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ACE Class Checks in Again from South Africa
7/6/2016 1:48:00 PM | Fencing, Men's Soccer, Rowing, Women's Golf, Swimming & Diving, Athletics
DURHAM, N.C. – Five Duke student-athletes – Lizzie Devitt (swimming & diving), Elizabeth Horne (rowing), Alexander Merriman (fencing), Gurbani Singh (women's golf) and Oliver Spring (men's soccer) – are in South Africa this summer as part of the inaugural class of the Rubenstein-Bing Student-Athlete Civic Engagement (ACE) program. The program provides one-time funding for Duke and Stanford student-athletes to engage in a three-week international service project.
All five Blue Devils provided blogs on their initial experiences in South Africa, which can be read below.
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Teamwork and Sea Horses
July 6, 2016 l Gurbani Singh (Duke Women's Golf) & Mariah Lee (Stanford Women's Soccer)
Last Saturday we visited Langa Township. Our tour guide, Siviwe, grew up in the township and showed us around. After high school, Siviwe went to college in Spain and then came back and started a nonprofit organization called Happy Feet, which promotes education and a healthy lifestyle through dancing and provides a safe after-school environment for kids in Langa. One of the highlights of the trip was when the kids performed a dance for us at the end of our tour.
Our new project for this week was working at an orphanage. Five of us worked on painting the walls of a newly built room and the other five worked on building a market stand for Mama Lumka (the founder of the orphanage).
Mariah and I were part of the room painting group. We started off by going through all the children's books available to us and picking animals to draw. After a few heated discussions we decided on a whale, penguin, octopus, seahorse, and squid.
Click here for Singh's full blog post.
---
Obstacles and New Experiences on the Rise
July 5, 2016 l Lizzie Devitt (Duke Women's Swimming & Diving) & Trevor Rex (Stanford Men's Track & Field)
This past week our ACE group transitioned from the classroom to the streets of South Africa. Last weekend, we were able to immerse ourselves into the South African culture by taking a tour of the Langa township, which was given to us by one of the locals, named Saviwe. Langa is the oldest township in Cape Town. South African townships have almost entirely black populations and formed during Apartheid.
While Apartheid's effects are still apparent through the poverty seen in the townships, its residences measure wealth in a different way than we do. Saviwe told us that township residences consider each other to be rich people based on their inner morals and treatment of others. A person with a lot of money who makes judgments of those with less money is the one who is truly poor.
During this past work week, we also utilized new skills: construction and cement work, painting, and leadership. All inclusively, our second week in South Africa has not been short of new experiences and challenges.
Click here for Devitt's full blog post.
---
Protect Your "Inner Wealth"
July 5, 2016 l Elizabeth Horne (Duke Rowing) & Taylor Rice (Stanford Women's Gymnastics)
For our first weekend in Cape Town we were taken to Langa township, the oldest township in South Africa.
Guided by Siviwe, a South African native who had grown up in Langa and now owns and runs two tour guide companies as well a nonprofit organization, we explored the streets of the 'sun' township. As we wandered the town we were greeted with children playing in the streets, smiles, and greetings — all part of the welcoming atmosphere of the township. Langa thrives on their sense of loyalty and ability to keep their community safe; they all look out for each other to keep themselves in line and to keep crime rates down.
Siviwe took us to many different areas within the township. We passed cages of live chickens, multiple hair salons, a table of thawing sheep heads, a newly converted car wash and a local shibean (brewery). The houses in the township ranged from tiny tin shacks to nicer stone and brick establishments which displayed the range of wealth within the township. However, in Langa, it is not monetary value that matters.
Click here for Horne's full blog post.
---
Under the Sea at Mama Lumka's
July 1, 2016 l Oliver Spring (Duke Men's Soccer) & Anya Miller (Stanford Women's Rowing)
This week has been filled with lots of fun adventures like township tours and exploring the mother city, Cape Town. For our service this week though, we have been working in an orphanage, which has been such a rewarding experience. The ACE team broke into two groups to divide and conquer a couple of tasks which needed to be finished. The first was to paint a room in the orphanage, and the other was to build a market stand which the owner of the orphanage Mama Lumka would be able to sell her excess clothing for the kids and vegetables from the garden.
The stand was made of PVC pipe and from absolute scratch. The market stand group took three days to finish two stands and it was a much more difficult task than any of us expected! The most rewarding part of all the hard work was when Mama and her husband got their first look at the finished stand. To see them light up in excitement and express their appreciation, it made the group feel like all of our efforts will have a long lasting positive effect on both Mama and all involved in the orphanage.
Click here for Spring's full blog post.
---
Bi-Coastal Collaboration
July 1, 2016 l Alexander Merriman (Duke Men's Fencing) & Jaisel Sandhu (Stanford Men's Rowing)
We have just finished our second week here in South Africa! The theme of this week's blog post is about collaboration and more specifically ACE's unique Duke-Stanford collaboration. We (Jaisel and myself) agree that one of the most attractive aspects of the ACE program is this collaboration between universities. Both Duke and Stanford are top tier universities in academics and athletics; thus, this program presented us with the opportunity to build relationships with high level student-athletes from opposite sides of the country and learn from one another while simultaneously serving with community partners abroad.
Jaisel and I struggled to discern any specific differences between the Duke and Stanford participants, but rather agreed that as student-athletes we all are very comfortable working together towards a common goal. Since the students from the school are on winter break, we spent this week working at Mama Lumka's children's sanctuary. At the sanctuary, we were tasked with several projects for the week. One task was building a market stand for Mama Lumka, so that she can sell vegetables from her garden and spare clothing. A second task given to us was to paint a children's room. Both Jaisel and myself chose to work on the market stand, as we aren't exactly artistically gifted. After building the original design, we identified several ways in which we could improve the structural integrity of the market stand, and continued to modify the design until it was very sturdy. I was very impressed with how well everyone worked together and seamlessly divided the work amongst ourselves, with several people cutting PVC and other sanding and assembling the structure.
Click here for Merriman's full blog post.
---
For additional information on the ACE Program, visit www.ace.duke.edu.
#GoDuke
All five Blue Devils provided blogs on their initial experiences in South Africa, which can be read below.
---
Teamwork and Sea Horses
July 6, 2016 l Gurbani Singh (Duke Women's Golf) & Mariah Lee (Stanford Women's Soccer)
Last Saturday we visited Langa Township. Our tour guide, Siviwe, grew up in the township and showed us around. After high school, Siviwe went to college in Spain and then came back and started a nonprofit organization called Happy Feet, which promotes education and a healthy lifestyle through dancing and provides a safe after-school environment for kids in Langa. One of the highlights of the trip was when the kids performed a dance for us at the end of our tour.
Our new project for this week was working at an orphanage. Five of us worked on painting the walls of a newly built room and the other five worked on building a market stand for Mama Lumka (the founder of the orphanage).
Mariah and I were part of the room painting group. We started off by going through all the children's books available to us and picking animals to draw. After a few heated discussions we decided on a whale, penguin, octopus, seahorse, and squid.
Click here for Singh's full blog post.
---
Obstacles and New Experiences on the Rise
July 5, 2016 l Lizzie Devitt (Duke Women's Swimming & Diving) & Trevor Rex (Stanford Men's Track & Field)
This past week our ACE group transitioned from the classroom to the streets of South Africa. Last weekend, we were able to immerse ourselves into the South African culture by taking a tour of the Langa township, which was given to us by one of the locals, named Saviwe. Langa is the oldest township in Cape Town. South African townships have almost entirely black populations and formed during Apartheid.
While Apartheid's effects are still apparent through the poverty seen in the townships, its residences measure wealth in a different way than we do. Saviwe told us that township residences consider each other to be rich people based on their inner morals and treatment of others. A person with a lot of money who makes judgments of those with less money is the one who is truly poor.
During this past work week, we also utilized new skills: construction and cement work, painting, and leadership. All inclusively, our second week in South Africa has not been short of new experiences and challenges.
Click here for Devitt's full blog post.
---
Protect Your "Inner Wealth"
July 5, 2016 l Elizabeth Horne (Duke Rowing) & Taylor Rice (Stanford Women's Gymnastics)
For our first weekend in Cape Town we were taken to Langa township, the oldest township in South Africa.
Guided by Siviwe, a South African native who had grown up in Langa and now owns and runs two tour guide companies as well a nonprofit organization, we explored the streets of the 'sun' township. As we wandered the town we were greeted with children playing in the streets, smiles, and greetings — all part of the welcoming atmosphere of the township. Langa thrives on their sense of loyalty and ability to keep their community safe; they all look out for each other to keep themselves in line and to keep crime rates down.
Siviwe took us to many different areas within the township. We passed cages of live chickens, multiple hair salons, a table of thawing sheep heads, a newly converted car wash and a local shibean (brewery). The houses in the township ranged from tiny tin shacks to nicer stone and brick establishments which displayed the range of wealth within the township. However, in Langa, it is not monetary value that matters.
Click here for Horne's full blog post.
---
Under the Sea at Mama Lumka's
July 1, 2016 l Oliver Spring (Duke Men's Soccer) & Anya Miller (Stanford Women's Rowing)
This week has been filled with lots of fun adventures like township tours and exploring the mother city, Cape Town. For our service this week though, we have been working in an orphanage, which has been such a rewarding experience. The ACE team broke into two groups to divide and conquer a couple of tasks which needed to be finished. The first was to paint a room in the orphanage, and the other was to build a market stand which the owner of the orphanage Mama Lumka would be able to sell her excess clothing for the kids and vegetables from the garden.
The stand was made of PVC pipe and from absolute scratch. The market stand group took three days to finish two stands and it was a much more difficult task than any of us expected! The most rewarding part of all the hard work was when Mama and her husband got their first look at the finished stand. To see them light up in excitement and express their appreciation, it made the group feel like all of our efforts will have a long lasting positive effect on both Mama and all involved in the orphanage.
Click here for Spring's full blog post.
---
Bi-Coastal Collaboration
July 1, 2016 l Alexander Merriman (Duke Men's Fencing) & Jaisel Sandhu (Stanford Men's Rowing)
We have just finished our second week here in South Africa! The theme of this week's blog post is about collaboration and more specifically ACE's unique Duke-Stanford collaboration. We (Jaisel and myself) agree that one of the most attractive aspects of the ACE program is this collaboration between universities. Both Duke and Stanford are top tier universities in academics and athletics; thus, this program presented us with the opportunity to build relationships with high level student-athletes from opposite sides of the country and learn from one another while simultaneously serving with community partners abroad.
Jaisel and I struggled to discern any specific differences between the Duke and Stanford participants, but rather agreed that as student-athletes we all are very comfortable working together towards a common goal. Since the students from the school are on winter break, we spent this week working at Mama Lumka's children's sanctuary. At the sanctuary, we were tasked with several projects for the week. One task was building a market stand for Mama Lumka, so that she can sell vegetables from her garden and spare clothing. A second task given to us was to paint a children's room. Both Jaisel and myself chose to work on the market stand, as we aren't exactly artistically gifted. After building the original design, we identified several ways in which we could improve the structural integrity of the market stand, and continued to modify the design until it was very sturdy. I was very impressed with how well everyone worked together and seamlessly divided the work amongst ourselves, with several people cutting PVC and other sanding and assembling the structure.
Click here for Merriman's full blog post.
---
For additional information on the ACE Program, visit www.ace.duke.edu.
#GoDuke
Players Mentioned
IM/Free
/ Swimming & Diving
PLAYER
/ Rowing
Foil
/ Fencing
PLAYER
/ Women's Golf
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