing the child sing at the center, I was intrigued by Newlands Rotary’s commitment to this school for the deaf. In addition to building the Autism Center they have participated in funding a soccer field and building other units of the education facilities.

Low: These were my first two trips inside the townships and acknowledging the dichotomy of life in Cape Town and in the townships is still unbelievable. There are often times when I walk around town and forget that I am living in a ‘developing country’ with extreme levels of poverty, crime, and HIV/AIDS. To visit projects with Rotary reminds me of why I am here and why it is an honor to be a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar. Although those in the townships and Cape Flats experience severe poverty, life goes on and many of the people are talented, hopefully, and remarkable individuals making a difference in their communities!

In June, I assisted with the interviews of the Rotary Peace Fellows! It was an interesting experience to be on the other side of the interview process and it was inspiring to meet South African applicants with a desire to pursue Peace and Conflict Studies abroad! Lastly, I had the opportunity to have lunch at Parliament and witness a committee hearing on a controversial bill concerning Protection of Information (often referred to as the Secrecy Bill).