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Where does Amy Biehl Foundation work:
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Amy Biehl Foundation
Cape Town, South Africa
July 01, 2010
Volunteers play an important role in the Amy Biehl Foundation and we invite anyone who would like to volunteers with us to have a look at our website (www.amybiehl.co.za -
Darren - Volunteer from The Netherlands
June 21, 2010
Darren joined us at the beginning of 2010 and has been extremely helpful with updating our website, Facebook, setting us up on Twitter and other websites.He also arranged a soccer
June 09, 2010
The Amy Biehl Foundation runs holiday programmes from Monday to Friday, 10 am to 2 pm to ensure the youth in the townships have positive, creative and fun activities during
I HAVE NOT HEARD FROM THE TEAM
Amy Biehl Foundation, by ABIOLA OLUWASHIKEMI
May 17, 2012
Since i have applied for Volunteering abroad, i have not heard from the team concerned till now. No Letter of Invitation nor message. You can reach me here: +2347044825409, +2348191700192
Lessons Learned
Amy Biehl Foundation, by Michael Perugini
May 01, 2012
In the story preceding this one, I stated that I learned a lot at Amy Biehl and in Africa generally. Well, I would be a poor story teller (and Omprakash grant recipient) if I didn’t share at least some of what I picked up. What follows is a genuine, albeit partial, collection of the lessons I learned in the past three months. I’ve tried my best to avoid tried pseudo-profundities, but no promises. Some of the best things in life are entirely unplanned. For me, the most memorable nights out were entirely spontaneous. Maybe it’s because expectations are high, but evenings with itineraries are rarely as enjoyable as those that start with “I’m bored. Let’s go out.” Not knowing where the night will take you always makes things more...
Farewell Cape Town (a Summary Report)
Amy Biehl Foundation, by Michael Perugini
April 23, 2012
I am writing this story from Cape Town International Airport. It’s hard for me to believe it, but three months have come and gone, and I am about to return home. As such, I think it’s appropriate that I summarize and reflect upon my volunteer experience. I know it must sound trite, but I feel that my internship was a tremendous success. As with anything, I had my initial doubts, but each day spent at Amy Biehl only strengthened my belief in the Foundation. Nearly everyone I encountered was genuinely committed to and personally invested in its work and future. Indeed, many of its facilitators grew up in the very townships we serve; some of them even attended our after-school programs years ago. With every book, instrument, and ball...
The Final Countdown
Amy Biehl Foundation, by Michael Perugini
April 19, 2012
It’s strange how quickly people adjust to new surroundings and routines. I’ve only been in Cape Town since January, and yet I feel as though I’ve been here my whole life. I have a home, a job, and friends. I know how to get around, what to do, and where to eat. And – here’s the unfortunate part – now that I am so well adjusted, I am about to leave. I was discussing this phenomenon with one of the directors of Amy Biehl this morning. She openly laments the fact that just as an intern finally finds his or her place, it’s usually time to leave. I agree. At this point, I am exceptionally comfortable in the office. I know exactly what we do and how we do it;...
Cape Town to Windhoek
Amy Biehl Foundation, by Michael Perugini
April 18, 2012
With my internship drawing to a close, I decided last week to take some time off and explore a bit. Cape Town is an amazingly diverse and exciting city, but I really wanted see more of Africa Africa – you know, deserts, savannahs, tribes, wild animals, etc. Cape Town, after all, is a rather Western city. Thus, a friend and I set off on a tour from Cape Town to Windhoek, Namibia. The route took us north along the South African coast, inland to Springbok in the Northern Cape, across the Orange River into Namibia, through the Namib Desert, west to Swakopmund, north again to Etosha National Park, and finally south to the capital of Namibia, Windhoek. Though it was brief, the trip was incredible. Namibia is...
Last Class
Amy Biehl Foundation, by Michael Perugini
March 30, 2012
This week was the start of a holiday for most South African children. Having just completed an academic term, they now get a break from school to enjoy the last few weeks of summer. For them it is a welcome change in routine, but for me it is actually a bit sad. Indeed, since the Amy Biehl Foundation only offers academic programs when school is in session, I am officially done teaching my literacy class and will now help with sports in the afternoons for the remainder of my internship. My final class, which took place last week, was bittersweet. We spent the first half hour reading aloud several stories about hardworking people overcoming obstacles and accomplishing their goals. Then, after a brief discussion, I instructed each...
Meat is Meat
Amy Biehl Foundation, by Michael Perugini
March 23, 2012 | 1 comment
There are times in life when you really can’t think – certain instances in which you must throw caution to the wind and just go for it. I like to call them “screw it” moments. Every safe, reasonable bone in your body is telling you not to, but screw it. (Truthfully, I usually utter a more obscene variant, but I’ll abstain here.) Anyway, I experienced one such moment last week. A few of us interns had just left the office and were headed toward the after-school centers in the townships. It was stiflingly hot, and we were all rather hungry. We were running early, so Easy (our driver and a veteran of the Foundation) recommended that we all stop for some authentic township cuisine. We had been discussing this...
The Office and Golf Day
Amy Biehl Foundation, by Michael Perugini
March 10, 2012
Though I typically tell people that I am in Africa to teach, I actually spend a good part of each day in an office, not a classroom. Indeed, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., I reside Cape Town’s central business district, and my official title is Events, Public Relations and Fundraising Intern. I’ll be honest, I did not expect to enjoy my time in the office very much. I imagined myself hunched over an ancient computer in a dingy cubicle, counting down the minutes until I could switch over to teaching. Visions of Windows 98 and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome haunted my dreams. Fortunately, the office is nothing like that. Every day I work with nearly twenty others in a bright, open room, the walls of which are...
A Brief Foray into Cultural Studies
Amy Biehl Foundation, by Michael Perugini
March 09, 2012
Though anthropology has never been my forte, since arriving in Cape Town, I have noticed some remarkable cultural differences between Africa and the West. As synthesizing these rather disparate observations into a cogent piece of prose could prove rather challenging, I will present them as a list. A disclaimer: what follows is by no means a statement of fact; rather, it is a collection of general conclusions based upon my personal experiences.1. Life moves at a slower pace in South Africa. People walk slowly, eat slowly, and work slowly. In New York City, 9:30 really means 9:15. In Cape Town, 9:30 really means sometime between 10:30 and noon. It’s a lot more relaxed and definitely less stressful.2. Everything is negotiable here. A colleague and I went into...
Where You Going, Brother?
Amy Biehl Foundation, by Michael Perugini
February 21, 2012
A much loved saying among my housemates is “T.I.A.” It’s a wonderfully versatile phrase – apt in all sorts of ridiculous situations. If your train is running two hours late, yet marked as on time, T.I.A. If you see a shirtless man running through the streets beating a large drum, T.I.A. If a young child attempts to sell you cigarettes while you’re stopped in traffic, T.I.A. It stands for “This is Africa” – and it means, more or less, go with the flow. Something that never fails to elicit a T.I.A. is also one of my very favorite parts of South Africa: the minibus taxi. As a mode of transportation, the minibus taxi lies, unsurprisingly, somewhere between a bus and a taxi. It’s essentially a large van...
Guguletu
Amy Biehl Foundation, by Michael Perugini
February 06, 2012
When people say that your first trip to a township will be eye-opening, they are not lying. Since I arrived in Cape Town two weeks ago, I have heard about townships, seen pictures of townships, and driven past townships, but it was not until this past Thursday that I actually set foot in one. Honestly, nothing compares to being there and interacting with the residents, especially for someone like me, who is simply not accustomed to such poverty and hardship. For those who don’t know, a South African township is a large, under-developed, impoverished living area, typically on the outskirts of major cities, that, under Apartheid, was reserved for non-whites (black Africans, Coloureds, and Indians). The homes are generally small, dilapidated and quite close...
One Week Down
Amy Biehl Foundation, by Michael Perugini
February 01, 2012
It’s been about a week since I touched down in Cape Town, and I have been having an incredible time so far. South Africa is a truly amazing place – very different from the States, but in good way. The people here—both the locals and other international travelers – are incredibly friendly and accommodating. I am very fortunate to be staying in a lodge in Observatory (a suburb of Cape Town) with plenty of other students and interns from around the world. They have all made me feel quite welcome. My first night here, a number of us had a braai (Afrikaans for barbecue), and since then we have gone surfing in Muizenberg, clubbing in City Center, and wine/cheese tasting in Franschhoek. There’s so much to do here! It’s...
A Market Worthy of Growth
Amy Biehl Foundation, by Michael Perugini
January 12, 2012 | 2 comments
At one point or another, everyone has thought to himself (or herself), “I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing.” For me, this unfortunate realization came several months ago, shortly after I decided to volunteer internationally. I knew that I wanted to serve, and I knew that there were plenty of opportunities to do so around the world, but I had utterly no clue where to begin. I was daunted, to say the least. For several weeks I browsed gap year websites, read “voluntourism” blogs, and emailed trip coordinators, but I couldn’t seem to find what I was looking for. Finally, I decided to grab coffee with a former teacher in hopes that he might have some suggestions. Serendipitously, he had just been discussing Omprakash with another student,...
Busi and her Story
Amy Biehl Foundation, by Peter Self
June 30, 2011
It started on a dreary Monday morning the depth of winter in the township of Gugulethu, South Africa. I walked into a classroom of forty-five children aged seven to eight. It was at this point that I noticed a shy, reserved little girl called Busi. After many weeks where she finished her assigned English work first, and would sit quietly I saw her considering asking me a question. Finally, one Thursday lunchtime the shy little girl came to me and handed me a fifteen page story she had written in English.I had never seen a child her age write a story in their non-native tongue that was so long, I was astonished. I took the story and read it through at which point I realized it was very well written...
Jumping Into Work
Amy Biehl Foundation, by Lindsay Carlin
June 30, 2011
You might be wondering to yourself...if the Amy Biehl Foundation runs after-school programs in the afternoons four days a week, what have I done with the rest of my time here in Cape Town?? Well, let me tell you....ABF is not a place to let a volunteer sit around so as my previous post explained, I was doing a bit more than I had originally anticipated. I was put in charge of Centre Registration. Now, this was not something I had any idea about how to do or had any intention of doing when I came over, but the realization when I arrived was that this was a HUGE and urgent need. ABF has 5 different centers where we run our after school programs which reach...
Can You Double Click? Adventures in Teaching Computer Literacy
Amy Biehl Foundation, by Lindsay Carlin
June 29, 2011
Computers....how do you use them for good in a third world environment? What skills do you teach to provide the building blocks for further education? How do you teach your students to teach others after you’ve gone? And how in the world do you explain the art of double clicking??? All these questions and many more surrounded my time teaching a group of adorable 10-14 year olds the basics of computer literacy in Cape Town, South Africa.Because my kids varied in age and level of schooling, the language barrier has been a bit difficult. I know they understand most of what I said; but in terms of them responding, it’s been a bit more challenging. I know these kids are super bright and have...
It's not about you...
Amy Biehl Foundation, by Lindsay Carlin
June 21, 2011
Something I’ve noticed throughout my travels is that volunteering is a huge part of Western culture. It’s almost expected to have some kind of volunteer experience on a resume or CV these days and if you don’t, people even question your dedication. With such an emphasis on building a resume and ensuring that one has some kind of volunteer status, it’s important to take a deeper look at the reasons why you are volunteering.Do you volunteer because you want to build your resume? To gain valuable experience? To create relationships and network in hopes of a future job? Because of a dedication to a cause? To ‘help others’? Whatever your motive is when you volunteer for any kind of organization, I’ve found that...
A Cultural Conundrum
Amy Biehl Foundation, by Lindsay Carlin
May 09, 2011
Hundreds of children and adults alike streamed into the building, almost as fast as the water streaming down the road outside. A little rain wasn’t about to deter this crowd from attending the first ever Mr and Miss Sinako Beauty Pageant. Masixole had been working on this event for over a month and today was the final product of his hard labor. Kids chatted with excitement as the dj played their favorite songs to enhance the atmosphere for what was about to unfold. Many of the guests, in tattered clothing, still wet from the rain outside and many without shoes; had never been to a beauty pageant before, let alone one with contestants from their own community.I was thrilled that Masi asked me to judge the...
A Little Gift Filled with Pride
Amy Biehl Foundation, by Lindsay Carlin
March 31, 2011
Every year, South Africa hosts an international jazz festival in Cape Town. On the foothills of Table Mountain, music lovers come from all over to hear the wafting tunes of saxophones, bass guitars and soulful songs fill the southern suburbs as they sip their wine and enjoy their picnic baskets. Unfortunately, for many South Africans the festival is only a dream as the majority of the population is confined to the informal settlements and townships surrounding the city. The cruel reality of a first world/third world conundrum is evident on weekends such as this. Unable to afford the ticket prices, transport, or even a full meal for their family the South African citizens of the townships are left to only imagine what it the jazz festival would be like. Until...
South African Township Primary School Marimba Band -Clip 2
Amy Biehl Foundation, by Emma Cape
June 07, 2010
South African Township Primary School Marimba Band -Clip 1
Amy Biehl Foundation, by Emma Cape
June 07, 2010
South African Township High School Marimba Band
Amy Biehl Foundation, by Emma Cape
June 07, 2010
South African Township Student Dancing Clip 2
Amy Biehl Foundation, by Emma Cape
June 07, 2010
South African Township Student Dancing Clip 1
Amy Biehl Foundation, by Emma Cape
June 07, 2010
