As of the 13th of February, I will have been here for a full month, and what great month it’s been! I visited a slum of downtown Johannesburg as well as talked with inmates from Leuwkop prison. Both these experiences were very eye-opening. At the prison, we socialized not with villains, but with young men who had mistakes in their lives and were now on the right path to a normal life. I chatted with a couple of guys, all of whom were very open with what crimes they had committed. All these men had very tragic stories to tell, however, one man in particular shocked me with his story. He told me that he had tried to rob a money transfer truck with his friends because he didn’t have enough money to buy the drugs that he was addicted to. He also mentioned to me that he had got someone pregnant and now had a 3-year-old boy waiting for him in Soweto. He explained to me why his life turned into a mess and he told me never to repeat any of the mistakes he had made. This man struck me as a very bright guy, and told me that he was now studying to be an engineer so that he could support his child, when he’s released from jail. This criminal taught me more valuable life lessons than anyone else has. I am now looking forward to my next visit to the prison on the 6th of March.

I also spent this last weekend doing something I had never done before. My host family took me to their home at the Vaal dam. The Vaal dam provides water for the entire Gauteng province, which is the most populated province in South Africa. Every year the Pons family participates in a sailing race around an island in the Vaal. I was lucky enough to join the crew even though I had never sailed before. When we first set out it was explained to me that it sometimes get a bit rough out on the water and that I would always have to be on the look out for swinging sails. Apparently it doesn’t get very rough, when there is no wind… It took us four hours to move about 4 kilometers. However, I still had lots of fun and I’m glad it didn’t get too crazy for my first time as sailing looks quite complicated. — Julien Miller ’12