Western Cape

On 18 October we boarded a South African Airlines (SAA) jet enroute to Cape Town. Two things were on our agenda: a bit of time to relax and enjoy Western Cape hospitality and to attend a week long seminar on 'Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting' (PME&R).

The PME&R course took place in the seaside village of Kleinmond. The centre where we met was run by a global ecumenical womens' network known as 'The Grail'. Comfortably hosted in a conference centre esconed in a grove of 'blue gum'(eucalyptus)trees the course consisted of approx 28 participants from throughout the region. It was a creative adult learner oriented programme and provided a good framework from which to view planning activities.

Some insights:
- "Development: helping people think their own thoughts and ask their own questions." (Trevor Ngubane)
- "The most important principle of development practice is establishing relationships."
- "Change can be emergent, transformational and/or projectable. Each requires different approaches and strategies."
- "Listening happens at multiple levels: the head, heart and foot engaging the intellect/knowledge, emotions and the will or motivation to cause change."

We had input, worked in groups, modelled with clay, did free writing, listened to each other and explored options through concepts like the 'world cafe' and journaling.

Holiday time: When not exploring planning realities we explored the awesome beauty of the Cape with some MCC colleagues. Whale watching was a favourite as was enjoying hot cappucinos along with delectable pastries found in the many small seaside villages along the way. the scenery is so spectacular that one had to stop the vehicle many times because it was hard to focus on the road and see everything that needed seeing!

Cape Point is always a heady (and windy) experience as you watch the vast ocean as it pounds and crashes against the seemingly impenetrable granite cliffs. This is offset by the beauty of the 'fynbos' - the unique vegetative plants of the region. Western Cape has one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems in the world.

Cape Town itself is a dynamic and colourful city with a wide mixture of cultures and people from around the world. The discriminatory realities of apartheid however will take the next generation to remove although there has been much progress already. The poverty of many is evident by kilometres of slum like dwellings driving from the airport to downtown. Economics now plays the role of race in the previous era.

The last few days Lois and Bruno spent on their own at a lovely B&B on the cliffs overlooking Gordon's Bay. We explored Stellenbosch (renowned for its vineyards) and Franshoek - a mountain village rated one of the best for its restaurants. In the course of all this Lois purchased a skirt made from the silk of the Mopani worm - in itself a delectably tasty crunch - if you go for that sort of thing!