Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Day by Day!

SAA 07/28-1 - Here we go!
July 27th fly to JFK New York, overnight  and Meet your delegation at
Hotel Name:                Hilton Garden Inn Queens/JFK Airport
Hotel Address:           14818 134th St
Jamaica, NY 11430

July 28 –August 10, 2010
Day 1, July 28
ENROUTE
• Board your international overnight flight to South Africa.
Day 2, July 29
Cape Town, South Africa
• Welcome to South Africa! Upon arrival you’ll be met by your local guide and
taken across to domestic departures for your flight to Cape Town.
• Take a moment to exchange some of your US dollars to South African Rand.
• When you arrive at Cape Town International Airport you will be met by your
Delegation manager, local guide and coach driver and taken to your hotel.
Day 3, July 30
Cape Town, South Africa
• Begin your day with an in-country briefing including an introduction to the rich
history of South Africa and get a feel for the country as it is today.
• Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden – Educational walk & activities
• Learn more about important ecological issues at the Southern African Foundation
for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB). SANCCOB is an
internationally recognized leader in seabird rehabilitation. The Education Officer
(Mr. Weston Barwise) will conduct a presentation which includes a short video
about the infamous 2000 MV Treasure oil spill. You will visit some areas of the
rehabilitation center and see the penguins being fed.
• Tonight you will participate in a home-hosted dinner where you will be welcomed
by a South African family, complete with a drumming workshop!
DAY 4, July 31
Cape Town, South Africa
• Explore Robben Island. For nearly 400 years, Robben Island was a place of
banishment, exile, isolation and imprisonment. It was here that rulers sent those
they regarded as political troublemakers, social outcasts and the unwanted of
society. The experience begins at the Nelson Mandela Gateway.
• The Gateway is the museum’s “front door,” and is a mainland symbol of the
importance of the island for South Africa’s young democracy. Since Mandela’s
triumphant release in 1990 from more than a quarter-century of imprisonment, he
has been at the center of the most compelling and inspiring political drama in the
world. He is revered everywhere as a vital force in the fight for human rights and
racial equality.
• Walking township tour & visit township project
DAY 5, August 1
Cape Town, South Africa
• First up today is an orientation of Cape Town, including historical highlights. This
city is famous for its natural harbor, as well as its location near the Cape of Good
Hope. A narration of the City's colorful history will complete this experience and
familiarize you with your host city.
• Afterwards you will participate in a Cape Peninsula excursion where you will
experience of the magnificent scenery of Cape Point and visit the resident
penguins in their natural surroundings.
DAY 6, August 2
Cape Town, South Africa
• Today you will have the opportunity to interact with South African peers from the
Beacon View Primary School
• Lunch with be with the school pupils.
DAY 7, August 3
Johannesburg, South Africa
• Wake up this morning and say good bye to Cape Town before boarding the
plane for Johannesburg. Johannesburg is 115 years old and started life as a
gold-rush shanty town. It was barely in its teens when it sparked a war that
changed southern African history - the Anglo-Boer war was a dispute over who
controlled Johannesburg. In less than 30 years the city had outpaced every rival
to become southern Africa's major commercial center.
• Explore the Apartheid Museum. This museum is an impressive multi-media
experience of Apartheid South Africa. Likened to the Holocaust Museum in
Washington, DC, this museum takes you into the beating heart of the struggle,
the grip of the National Party's Apartheid, and the giddy days of liberation.
DAY 8, August 4
Johannesburg, South Africa
• Give back to the local community as you help to paint a mural at the Children’s
Clinic. The group will be divided into four teams. Two teams will draw mural
outlines on the day-room walls while two teams will follow and paint the pictures.
Each team will take a turn at clean up as the others go along.
• Special Note: Students and Leaders need to have overalls, shirts, or something
you won’t mind a bit of paint-splatter on. Leaders please work with students
the design for the mural plans for the two walls, either adjacent or opposite
each other.
• Explore Soweto, the most well known township in Africa.
• Visit Masibambisane Children’s Centre. There are approximately 220 children at
Masibambisane, ranging from very young to high school age. Here you will break into smaller groups. Each group will participate in activities such as teach
songs to the little ones, maybe songs with hand actions/ dancing, or create a
peace flag or collage with the “middle” children (could you bring some pictures
from “home” for this?), or participate in outdoor team-building activities with the
older children.
• As a finale, your delegation will put on a short performance for all the children – a
play or some singing.
• Special note: We are often asked if donations are accepted during school visits.
Donations are by no means mandatory. Should you wish to donate supplies to
the school we’ve gathered a list of items they would be able to make the most of:
math sets (protractor, compass etc.) Pens, pencils, colored pencils, crayons, felttip
pens, erasers, and rulers are all good and light-weight to carry. Alternatively
art supplies like sticky colored paper, stickers, stencils and poster paint would be
fun. Paper or notebooks would probably be the wrong sizes because they used
different sized paper in South Africa.
DAY 9, August 5
Johannesburg, South Africa
• Learn more about local issues as you explore the Siyakhana Food Garden
Permaculture Project. This Johannesburg inner city food garden’s mission is to
“…establish a model urban agriculture initiative that showcases a food garden
system for food production, education, research, and empowerment of the
community, particularly women, through training, employment and incomegenerating
opportunities.”
Special Note: Sensible clothes & shoes are advised for this activity. You will
spend time working in the garden – weeding, mulching, clearing of plots/beds;
and some students will be involved in the production of herbal products e.g.
herbal salts & dried herbs. Hats and sun screen are also required as you will be
working outdoors. Johannesburg is generally warm and dry with clear skies and
fierce sun on winter days.
• Explore the Lesedi Cultural Village. This multi cultural village set amongst the
pristine bushveld, an extensive grassland with thorn bushes and scattered trees,
such as acacia and baobab, and rocky hills less than an hour’s drive north of
Johannesburg.
• Experience the vibrant and colorful traditions of the Basotho, Ndebele, Pedi,
Xhosa and Zulu peoples. Here you will celebrate your time in South Africa with a
traditional feast and become part of traditional Africa for just a short while. You
will never forget it!
DAY 10, August 6
Tshukudu Bush Camp
• Continue your journey by traveling to Kruger National Park. Bordering Zimbabwe
and Mozambique, Kruger National Park lies in South Africa’s eastern lowveld, it
has a subtropical climate. The dry winter is the ideal time to view wildlife as the
2010 into smaller groups. Each group will participate in activities such as teach
songs to the little ones, maybe songs with hand actions/ dancing, or create a
peace flag or collage with the “middle” children (could you bring some pictures
from “home” for this?), or participate in outdoor team-building activities with the
older children.
• As a finale, your delegation will put on a short performance for all the children – a
play or some singing.
• Special note: We are often asked if donations are accepted during school visits.
Donations are by no means mandatory. Should you wish to donate supplies to
the school we’ve gathered a list of items they would be able to make the most of:
math sets (protractor, compass etc.) Pens, pencils, colored pencils, crayons, felttip
pens, erasers, and rulers are all good and light-weight to carry. Alternatively
art supplies like sticky colored paper, stickers, stencils and poster paint would be
fun. Paper or notebooks would probably be the wrong sizes because they used
different sized paper in South Africa.
vegetation is more sparse and animals are drawn to the waterholes to drink
every morning and evening.
• For the next three days you will stay at Tshukudu, a game reserve bordering
Kruger National Park. Their focus is on environmental education, game breeding
projects and rehabilitation of orphaned animals within the general conservation
model of a game reserve.
• End the day with a night game drive. If you’re lucky you might just hear the roar
of a lion or two!
DAY 11, August 7
Tshukudu Bush Camp
• Arise and face the South African sun as you join in on an early morning
educational bush walk with game rangers.
• Finish off the day with another night game drive. What sounds will you be lucky
enough to hear tonight?
DAY 12, August 8
Tshukudu Bush Camp
• After an early morning bush walk and a hearty breakfast, you will participate in an
unforgettable experience – a lion breeding project.
• Tshukudu has many dedications and the need for lions in the Northern Province
and all over South Africa inspired them to start this project. Thirteen years later,
some 270 lions have been bred and many re-introduced into various game
reserves.
• Enjoy your last evening game drive at this magical place.
DAY 13, August 9
ENROUTE
• All good things must eventually come to an end. Pack your suitcase one last time
as you prepare for your journey home.
• Don’t forget to thank your delegation manager, guide and driver before departing
the motor coach.
DAY 14, August 10
ENROUTE
• Welcome back to the United States!
Important Preparatory Information:
• Bring clothes suited to cold weather (& rain in Cape Town) and shoes that are
comfortable, waterproof and warm for walking!
PLEASE NOTE: This itinerary may change at any time without notice. Updated
Schedule of Activities will be posted on your student’s OnBoard Web Site

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Itinerary Posted!

Check out the itinerary for our amazing adventure. It's now posted on the PTP onBoard site. What sounds the most exciting to you?  Has anyone ideas for what kind of mural would be fun to paint in the hospital?  What animals will we see? 

Friday, May 7, 2010

School Visit

Check out this site.  We will be visiting this school.  How is it like your school and how might it be different?  Where is it located?  What is the nearest big city?  Put your comments below.

Our group will be spending the day on Monday 2 August at a Primary School in Mitchell’s Plain called Beacon View. For some background see: http://www.khanya.co.za/schools/khanyaschool.php?emisno=0106490539

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Alex Malblanc










Hey guys, my name is Alex Malblanc. I live in Mason, Ohio. Last year I went with a People to People delegation to Fiji, New Zealand, and Australia. It was amazing! I bet this South Africa trip will be even more so.
Besides being a People to People Student Ambassador, I also enjoy soccer, archery, fencing, biking, hiking, camping, and reading. Oh, and I'm also pretty big on movies too.