Posted by Sarah Whitney and Claire Bristow (Global Development Fellows)

We have been working on the community center in Uta. We have been here in South Africa for a month now and have been spending our time, so far, reintegrating into the community and talking about community ideas for the center. We have been working closely with our local youth partner, Forget Sithole, and many other young people to evaluate local opinion and mobilize the community around their ideas. This is being done through formal interviews in both Shangaan and English and casual conversations among neighbors and friends. These are just the very beginning stages of this development project and we are really looking forward to getting even deeper into it.

We will attend a community meeting this week during which a planning committee will be formed for the community center.  This committee will then be in charge of developing more ideas for the center as well as outlining construction plans.  The committee will be made up of both men and women of all ages and backgrounds in order to be representative of the people of Uta.

In order to reinegrate into Uta life, Sarah and I have both joined the local women’s soccer team. This team has only recently started up through the leadership of a few strong females. Its really nice to see the women out getting exercise and enjoying their time together. We practice each weekday and run on Saturdays. Its so fun to play with our host moms with their little daughters on the sidelines cheering us on! We were imagining how funny it would be to watch our own mothers run around a soccer field, aggressively pushing other women out of their way to score goals! (Hi Mom!)  We think its nice for the women who don’t work to have something to commit to in the evenings, and those who do work, its something nice to change up their routine. This is definitely a good way to get to know more people in Uta and reach out to those who will be an asset to the community center and also a good way for us to make even more friends in Uta.

Shangaan word for the day: Nhlampfi – Fish