Subject: Cape Town News

Hello Rotarians,

Greetings from Cape Town! Things are going well over here, but the temperature is quickly dropping. I have recently finished the format for my blog to keep you all updated on my time here. The web address is currentlycapetonian.weebly.com. The blog displays only a fraction of the stories and observations that I have to tell. I intend to update it quite frequently and plan on sharing some more stories of my volunteering in townships, my trips up the Western coast, and the multiple “braais” (that’s a South African barbecue) I have taken part in. I have two speeches planned within the month to Rotary clubs in my district, and I am quite enjoying my Tuesday night meetings with the Rotary club in Claremont.

Academically, I recently decided on my research proposal: I’ll be writing on foreign aid’s effect on the Rwandan conflict. I am currently inundated with schoolwork and term papers, but the work is interesting and the classes are fulfilling. I have less than a month of term left and then I have a month and a half off to travel and work on my research. Another Global Grant Scholar from the U.S. and I are planning on traveling to the Eastern coast of South Africa and up to Durban. After that, I will return to UCT to take a winter class co-hosted with the London School of Economics on Poverty and Development before classes start again mid-July.

My classes are very multi-cultural, and I’ve managed to make a group of friends from all over the world! I have grown close with students from Malawi, Nigeria, Norway, Kenya and England to name a few. My experience here has been absolutely incredible so far. The workload has been quite intense but the professors are some of the best I have ever had. I am also incredibly relieved to be mentored by Professor Annette Seegers for my thesis. Professor Seegers also teaches at Princeton’s prestigious Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars.

That is about all the updates for now. Please take a look at the blog for more stories! A big thank you once again to the San Marino Rotary club for the most rewarding experience. I could not be more grateful.

Kind Regards,
Jennifer Binley