Anna already building confidence, skills and knowledge

    Another week has gone by, and now internships have started!  I’m working at the Western Cape Network on Violence Against Women, or WCNOVAW if you’re into long acronyms.  I was really nervous before we started, and the first day was pretty slow, but now things are picking up, and I am absolutely loving it.

                

The Network is gearing up to start the second year of their social mobilisation project, a series of workshops put on by trained members of various organizations in an effort to reach out to the community.  The main focus of the workshops is spreading the message that violence against women is never acceptable, because it has become such a widespread problem here that many do not even realize they are experiencing abuse- it is just considered a part of marriage.

                

My job is to conduct phone interviews with past participants and organizers, and assemble profiles of their experiences.  I’m very conscious of my accent, so I was nervous in the beginning that people would not be able to understand me over the phone, but the personal stories and experiences of those I’m interviewing are so alternately heart-wrenching and uplifting that I am left speechless.  One minute I will feel as though I’ve been punched in the stomach- such as when my supervisor explained that there is a lot of success with female condoms in some areas, because the likelihood of being raped is so high that women wear them when they leave the house to at least avoid contracting HIV or another STD.  The next, however, someone I’m interviewing will tell me of how abused women in their community are becoming empowered, and creating their own community organizations around violence against women prevention.  In a society where many choose not to acknowledge such apparent violence, this provides a source of hope.

                

My time here is emotionally trying, but I can already feel myself building confidence, skills and knowledge for when I return to the U.S., and need to start to look for another internship, or a job.  I’m excited to learn as much as I can, and to be helpful to those I work with who are really doing the work I feel so passionately about.

Tom, Anna, & Brenna