What inspired you to volunteer with projects Abroad in South Africa?
Jessica: Having not taken a gap year before university, I decided I would love to not only travel during the summer but also try to do something useful and worthwhile at the same time.
At that time I was starting to consider a career in conducting, which involves a huge amount of clear communication, and so I thought going to another country and focusing on communication would really help in that area, and using my musical skills would hopefully benefit the kids in whichever school I ended up teaching at.
I phoned Projects Abroad and they mentioned that many schools in South Africa didn’t have music programs due to budget cuts, so at that point I knew I would be making a difference in my time out there.
What was your favourite moment of the trip?
Jessica: There were so many! In terms of my work placement, I would have to say the last choir rehearsal I took. I had arranged “I Won’t Give Up” by Jason Mraz for them and spent the month I was there teaching it to them. They hadn’t sung in parts before so it was quite a challenge but they got there in the end and did such a fantastic job!
It made me so proud to see them performing it so well before I left. I recorded it luckily, so I will always have a piece of Cape Town and my time out there with me.
I met some awesome volunteers who were staying in the same host family as me, and we went exploring every day, either to the center of Cape Town for the markets, or to some historic sites. My most memorable weekend would have to be when a few of us walked up Table Mountain, and abseiled down part of it.
We had the best weather possible and therefore the view was phenomenal. Granted myself and my friend Valerie felt like we wanted to die half way up the Mountain, but once we reached the top it was incredible! I must say it wouldn’t have been that amazing if I wasn’t sharing the experience with the other volunteers; I’ve made friends for life through this trip and still keep in touch with many of them.
Tell us about one person you met.
Jessica: This would have to be one of my students: Surayda. She played saxophone in the school’s band and had the most amazing spirit! Unfortunately many of the kids were in situations where they couldn’t take instruments home as they had family members who would steal and sell them.
But you wouldn’t know how tough their home lives were by the way they smiled constantly and always had funny stories to tell you. Surayda would tell me every day her plans for the future, and how she would be a famous saxophonist. But of course that wouldn’t be her full time job because she wanted to be rich!
On my last day, I was given a large goodbye card signed by all the kids in the band and choir. Surayda’s message still has me welling up when I read it: “Dear Miss Jessica, you are like a true friend and mother: hard to find, hard to leave and impossible to forget.”
If you could go back and do something different, what would it be?
Jessica: I honestly don’t have any regrets from my time in Cape Town. I threw myself into the placement and explored everything I could in the time I had. I suppose the only thing I could say is I would have loved to stay there longer. I am planning to volunteer again soon with Projects Abroad and am hoping to go to a couple of destinations, spending maybe three months traveling.
I hadn’t traveled alone before this trip, so I thought one month would be fine. But it went so quickly! Time flew by and suddenly I was phoning to confirm my taxi to drive me back to the airport. There we go: if I went back I would stay at least a month longer, to explore more and meet even more people.
Has your worldview changed as a result of this trip?
Jessica: Absolutely. I realized I had completely taken my education for granted. I had all the resources I needed to succeed at school, and we don’t appreciate this enough. Many schools in developing countries don’t have a budget for arts or sports classes and therefore many of the children miss out on so much during their time at school.
Not only that, but many kids I met didn’t get meals at home as their parents either couldn’t afford food or spent the money on other things. Therefore the school had to provide more meals a day than they could really afford.
In terms of music at the school, they could not afford new sheet music. So the kids became really bored of performing and learning the same music again and again.
I therefore spent the year after I left organizing multiple charity concerts to buy the school new band and choir music.
My trip has made me realize that we are so lucky to live in such a developed country, and if companies like Projects Abroad didn’t exist, these developing countries would not be getting the support they need.