Cape Town photo diary

It's time for some photos from my recent trip. Cape Town has got to be one of the most beautiful cities on the planet because of Table Mountain - it dominates the skyline everywhere you go and we had a great view from our hotel:
Often the top of Table Mountain was shrouded in what locals call, the 'Tablecloth' - fluffy cloud spilling over the top, the photo below was taken from the very touristy Waterfront:
We took the cable car ride up to the top of Table Mountain one day and had a great time soaking up the panoramic views of the city from the top:
We could also see Robben Island in Table Bay, beyond the peaks of Lion Hill (L) and Signal Hill (R). I would have loved to have gone there for a visit, but we ran out of time - it's top of the list for any future visits!
Cape Town has its very own '12 Apostles', cliffs which jut out along the coastline:
We got the opportunity to encounter some of the local wildlife when we hired a car and went to Boulders Bay to say hello to the penguins:
Nice location for a penguin to call home, I'll bet it makes the Emperor penguins in Antarctica kind of jealous!
They were rather cute!
We did an open-top, hop-on, hop-off bus tour and made a stop at the World of Birds on the outskirts of Cape Town, where as well as various multicoloured and exotic birds, we saw monkeys - they had a special enclosure where you could get up close and personal, and I think they know what they're doing as this little guy made a beeline for the zips on my bag!
Again, they're cute wee guys:
One of the stops with the bus tour was Imizamo Yethu township where local guides showed you around and told you something of their lives. We wrote about this on the work blog and we were all struck by the levels of poverty. 20,000 people live here in a space of 18 hectares.
It was cool to discover strong links with Ireland with the contribution of an Irish businessman to building houses for people in the township. But the thing that was most difficult to grasp was that when we got back on the bus and travelled down the road about 5 minutes we were seeing views like this and lots of very fancy villas/apartments.
On the weekend we had the car we made the most of it with a stunning drive along the coastline on Chapman's Peak Drive. The road isn't always open because of high winds but we were able to get through and were completely wowed with the spectacular views of Hout Bay:
Of course we did actually do some work here and there! I was very impressed with Bush Radio and their work with young people from all over Cape Town. We got to see some members of Bush Tots (6-11 year olds) doing their own radio programme live in the studio when we visited the Saturday morning CREW (Children's Radio Education Workshop) project - truly inspirational!
And I really enjoyed getting to know the young people at the Media Kidocracy Konference, who were a confident and passionate bunch without any arrogance. They struck me as the kind of young people who really want to make a difference to their communities, their country and the world, and they're not going to sit back and wait for it to happen, they came across as being determined to be the people to make it happen!
There was always laughter and smiles at the conference:
In fact, this maybe sounds a bit cheesy, but the smiles of the children and young people just ministered to my soul!
Incidentally there's a good write-up here about MKK with slideshows etc of the work produced by the young people.

Possibly what strikes me most about Cape Town and its people is the colour. Beautiful blue skies every day, the deep blue of the ocean, the way homes were painted a variety of bright colours, the people from all cultures, backgrounds and ethnicities, the colour and vitality present in the townships - stunning! (The New York Shop below can be found in Imizamo Yethu township)

Home!

I arrived home this morning after about 21 or so hours in transit from Cape Town. I'm absolutely FOUNDERED as they say in the country! Definitely having a few difficulties adjusting to NI winter weather, the snow is kind of pretty on the hills but yesterday it was over 29 degrees in Cape Town with wall-to-wall sunshine! I'm missing my shorts & t-shirts attire of the last 2 weeks. All in all it was a great trip, and a real privilege to get the opportunity to work with the young people involved in Bush Radio. I really want to go back to Cape Town some day and also explore more of S Africa. More thoughts, reflections, stories and photos should follow in the next week or so once I've got caught up on myself. Work tomorrow to tidy stuff up for the holidays then I'm on leave until Jan 4th - woo-hoo!

Erwin & Erwin - me with one of the young people whose first name is Erwin!

Greetings from hot & sunny Cape Town

Apologies for the lack of posts here during my time in Cape Town. To be honest I just haven't had a lot of free headspace to write, particularly as for work I've been having to blog most days so you'll get some updates on the 'official' Public Achievement Away from Violence S Africa blog. All in all it's been a really great experience so far, I've been loving the hot weather (I don't know how I'm going to survive in the cold when I get home next week!), and Cape Town is a beautiful city with lots to see and do. The work stuff has been going well and it's been great to meet young people here and learn more about their lives. I'll have lots of photos to post when I get home!

Made it!

Arrived in Cape Town to pouring rain, but the clouds soon parted and the sun blitzed us with rays - straight into the shorts & T-shirts - woo-hoo! We start work with Bush Radio tomorrow first thing - looking forward to getting stuck in. The wireless in the hotel is a wee bit unpredictable so I'm going to make this a short one, there's a bit more detail from the rest of the team on the official blog. But I'll leave you with a photo - one of the things that floated my boat today was being in Nobel Square where there are 4 statues of the 4 S African Nobel Peace Prize Winners - Albert Luthuli, Desmond Tutu, FW de Klerk & Nelson Mandela.

Two more sleeps!

Well the excitement is building because on Sunday I’ll find myself bound for Cape Town, South Africa! It’s a 2-week work-trip and I’m heading out with one of the trainee youth workers whom I line manage plus 2 young people to work with a partner organisation – Bush Radio – a community radio station based in the townships of Cape Town. As well as broadcasting various radio programmes they do some amazing education and community work. They also do some great work with young people – on Saturday mornings their programmes are produced and delivered entirely by young people aged 6-18. We’ll be helping with a conference for young people which they run annually – ‘Media Kidocracy Konference’ – and they’ll also be giving us some training. The project I’m responsible for here in NI is called ‘Away from Violence’ which seeks to address the impact of violence on the lives of young people and Bush Radio staff have started their own Away from Violence projects this year so the theme of the conference is – fittingly – Away from Violence. We’re hoping that we can build links between groups of young people in SA & NI engaging in AFV projects.

I’m excited for several reasons:
1) It’s summer in Cape Town and the temperatures seem to be consistently in around the 25/26/27 degrees mark.
2) I’ve never been to Africa before and have always wanted to go.
3) There’s going to be sunshine and warmth.
4) I’m excited to meet and learn from the people we’ll be working with – I’ve heard a lot about Bush Radio from my boss who developed the partnership 5 years ago, and I think seeing the projects in action is just going to blow me away.
5) I'm going to be able to wear shorts and summer clothing, I could count on the one hand how many times that happened here in NI this year!
5) Cape Town looks like a beautiful place from pictures I’ve seen
6) Did I mention the weather?!!!

It’s been absolutely manic at work trying to get things tidied up so that I can go away with a relatively clear conscience and have the headspace to focus on the trip and all that it brings - I've been doing my usual obsessive list-making to try and feel in control of things! I’m a little nervous with the responsibility of being group leader, but I’ll just do my best to take things in my stride yet stay on the ball. This is an amazing opportunity and I plan to make the most of it! I’m hoping to keep this blog as up-to-date as possible while I’m away and I’ll also be updating a team blog for work here.

Better get on with the packing!

Life is more...

Life is more than clothes and cars and a new flavour of toothpaste...it is community and creation and beauty and humanity. And I think I am starting to prefer the latter to the former; by that I mean I am getting used to not having any music or television and not pulling over and buying something as a way of feeling some kind of change. There is a serenity in life, after all, and once a withdrawal is felt at having left the lies behind, a soul begins to feel at home in its own skin.

Last night I finished this great book by Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz which I've mentioned before. It's a road-trip book - 2 guys spending a few months driving from Texas to Oregon in a beat-up VW campervan, and the book reflects their pace - mellow, laid-back, take things as they come, with some nice prose and good observations on life, love and the universe.

And if these mountains had eyes, they would wake to find two strangers in their fences, standing in admiration as a breathing red pours its tinge upon earth's shore. These mountains, which have seen untold sunrises, long to thunder praise but stand reverent, silent so that man's weak praise should be given God's attention.

I can't remember the last time I watched the sun rise. I think I need a road-trip.

The things they say...

Heard a great one-liner the other night when I was out working with a group of young people, I was commenting how Baltic the weather had been the previous few mornings and one of the lads agreed saying, 'Aye, the polar bears were chasing me!'

Love it!

Published!

I’m now a published travel writer and photographer! Well, kind of! I subscribe to Wanderlust magazine (a subscription not to be taken lightly because reading those magazines does you serious harm, you just want to instantly skip off across the globe on a big mission of exploration) and about a year ago there was this item on their website about the publication of a new travel book called ‘Weird World’ - they wanted people to send in their photos of the weird and bizarre things they’d seen on their travels to contribute to this book. I sent in a picture (previously featured here) which I’d taken from my work trip to Texas in April ’08 and promptly forgot about it…until I came home from work the other day and found a parcel in my letterbox which made me curious considering I hadn’t ordered anything recently and wasn’t expecting any deliveries. It turned out to be a copy of Weird World complete with my picture credited to me on page 121. And in fact my photo also features on the front cover! (If you look carefully you’ll see the outline of a graffittied car – my photo was of Cadillac Ranch where 10 Cadillacs are buried nose-deep in the dirt randomly in a field.) I've only had a flick so far through the rest of the book and there are some suitably weird photos including ones of people with various sharp implements stuck through parts of their faces, not exactly tasteful, but whatever floats your boat.

Perhaps a new career awaits me? (Hey, it’s nice to dream!)

Editors in Belfast

Ruth & I have been doing well for going to gigs these days – on Wednesday night after some tasty Spanish tapas and a takeaway hot chocoloate to warm our hands, we saw Editors at St George’s Market. We were a bit disappointed with the acoustics and the support act weren’t overly inspiring (just too loud for our wee delicate ears!) but Editors were brilliant!!! Tom Smith’s vocals were so good live – intense and powerful like the music they create. They played all their great tunes from the first two albums and a lot of their new material. I hadn’t been so sure about the new single, Papillon when I’d heard it the first few times on the radio, but on Wednesday night I was sold on it and I’m looking forward to getting the new album, the new stuff is great.

...All Ruth and I need to do now is some research and suss out what's going to be our next gig and all-round good night out!

Across the water

I got back on Monday from a long weekend in Aberdeen catching up with friends from my uni days. It’s hard to believe that it’s over 11 years since I graduated and it's about 3 years since I was last across but it’s always great to know you’ve got good friends with whom you can just pick up where you left off. The weather was generally kind with beautiful blue skies every day although I nearly got blown away on Saturday with the strong winds. And I’d forgotten it’s always a few degrees nippier in the north-east than at home! On Friday I met up for lunch with a friend on the main King’s College campus(King's College chapel in photo above) in beautiful Old Aberdeen and then I wandered into the city-centre to enjoy the luxury of having time to browse in a bookshop and play a little with a DLSR I’ve bought recently. I’ve always wanted to at least half-know what I’m doing with a camera so not being able to kayak these days makes room for learning something new! On the way into the city-centre I came across this beautiful old graveyard.I also got to the beach a couple of times (see below) and my friend Jim took me for a look around Footdee, a small quaint community located at the harbour mouth (also below). I’d never even registered the existence of this old fishing village when I studied in Aberdeen.On Monday morning I took a walk with Norma to the 13th century Brig o’ Balgownie which was very peaceful and we even spotted a few basking seals.Overall it was a much-needed and welcome break I can tell you!

Awake my Soul

Ruth & I headed to the Open House Festival on Sunday night to see Mumford & Sons. Laura Marling was headlining the event with support also from The Lowly Knights but it was the 4-piece from London which I was really keen to see. I happened to catch them one day on Radio 1 back in the spring I think, and I had been instantly grabbed by their ‘New Folk’ sound and also the huskiness of the voice of lead singer, Marcus Mumford. About a month ago I noticed from their MySpace they were playing Belfast and made a beeline for the tickets. We were not disappointed – they were awesome! Moving lyrics, voices blending beautifully to give you chills up your spine, passion and flair…this band creates great music which at times makes you want to stomp with joy and at others your soul is stirred by the depths they take you to. I was struck by their humility, I just got the sense that these are 4 guys who want you to like them for their music and not because they’re ‘cool’, and I daresay that’s a rare thing in the music business. I can’t wait to my hands on their debut album and I hope they come back to Belfast soon!

Julie & Julia

I went to see Julie & Julia last night with a friend. Pretty good – in fact a real feel-good film. It’s certainly not the best film I’ve seen this year (Looking For Eric takes that accolade for me in ’09 so far) but I just loved Meryl Streep’s character, so off-the-wall. She is an amazing actress and actually if she hadn’t been in this film, I think it would have dive-bombed, but she totally made it, I just giggled at all her mannerisms every time she was on the screen. She’s one of the few actors around that acts all the time if you know what I mean, she’s totally that character. The film is a little slow-moving in places and is near enough 2½ hours long, but if you’re looking for something light-hearted, go for it. Oh and it’s the kind of film that makes you hungry, in fact you kind of salivate watching all the food getting cooked, so if you’re a bit of a foodie you’ll appreciate this film too.

Image courtesy of The Film Chair.

Yum

I made the pleasant discovery today that Cadburys are finally producing some Fairtrade chocolate!

Want to be part of a flash mob?!

I just got back today from my first work residential with Public Achievement and it was great! I have to say that considering I only started the job 5 weeks ago and being told ‘you’re running a residential for 26 young people from 4 different areas across NI in 4 weeks’ time’ was kind of like being thrown in somewhere fairly close to the deep end, it’s a big relief to have not only survived but also to have been part of something that turned out really well. My team of 5 trainee youth workers were fantastic – totally dedicated to the young people, and they are doing some really meaningful work with the young people in these 4 locations. This residential represents the start of what’s going to be a really interesting heritage project and we’ll be supporting the young people to produce 4 exhibitions on their communities giving voice to their perspectives of where they live and the issues they face. Over the last 5 days, the young people had a blast, engaged with the issues really well, and listened to and learned from each other at a pretty deep level. Several said that before this residential they would never have spoken to someone from the ‘other’ community. It wasn’t always easy but I believe that staying at Corrymeela was one of the crucial factors in the residential’s success – those guys know how to do community and provide such a sense of safety – the young people noted how the Corrymeela staff and volunteers always seemed to be happy! I also enjoyed being able to smell the sea and look out across to Rathlin Island… It’s a beautiful thing when you get to see young people grow in confidence, hear others (and by that I just don't mean listen!), take a few risks in being honest, and also tell it like it is! I’m absolute bushwhacked but looking forward to chilling out over the next few days.

All in all the new job is a fantastic opportunity for me to continue growing and learning as a youth worker, I’ve so much to take in and learn and already I’m not exactly sure I’m ever going to get on top of things, but I’m loving it! In addition, PA’s offices are in the Cathedral Quarter of Belfast and I’ve been enjoying being in this part of town. I’ve been discovering all sorts of interesting nooks and crannies – exhibitions and the like, plus today I had the most amazing bagel from Bagel Bagel on Donegall Street – they called it the ‘Spaniard’ with hard-boiled egg, chorizo sausage, olives and salsa – not the kind of combination you’d expect, but man it was good!

Right it’s time for an episode of the West Wing and then BED!

A few weeks ago I was at Summer Madness helping out with Guest Hospitality which did not do my still-dodgy hip any favours but, as they say in the country, the craic was 90 and therefore the pain was worth it! I didn’t get to attend a huge amount of the event itself but the one gig I got to was really good – the Paul Colman gig. He’s an Aussie singer/songwriter who did a stint with the Newsboys a few years back and apparently is Grammy-nominated with about 15 albums to his name. Fairly successful then but no-one here has really heard of him, so this was his first gig in Ireland and he was flippin’ brilliant, in fact I hope he comes back! He had just been headlining an event in Norway and his bus off his flight to Dublin came in pretty late but he came on site anyway to check things out and ended up spending a good hour and a half talking to the rest of the Hospitality staff - a really genuine and down-to-earth dead on bloke. He was playing in one of the smaller venues and at the start people were just sitting around, drinking their coffees, chatting etc but Mr C has a very easy-going, inclusive way with him – halfway through songs he was making a point of welcoming anyone who wandered in, he did a few covers, a bit of karaoke and sing-a-long stuff to the extent that after about half an hour the room there were loads of people and everyone was totally into the gig. He even got a couple kids up to perform a song (and they were brilliant too!) whilst he stood at the back and listened. He’s probably one of the best performers I’ve seen in terms of generating crowd participation, really funny guy too – his impersonations of Bob Dylan singing Paul Baloche and Third Day were priceless! And he didn’t hold back from being a bit vulnerable and taking the opportunity to make room for a God-moment and share some of the God-stuff of his life. Obviously not in the same league as the 4 boys of the previous post but nonetheless a great gig!

I'll go crazy if I don't go crazy tonight

Last night’s gig was absolutely amazing!!! Man I’d so love to be going tonight again! We managed to get left Belfast at 4pm and were in our seats by about 7.15pm. Glasvegas and Damian Dempsey were doing support – not many took much notice to be honest, and I only knew one of their songs but Glasvegas were a pretty good act. U2 came on at 9pm and performed for 2 hours solid. They did an awesome set. It was class hearing a few blasts from the past like Unforgettable Fire and Desire (which was acoustic along with Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of). Every song was absolutely brilliant, Elevation & Vertigo really got the crowd going. I would have loved to have had a standing ticket but to be honest considering this ticket only came my way on Tuesday I was not complaining! But there was a fairly big empty space at the back of the standing area so I think it was little harder for the people in the tiered seating to get into things. Regardless Ruth & I were loving it and I was singing and dancing my wee heart out! I woke up with Magnificent in my head this morning. It never fails to amaze me just how good U2 are live, it’s phenomenal. The only other U2 gig I’ve been to was the one in Botanic in ’97 but I think this one was even better, it was so good to hear them in Dublin! The stage looked pretty amazing as well. I’ve been given a i-phone with my new job for work purposes (check me out!) so I was taking a few pictures but the quality isn’t brilliant, plus there’s no zoom so that’s a bit pants.To be honest I don't think I can convey adequately just how good last night was, it was something special. I really didn’t want it to end!

(Video clip here of Desmond Tutu's speech used in the ONE campaign plug just before Where The Streets Have No Name)

My Date with 4 Older Men

I'm going to see U2 tonight!!!!!

Friends of mine had their first baby 5 weeks early on Tuesday (little Grace is doing great and parents are very happy too, congrats Graeme & Caroline!) so being the selfless people that we are Ruth & I stepped in to save the day and said we'd use their tickets! The funny thing is that we initially thought the tickets were for Saturday night but at lunchtime today we found out that they're actually for tonight! Hilarious! So we're in a flat spin now getting ourselves sorted to head to Dublin. I'm so excited!

New Hairdo!

To mark the end of my time at PCI and entry into a new era I decided to give my hair a little colour!

New job!

I’ve got a new job!!!! Next Thursday I start work with Public Achievement as a Youth Work manager, coordinating their Away from Violence project which seeks to address the impact of violence on the lives of young people. PA is known for their focus on encouraging active citizenship amongst young people and do it with a lot of innovation and creativity. It’s really exciting though pretty daunting too but I’m looking forward to the fresh challenges this opportunity presents!

What a decent bloke!

Last Day

Yesterday was my last day as an employee of the Board of Youth & Children’s Ministry in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland! I had been on a 3-year externally funded contract and despite various efforts over the last year or so, no further funding was secured. I left with mixed emotions – a certain amount of frustration that the funding couldn’t get sorted to continue the work I’ve been doing and sadness to be leaving my colleagues for whom I have a lot of respect for their dedication, devotion and faithfulness to young people in PCI but also gratitude for how good the last 3 years have been. It’s been a great role, when I started I was lacking a little bit of confidence owing to some previous experiences but the job allowed me to find my feet in youth work again and I’ve learnt so much, particularly about community relations work and peacebuilding – it’s been a personal as well as professional journey of growth and development. I’ve had the opportunity to work with some fantastic people and it’s been energising to work with young people in a variety of projects and spheres. My highlights would include meeting Mary McAleese, President of Ireland, in February ’07, attending the Summer Peacebuilding Institute in Virginia, USA in May ’07, running the PYP programme with a group of young people at the Vine Centre, being involved in the SPUD youth assembly, a day on site building with Habitat for Humanity, training youth leaders and taking them on Field Trips to Stroke City meeting local guides from both sides of the community, leading the Adventure Camps, the project in Tullycarnet last summer…man, there’s been a lot of good stuff!

My colleagues were very generous in their gifts including these 2 books which look great on my coffee-table and I’m going to enjoy delving into them regularly!


It’s all still a little surreal, I don’t think it’s sunk in yet that I’ve left – I haven’t quite got my head round it all, but the lie-in this morning was very welcome indeed. As for what’s next, well I’m not 100% sure just yet but there are a couple of possibilities in the pipeline so hopefully more on that at a later date.

I Miss Communism

A couple of weeks ago I took the opportunity to go to the theatre at the Island Arts Centre, Lisburn with a friend to see a show called I Miss Communism. I’m not often at the theatre and this doesn’t sound like your average production but it’s a funny and heartwarming one-woman show which I’d been wanting to see for a while because 3 years ago I met the actress herself through Couchsurfing! Ines had been performing her show as part of the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival that year and had surfed my couch for a couple of nights. I didn’t get to see the show then but we seemed to click and stayed in touch. We managed to catch up very briefly in ’07 again whilst she was touring Ireland and the UK and then she got in touch last month when she reached Irish soil for another tour.

I’m really glad I’ve had the opportunity to see the show now, it is different and quirky, comical and touching. It’s amazing how one person can carry the audience’s attention for an entire hour and a quarter. Ines is off to spend some time in her native Croatia now but plans to return and should be touring Ireland again in the autumn, so if you get the chance, check it out.

The night after her performance in Lisburn, Ines and I got to hang out over good food (al fresco at Victoria Square with the good weather – even better!) and we also went to see Angels and Demons (Ewan McGregor’s accent was rather duff, but he played a great character. I couldn’t be bothered with the book but enjoyed the action as translated on the big screen and really liked the soundtrack - decent entertainment for a Friday night.)

Incidentally it’s International Couchsurfing Day this Friday. I haven’t received any couchsurfers in quite a while – I’m just not in the right place at the moment – but I definitely recommend it as a great way to meet people from all over the world and show that Irish hospitality hasn't totally gone away! Since I signed up 4 years ago I've met Virginie - a Quebecois, Ines the Croatian actress, Mirko - the chocolate-lover from Germany, Joanne & Lee from Australia, Anne - an American living in Seoul, Cate & Chris from Washington DC who came to Belfast just before Christmas '06 then returned the favour and hosted me when I was passing through their city 6 months later, Mike - a Canadian physiotherapist living in Germany, Ben the Aussie, Chris from Tasmania, Matyas from Hungary, Yorkshireman Pete, Wolf the German tree surgeon competing in the Irish Tree-climbing championships (really attractive bloke, but unfortunately very bad BO!), Anais the Parisian living in Berlin, Hisham from Egypt, Amanda, Brittany, Joanna and Andrea - all from the USA, Diego - the Italian chef who cooked me an amazing risotto, and finally Larry who hosted me in Phoenix, AZ, and Michal Lisa who let me stay for a whole 5 days in Flagstaff, AZ! Couchsurfing definitely makes the world feel a little bit smaller!