Last days in the Cape...heading to Groblersdal and the Bush!

So in the interest of simplicity I have decided to start a seperate blog that will deal with the more serious aspect of my time here in Africa: microfinance and social entrepreneurship. I will continue to write on this blog about my more fun extracurricular activities and will use the other one for those who are more interested in the technical details of what I am doing. There will be some overlap, especially when I get to do something really cool at work (which admittedly happens fairly often...see below.) but it should make it easier for everyone.

Ok so on that note, let me talk about my recent visit to a township here in Cape Town.

It was an exciting day. It was my first time joining a Loan Officer (LO) out in the field in Cape Town's Khayelitsha township. The idea was for me to see the daily functioning of an MFI that works well, before I go up north to help the one that is in trouble.

The day started with being dropped off in Khayelitsha, where I was supposed to meet the LO who would be my guide. After waiting for half an hour we were starting to wonder where he was and so called him to see if we could meet him. It turned out to be quite the ordeal to track him down but finally a little over an hour later we found him and the real work began. I guess "African Time" is just something I have to get used to though it is important to keep the context in mind as well -- the LO was probably more concerned with doing his job than showing some random girl around.

Once we met the LO it turned out he was a very friendly guy who seemed to know everyone. Something that is no doubt very useful in his line of work. The LOs are essentially the first line of an MFI. They are responsible for a certain region and will give all the relevant information about the loans to potential clients as well as help them fill out their loan applications and assess their small businesses. The loans are mainly for survivalist business -- meaning they just help their owners get by, and include things like small shops, hair salons (very popular for some reason! I guess everyone has to look good...), and market stands.

Being left with the LO, we set off on foot to the post office to collect payments. It was my first time being left alone in a township and I got some stares from the locals but people were mostly quite friendly. I do think that some of the danger is exaggerated, but that being said I had dressed down and was not carry anything valuable nor a bag of any kind. Still, some of my South African friends think I'm crazy for walking around in a township at all.

Once we had secured the first of the two payments we headed into the market in the center of the district where Eric had to meet another group of clients. It was a group that had taken out and repaid 5 previous loans and was now asking for a 6th. While I waited, I got a chance to talk to some of the borrowers, which was great. They were a bit shy to speak in English at first(most black Africans speak Xhosa in the Cape Town area, which is the infamous clicking language and is very, very cool to listen to) and were probably a little hesitant to talk to some strange girl who was asking all kinds of somewhat intrusive questions about their lives. I heard some interesting stories when they opened up a bit however. One lady in particular stood out. She has 6 kids to take care of and is a single mom. The income from her clothing stand supports the entire family, which is just incredible. I can't imagine how she finds the time to also feed all the kids and take care of them but she was very matter of fact about it. In asking her whether the loans have helped she said they had a lot. What better evidence of the effectiveness of microfinance than from those that it is supposed to help? It was very inspiring.

Back at the post we filled out the deposit slip for the last client that had to repay. As she waited in line the LO and I waited by the side and everyone coming in was asking him all kinds of questions about the post office. It was interesting that instead of asking the employees they came to him. He helped people fill in forms and gave people advice and everyone seemed to know that he knew what was going on. I could tell that he really enjoys helping others and being respected in the community, and that is another benefit of the MFIs -- providing respected jobs for individuals in the townships.

Unfortunately though just then the post machines went down, and they advised they couldn't take any more deposits. They wouldn't do it manually so the client was left with a large wad of cash with which it was dangerous for her to just walk around. Also, the taxi-buses had just gone on strike (it's the main form of transport for those in the townships) and so there was no way to get to another post office nearby! Luckily my supervisor had to come and get me anyways, so we ended up dropping them all off at another post office. It was a good thing we were there though.

All in all it was a great learning experience and I got to experience a totally different culture. It's amazing that you can drive 20 minutes in South Africa and be in a whole other world. From city life to small towns and farm to townships. All have their unique cultures, languages and vibes. All this complexity and beauty in one place: no wonder I am falling in love!

Tomorrow I am doing my last fun thing here in Cape town. I am hiking up table mountain through skeleton gorge. Sunday I am off to Johannesburg again for one night before being picked up to go to where I will spend the next two months -- the little town of Groblersdal out in the northeast Bush. It's supposed to be very rural but very beautiful there and I am staying with a local family. Should be quite the experience!

As a side note, I realize I probably sound like I am on drugs or something because I am constantly so excited. I assure you all I am not and that this is in fact a natural high. Unless rooibos tea has properties I am not aware of.....