I was met in the morning by Meschak, one of the volunteer co-ordinators:
He showed me how to take the minicab* to the Projects Abroad Head Office (located in Newlands, not far from Wynberg) and introduced me to the staff there. We then had lunch in Claremont (a familiar name!) and I picked up a South African mobile SIM card and mobile phone.
Ribs in a wrap? Chai-vanilla smoothie? Hell yes!
There was an amusing incident when two men came running towards us, screaming at us to get in their minicabs (a common occurrence); however, I jumped out of my skin in fright (thinking that they were about to mug us). I really need to get used to a few things around here...
After wandering through Cavendish Mall, we caught another minicab to PAHRO, located in Rondebosch (which is also home to the University of Cape Town campus). The offices are fairly new and spacious, especially as there are not many volunteers at this time of year:
I met Maria, one of the lawyers, who is from Kenya but studied law in Cape Town and was admitted in South Africa. At my induction was another volunteer from the UK - Rachael - who has just been admitted and is on leave.
The PAHRO legal services division was explained to us - there are five types of files which are allocated to volunteers, under the supervision of Maria or Theodore (who heads up the office). Most of the files are refugee files - these mainly require written work (such as submissions to the refugee tribunal) although some of the larger cases require representation at hearings. The second type of files are for the family law clients - these will often center around cases of domestic violence, child custody disputes and sometimes property. Thirdly, there are the human rights cases. These are often referred from other organisations, and require legal opinions and advice relating to violations of human rights. Fourthly, there are the workplace cases - the majority of which are unfair dismissal claims, but also a few sexual harassment allegations and disputes over pay. And then there are the cases that do not fit into any of the above areas - Maria said that a few cases in this category involved allegations of police brutality.
There is also a social justice division within PAHRO - the work in that division is at the grass roots level (going out to townships and educating people, working with youth in detention and also with other disenfranchised groups, such as battered women). I can expect to do some work in this division too, as well as work within legal services.
We caught a minicab back to Wynberg, and I took some photos of the neighbourhood for the benefit of the folks back home (please see my Flickr photostream below for a link to all the photos taken thus far).
Markets, Lower Wynberg
Church and mountains, Upper Wynberg
Meschak very patiently put up with me stopping to gawk at squirrels and, every so often, the back of Table Mountain.
Tomorrow will be my first official day at PAHRO; however, I think the real test will be whether I can make it from Wynberg to Rondebosch on my own! Apparently I can look forward to a dinner of curry and pappadams tonight, courtesy of Latifa. So that should give me the energy to face another day...and another minicab ride.
Latifa (host mum) and me
* minicab: a mini-van that is built to seat 15 people, but really fits as many South Africans as can squash themselves into all corners of one...and my mode of transport to and from work for the next 2 months!
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