A community of shacks.

Egoli, informal settlement

Imagine living in a small, one room tin "box" with 4-5 other people. There's no electricity, no running water, no bathrooms, and the roof leaks when it rains. The closest toilet is the porta-potty that you share with 10-15 other people, and the closest source of running water is a tap that is a 2-3 minute walk up a dusty dirt road that is shared by most people in your community. Unfortunately, this is the life for many people of color in Cape Town, and I witnessed this travesty first hand when visiting Egoli, an informal settlement, for one of our community service projects.


Before arriving at Egoli we had the intention of coming into their community and doing everything we could to improve their quality of life. However, when we arrived at the settlement we realized that this project was much easier said than done. We spoke to some of the adult residents of the community to determine where they would like our assistance and where we should begin with our project. Issues surrounding the infrastructure, electricity, transportation, and medical services seemed to arise multiple times; however, being broke, college students we kindly explained to them that these issues were too big for us to conquer with the amount of resources we currently have.

Alternatively, we chose to focus on providing educational and recreational services to the members of the Egoli community. Over the next two months, we will be visiting Egoli every weekend and implementing different programs that will benefit both the children and adults of this community. I signed up to be a member of the team working on Youth Programs. We have developed ideas for a sports initiative, creating a day care, and providing tutoring. I am excited to see what progress we can make in Egoli!

At The Ark (The one on the left is my daughter)

Aside from the Egoli project, I have been visiting a refuge center/homeless shelter known as The Ark with an organization on campus. Visiting The Ark has been my favorite community outreach project thus far (by a landslide). While at The Ark, I have had the opportunity to interact with the children who are housed at the facility and get in touch with the kid inside of me. The little girls at the shelter tend to cling to me, and I've even adopted one of them as my "daughter." I really enjoy being able to spend time with the young children! They are so innocent and carefree, and although they do not have the best living situations, the smallest things bring joy to their hearts. Having the chance to bring a smile to a child's face by simply painting their face or teaching them a new dance is priceless.

My time here in South Africa is running out quickly. I can't believe it has been 3 months already (Today is my 3 month-iversary! Yay!). I have had the time of my life going on various trips and excursions, but with less than 2 months left, I want to dedicate time to touching the lives of as many people as I possibly can. That sounds pretty cliché, but who cares! lol. 

xo, Nika

p.s. We have a website to raise funds for our Egoli Project. Please check it out & donate if you can. Every little bit will definitely help the cause. Thanks! http://www.gofundme.com/theEgoliProject :)

"Don't reach for the stars, reach for the person next to you"