YFU SOUTH AFRICA – NEWSLETTER MAY 2010

TIME TO SAY GOOD BYE AND WELCOME IN 2010

This is the time of the year when we say goodbye to those have been with us since 2009.

We are also preparing to welcome those joining us in 2010, so ...

Good bye to Inbounds 2009/2010: Much too soon the time to say good bye is upon us. We

enjoyed having you with us, wish you all the best for the future but also know that you will be

back! In this issue we have two letters from students’ last fun days in sunny South Africa as

well as in input from a former exchange student that is now an intern in Port Elizabeth. This

newsletter contains a farewell letters from an intern as well as from students departing in

June.

Welcome to the Inbounds 2010/2011: This time of the year we are also preparing for the

new arrivals on 6 August 2010. YFU SA staff members and volunteers are finalising the

placements of the 35 new inbounds with their host families and schools. In the next

newsletter we will have news of their arrival and orientations.

Junior Volunteer Council: YFU SA has also established its first Junior Volunteer Council

(JVC). We are very proud of this achievement and look forward to their contributions to the

greater good and growth of YFU SA in future.

SANIBONA YFU SOUTH AFRICA!

Hard to believe: it is almost six years ago when

I left South Africa as a 17 year-old exchange

student with mixed feelings – being so grateful

for my awesome exchange year, happily

excited about going home and deeply

sorrowful about leaving my South African

home.

And now I am back! My name is Maria

Hoffmann, however, YFU knows me as Mia. In

2003/2004 I was an exchange student in

Durban and since my return, I have been

involved with YFU in Germany. It was rather a

spontaneous idea to take a gap semester at

university to come back to South Africa for

seven months. So when my plane landed at

O.R. Tambo in Johannesburg in February 2010,

I was immediately excited about the South

African clime that I had missed for quite some

years.

After having stayed in Joburg for two months, I

went to visit my wonderful South African

family in Durban. At first it was such a strange

feeling to be back, but after only one hour it

felt as if I had never left! My host sister Shenee

and brother Calvin, who were 13 and 11 years

old back then, have kind of grown up, there is

a new dog in the house and my host parents

have changed their jobs. But there are some

things that will probably never change: it is my

second home after all! In April, there was a lot

of time for me catching up with some old

friends and neighbours, spending fantastic

days at Tugela beach and a great visit at the

Umfolozi Game Reserve. Furthermore, I was

fortunate to go on a two weeks’ trip to see a

bit more of beautiful Southern Africa:

Zululand, Swaziland, Gauteng and Lesotho.

From the 1st

of May I am now the new intern

at the regional office in Port Elizabeth, where I

am staying with the Goeda family – one of the

most YFU committed families I have ever met.

I was particularly excited to meet Keegan

again, as he was an exchange student at my

mid-year seminar in Berlin in 2007. Likewise I

enjoy meeting old YFU friends (like Fezi and

Koki) as well as making new friends. At the PE

re-entry orientation last weekend, Nadia and I

had to discover that the YFU world is rather

small, as we had actually met six years ago in

Cape Town!

It is truly special for me to come back to South

Africa as a YFU intern to re-live my South

African experience, to work with zealous YFU

volunteers and to contribute to a successful

exchange year for our exchange students this

year.

So now I have spent one busy month in Port

Elizabeth looking for host families and taking

care of the inbound and outbound students. I

am so looking forward to a grandiose stay

with YFU in Port Elizabeth! I am looking

forward to a great World Cup 2010, of course!

I am looking forward to so much more of

South Africa!

Mia

Port Elizabeth: Keegan, Nadia, Elena and

Nosh.

Mia, one of the interns from Germany,

writes from Port Elizabeth;

OUR FANTASTIC SEASIDE RE-ENTRY

WEEKEND

By Mia (YFU Intern in Port Elizabeth)

The students in Port Elizabeth together with

the teamers enjoyed seafront weekend

accommodation for their re entry orientation.

We had a fantastic YFU weekend ahead of us,

with beautiful sunny weather, fruitful sessions

and loads of the weird energizers (Funky

Chicken, La Banana, The Little Bird – just to

name a few) which, to my surprise, some

moms joined in at Family Day on Sunday

afternoon.

During our free time we enjoyed the seaside,

even spotting some whales and dolphins far

out.

The highlight of the weekend was, beyond

doubt, our fantastic gala dinner on Saturday

night, when Iris’s cookery spoilt us

exceedingly! Everyone had dressed up smartly;

most stunning however were the guys wearing

best suits. So we enjoyed an amazing three-

course banquet by candle light.

For the Family Day on Sunday afternoon, a

bunch of different people gathered for a lovely

braai by the seaside: exchange students, host

families, students going abroad and their

mothers, YFU volunteers and friends.

As I was a teamer at the South Africa pre-

departure orientation in Germany, I was more

than excited to meet some of the German

students again and listen to their stories. It

really gives me goose bumps to see how much

students change and how much they grow in

their personalities during their year. This is

why we do exchange!

Ayoba!

A GALA DINNER IN PORT ELIZABETH

Gala Dinner: ( left to right) Irina, Elli, Fabz, Mara, Anni, Mia and Nadia with Iris Goeda in front

KZN Durban Trip 23. – 27. 04. 2010

At the end of April, a group of 11 exchange

students went to Durban for the long

weekend.

After an about 9 hours drive we arrived in

Illovo. In the middle of the night we pitched up

our tents and hit the sac.

On Saturday morning we explored the beauty

of the ocean and the beach right next to our

camping area. Later we visited Croc World, it

was actually a bit boring because the

crocodiles didn’t really want to move so we

could just watch them lying around.

The whole day already it was quite cold but we

“crazy” people couldn’t resist jumping into the

sea afterwards. The water was even warmer

then the air and the waves were huge. We

had an amazing time.

In the evening we spent time together, telling

stories and had some really good pootjie kos.

Sunday morning after breakfast we headed to

Amazimtoti and then it was beach-time!

Tanning in the sun and swimming in the sea. In

the afternoon we discovered the awesome

predators of the sea at the SHARK BOARD in

Durban. There we watched a dissection of a

shark and we were all amazed by this

dangerous animal. We spent our last day in

world. After a great dolphin show some of us

went shark or scuba diving. I went shark diving

and it was amazing to be so close to this

beautiful creatures.

The WILD ‘N WET world right next to it offered

us some really nice slides and we all had lots of

fun. In the evening when we came back we

were really tired and we all just wanted to

sleep.

On Tuesday when it was time for us to go

home we didn’t want to leave because we all

had an awesome time in Durban.

I want to thank you Werner for the great time

and I think we all enjoyed it a lot.

Cadine from Austria

MY MEMORY OF SOUTH AFRICA

It was Friday the May 21. When I went to

school the last day before the June exams,

I felt a bit sad because the time for me to

go back home comes closer every day and

now I already have my last normal day at

school.

When I arrived there this Friday morning

all my friends seemed a bit weird to me. As

the first four periods past we had break

and after break some of my closest friends

just disappeared. Then we had test period

and I wasn’t writing so I sat in class and

felt quite bored. But then my friend

Shanal came into the class and she said

that she wanted to take me with. As we

went out of the class she put a scarf

around my eyes. She walked with me

through the whole school building and at

the end we arrived at the field and she

took the scarf off. I couldn’t believe what I

saw...all my closest friends were standing

there and they started singing. It was

amazing and I was really surprised. They

backed cake and we had a small picnic. I

got a big box that

said A MEMORY BOX

FROM SA and in there

was lots of pictures

and other souvenirs.

This day was just

wonderful for me and

I will never forget it.

I am really sad to

leave all this beautiful

people because they

are all so special but I

know that I am going

to take lots of

memories with me

and South Africa was

for me a time that

changed my life and I

will never forget.

Cadine from Austria

[

JVC CONFERENCE

From 23 to 26 April 2010 YFU South

Africa’s Junior Volunteer Council (JVC)

gathered for a conference in Cape Town. The

much anticipated conference was a great

success, and it was inspiring to have an

enthusiastic group of young, like-minded

people gather to decide on a new course for

the JVC.

Bonding- The team bonded on Friday night in

the unique Stellenbosch student-atmosphere,

with everyone really enjoyed getting to know

the ‘less serious’ side of their team members.

Working - On Saturday morning the team was

up bright and early, and the JVC Conference

2010 was opened on time by JVC Co-ordinator,

Jaymion. The agenda involved receiving

feedback on how YFU was running and the

status on the amount of volunteer work being

done by the junior representatives of each

region. We then went on to discuss the history

of YfU International, as well as the role of YfU

South Africa and its importance for promoting

inter-cultural tolerance and understanding in

our society.

New faces- Yvonne Matheison, who runs the

Durbanville Kinderhuis in the Northern Suburbs

of Cape Town, receives many foreign exchange

volunteers from YFU, and is one several new

JVC members. Her experience with

volunteering and working with abused

children, granted us the opportunity to learn

more about what volunteerism entails. Her

words were very inspiring to the team, and she

gave invaluable and perceptive guidance to

the Council throughout Saturday’s discussions.

New portfolios - The JVC was very excited and

proud to announce the birth of 7 new

portfolios namely Marketing and Media,

Administration and Databases, School

Presentations, Host Families, Orientations,

Volunteer Training and last but certainly not

least, Social Responsibility will be addressed.

More news about these later!!

Saturday evening- Everyone was feeling quite

drained from a very productive day. We had a

great braai and spent the rest of the evening

playing pool with some other, rather

enthusiastic… backpackers.

Last day- The team took a little longer to

emerge from bed on Sunday morning, but we

tackled the JVC’s identity, the International

Basic Standards document, created our own

mission statement, drafted a Constitution; and

elected a board of volunteers to oversee the

functioning of the JVC for the next two years.

The JVC’s new board comprises of:

Chairperson- Jaymion,

Vice-Chairperson – Fez,

Secretary – Erin,

Treasurer- Keegan

Portfolio Representative – Ngoako.

Goodbye till next time - Sadly, the weekend

came to an end however, the JVC has just

begun, and promises to do wonders in the year

to come. Well done to who attended as we

made phenomenal strides in a short time. We

will strive to become an indispensable asset to

our great organisation!

More news next time – as well as

photographs!!