Canada World Youth (CWY) participants are back on the Coast after spending three months in Khayelitsha, near Cape Town.
The eight Canadian and seven South African volunteers who are taking part in CWY this year came back to Canada with a better understanding of themselves and South African culture.
"They learned about women's lives specifically in the townships in South Africa, how women are often shouldering much more of the burdens that are present in family life than men," said project supervisor Erin Moores.
"They also said they found out that Khayelitsha is not what people said it would be. It's not this impossibly dangerous place where outsiders are not welcome; it's actually safe enough for us to stay there for three months and people were very warm and generous to us.
"Some of the South Africans also had the learning experiences of visiting a community that they had lived beside their whole lives, but had never thought of going to because of the separation between the races that still exists in South Africa."
The group of young female volunteers, aged 20 to 23, lived with host families in Khayelitsha where the majority of the residents are Xhosa people.
They volunteered at local organizations including a cricket club, a biking program, a home for orphaned children and daycares.
"They also contributed to an ongoing local project, funded through our program, that sees a group of local youth organizing awareness events on domestic violence, substance abuse and HIV/AIDS," she said. "Our team worked with local youth to organize these events. As well the team had several opportunities to participate in other locally organized events relating to the above themes and to women's issues as well."
Volunteers also attended a conference about hate crimes organized by a collective of lesbian women in the area and heard Ela Gandhi, the granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi, speak on the importance of healing.
Moores said one of the most memorable moments in South Africa was a two-day hike the volunteers took part in along the People's Trail in Table Mountain National Park.
"The People's Trail was developed as a project to allow underprivileged kids and youth from the townships to enjoy Table Mountain, so small groups of 20 can do a guided two-day hike on the trail for a very low cost. Our group was lucky enough to get to do it as well," Moores said.
The volunteers experienced and learned so much in South Africa that they have created a book about the experience. A local publisher helped the women put together a compilation of their own written experiences in the book titled Dare to Change.
"We are selling it on the Sunshine Coast in order to print more copiesto give as gifts tothe community of Khayelitsha," Moores said.
The group of volunteers with CWY will now be on the Coast staying with host families until the end of December, and Moores said they have many volunteer efforts planned.
They will be giving their time to local organizations, doing community service and taking part in public engagement activities with local youth.
For more about this year's CWY group, see http://logbook.cwy-jcm.com/bcsouthafrica.
