I keep forgetting about the tiger...

Hey everyone, pretty fun day today. Matt and I have (keep your fingers crossed) nearly hired our replacement. We think that this guy is the best choice to ensure that our project keeps on keepin' on after we leave. Hopefully, if all goes according to plan, he will accept the offer and we can train him next Wednesday, Thursday, and/or Friday. There has been so much progress this last week, its a big overwhelming; seems like everything in the past week outweighs the success we'd thought we had. Sorry if that sentence sounds awkward, I'm just trying to say that this past week has been fantastic, haha, and we thought we had fantastic down weeks ago.

Yesterday was Matt's birthday, so I'd like to take this time to publicly wish my co-worker a happy belated birthday (I told him happy birthday yesterday, but there's nothing like shoving that kind of private information out there on the ol' internetz for all to see). As such, we spent last night "on the town" to celebrate. Tara, Collin, the birthday boy, and myself ate at one of Melissa Paulsen's favorite restaurants, the Das Anker. It is a Belgian food restaurant located at V & A Waterfront. It was really good; I had duck, which I don't believe I have ever had. I think our favorite part of the meal (aside from the stealing of a bib, haha) were the desserts. We all got something different but ended up sharing with each other (crepes, cheesecake, apple pie, and chocolate mousse). It may have not been "the greatest pizza idea that [Collin] ever had" (inside joke), but it was still pretty damn good.

Afterwards, we went to see The Hangover, as Matt wasn't with us the first time, and he's been dying to see it ever since. If anyone hasn't seen it yet, do so. It's like SuperBad (sorry, SA friends, I know you're getting tired of me talking about that movie) or Role Models, it just gets funnier the more you see it. Matt, the Bar-One man himself, seemed to really enjoy the movie.

Fast forward back to today: Dag and Tara (ND interns at The Business Place) joined Matt and I for lunch at our favorite restaurant, The Kitchen. Longtime blog readers will remember The Kitchen from way back as Matt's and my favorite restaurant here in Cape Town. Tara and Dag also thoroughly enjoyed the great food and, even better, cheap price. It is worth noting that Matt and I are such regulars there that one of the waitresses/cooks offered us a job for our finals days. Depending on how training goes, I might think about taking her up on the offer (I really want to get my hands on some of the owner's, Karen, recipes). Well, that's it for today, my friends. I think we're going to Nando's tonight for dinner, so two great meals in one day is always cause for feeling great. Super rockin', duuude!

CONGRATULATIONS, BRIANNA!!!!!

:D :D :D :D :D

I'm so happy that you got the job you wanted! Congratulations, baby!!

An intern, a visionary, and a landscape consultant walk into a bar...

Hey friends, colleagues, and countrymen, or however that saying that I'm failing to remember goes. Today, Matt and I had a meeting with Helen and the rest of the Ikamva management, with Simon, Michelle, and Tony from Sibane Consulting. Overall, I think the meeting went pretty well, with some good ideas and potential for future endeavors coming from it. Specifically to us and our project, however, I think we were able to see where our project is going in the future.

Over the past few weeks, Matt and I have realized that we won't finish documenting the entire Ikamva property portfolio during our time here, nor will we try to finish all of it (there are nearly 1,000 sites that Ikamva has a vested interest of some form in). What Matt and I see now, however, is that we must make sure that the interns or employees who replace us are able to get to work as soon as possible. We're now looking back at everything we had to do the hard way, everything that we had to learn and find out on our own, things that slowed us down, and are now creating a system that will save our replacements the time that these cost us. Our hope is that by better preparing them, they can get to work right away, unlike us who had to feel our way around and try and ascertain the proper way to get things done.

Matt and I are also giving a final presentation to all the members of the Ikamva management, as well as a representative or two from the board of trustees, next Thursday. We realize how important this meeting is, as this is our way to show Ikamva just how special this project can be. We know they are open to the idea, as they have been attempting this procedure in the past, but now that we have put down this foundation, I think they understand that it is doable, if you are willing to get your hands dirty and just devote yourself to doing it everyday.

As such, we may have found that person. Tomorrow, Matt and I are interviewing a young man who may replace us. He has a background in surveying land, so he should understand some of the property regulations that Matt and I still don't. We think that if he can come in and attack this like we have, then the project has a great chance of staying alive, and, as this is Matt's and my "baby" this summer, we want it to live, damnit! So, that said, we are eagerly anticipating our interview with him tomorrow, with the hopes that he can fulfill what we want, and be trained by us. Everyone keep your fingers crossed!!!

I'm back!!!

Hey everyone, sorry for the lack of updates recently, I’ve just been busy getting things wrapped up. Next week is my last week here, and things are getting really busy. As such, Matt and I have canceled all of our work! Haha, just kidding, but no, we did the remaining six field days that we had scheduled. So, unfortunately, we will not be going out into the field with Meisie or Mildred, but instead, we’ll be in the office getting a lot of work done.

Yesterday, for instance, was a really productive day for us. One of Matt’s and my biggest fears is that, this project we’re working on is huge and could make a world of difference for Ikamva Labantu, and after we leave, we’re afraid that it will get forgotten. If we can show Ikamva that knowing how to properly manage their property portfolio can be a great asset to the company, we think they’ll keep working on it. We decided that the best way to do this is to make them see how important this is, by continually getting into management’s ear about it, and requesting new interns to train before we leave. We really hope to get someone in before we go, because that way we can train them, and ensure that not only does the work continue, but also that it continues correctly.

Sorry, mini-tangent/rant. Anyway, yesterday was especially productive in this avenue, as I created a series of documents to leave behind to the replacements as a way to help them hit the ground running. The biggest obstacle that Matt and I faced is that we didn’t actually get really started on our project until it was nearly half over. If our replacements can come in and be prepared after one week (less than a week ideally), then I think that they can finish collecting all of the data on the crèches, and begin the collection process on the foster homes. Once again, everything we are doing now is to prepare for the next set of people, and also to leave behind some recommendations to Ikamva’s management.

Another interesting development in the past week was the introduction to Simon and Michelle, from Sibane, a development-consulting firm that is actually located across the street. They have a program there called GIS (geographical information systems) that utilizes Google Maps, but already has all of the erf (plot) numbers mapped out, as well as all of the zoning laws pertaining to each site. Not only do they already have the erf numbers on them, but their maps are from 2007, while our maps are from 1981 (see the pictures I posted of our archaic mapping system).

Matt and I see great value (and I mean GREAT) in a partnership between Sibane and Ikamva Labantu. I arranged a meeting between Simon and Michelle, and Helen, Ishrene (CEO), and Karan (communications and overall busy body) tomorrow, along with Matt and I, in the hopes of getting this partnership off the ground. If we can convince the Ikamva management that there is great value in this, I think our project stands a much larger chance of survival after we leave next Friday, July 31st. If it does go well, I think Matt and I will feel confident in having left behind not only our own work, but also a great partnership that will benefit both companies.

Today, I spent the day entering in the data we collected into the Microsoft Access database that David Blake made for us. He got it to us this morning, and I spent the rest of the day using it. This is also something we feel will be of great use to Ikamva, but must make sure they understand its importance, and also how to use it. This job never sleeps…

On a happier note, we gave Helen some of the pictures we’ve been taking of the children and the crèches that we saw while in the field. Helen is sending these to a London-based company who will use the pictures to raise money for Ikamva. I’d be lying if I said Matt and I didn’t pick out a few pictures that featured us in them, haha, but we kept it minimal. What really hit me, however, was when we watched a small slideshow at the end. I always look at these pictures after I upload them, but usually just to see what was blurry and what wasn’t.

Today, however, I actually LOOKED at them, and it really hit me with everything that I’ve seen and done here in the short eight weeks that we’ve been here. It was one of those “wow” moments, something that has been happening to me everyday, and I never really let it hit me. I’m so excited to come home next week, but I’m also so happy that I actually went through with it, despite my fears as Brianna can attest to, and came here. It has really been a life-altering experience for me, and I hope maybe that has come through in these blog and picture updates. Well, I’ll leave it at that. Totsien, my friends.

I'm pretty fly for a braai guy...

Today, Martha and Notemba, two of the foot soldiers that we have worked with during our time here, took Matt and me to Mzoli’s Place, a braai in Guguletu. For those not in the know, a braai (Dutch) is a barbeque-type restaurant found here in South Africa. They are also found in other African countries, just called something else. Anyways, Mzoli’s is a really famous braai here in Cape Town, and is apparently quite the tourist stop. Regardless of this, the food is delicious and reasonably price (many of the touristy places we’ve eaten at cannot make these claims).

Joining us there were some of the other foot soldiers, such as Mildred and Jabu, and a few other guests of theirs. It was a great time; I really enjoyed hanging out with these men and women. They have given a lot of their own personal time to help us with our project, and to have them treat us to this experience was also very honoring.

Anyway, now that that is out of the way, I’m sure everyone wants to know about the braai experience. Well, it was awesome. We got there, and Notemba was the first to meet us. She took Matt and I to a local liquor store and bought us a six-pack of beer each (I was going to have Coke, but, apparently “young people drink beer here”). After we had our spirits lifted, we returned back to Mzoli’s and waited for everyone else to show up.

After Martha showed up, she and Notemba took us inside the butchery-area where we ordered our food. As you can see from the pictures, Mzoli’s offers chicken, pork, lamb, and beef. Martha ordered us a large amount of sausage, pork, and lamb, as well as some pap (cornmeal mixed with water). The food was spectacular.

It is worth pointing out that, instead of working today, Matt and I gorged ourselves on meet and beer. I think most Fridays should work this way; it would definitely make for a happier office. Well, my friends, that’s all for now. I’m tired, and I have to get up early in the morning as we are going whale watching in Hermanus, SA. Good night!!!

Hey everyone. Brianna's grandmother died last night. Please, please keep her, Brianna, and all of the Klcos in your prayers. Thank you, Friends.

Look's like you've got a case of the Mondays...

Hey everyone, just putting up a post before bed. Today was pretty long, but good. Matt and I have come to the conclusion that the work that we are doing for Ikamva is really good. Usually when we talk to Helen about our work she just goes "marvelous" or "so wonderful", and we just figured she was being nice and didn't really care about what we had done. But now, we think that she may be sincere, that what we are doing actually is important to Ikamva, and that she is thoroughly impressed by us. To go from feeling that your work isn't important, to believing that you are actually doing something incredible that your boss never thought possible is a hell of an upper.

On top of this, I also found out that Brianna and I got tickets for the USC and UConn games (as evident in my earlier ALL CAPS post)! This, possibly more so than the realization that our boss actually does see some importance in what we are doing, was cause for such an awesome day. GOOOO IRISH!!! BEAT TROJANS!!!!

To cap the night, we went to see the comedy improv show, TheatreSports, again. We saw this a few weeks ago, if you remember, and went again tonight. It was pretty good, not as funny as last time, but still really funny. It was a good way to end the night. Alright, I should probably stop posting and get back to watching Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang (this isn't a porno, I promise). Google it, if you dont' believe me. G'night!