Adios Durban!

Our first week in Durban is over and we’re packing up to head over to the Western Cape, where we will spend a week working and living at the QASA facilities. We’ve learned a lot while in Durban and working at the KZN Ashley Digital Village. The Digital Village is a computer-learning center where quadra- and parapalegics are given computer literacy training. At the Village we examined and suggested improvements for the current training materials and led two skill-building workshops on ‘active listening’ and ‘root-cause analysis’. We spent a lot of time sensitizing ourselves and orienting our viewpoints to understand a new way of living, not only understanding a new culture but also in learning particularly how people with disabilities live in South Africa. We were able see first-hand how QASA empowers its members with the tools necessary to gain employment. Not only are they training disabled persons to re-enter the workforce but the on-site trainers also live with a disability. Again we are noticing a pattern of self-sufficiently. Here QASA exhibits a pattern of training and employing its own people so that they in turn are influencing other disabled persons to live a full life.

Free Our Innocent

On our last full day in Durban, we visited QASA's innovative "Free Our Innocent" project. Through a partnership between QASA and the Department of Correctional Services, prisoners were brought into the Chesterville township to build wheelchair ramps for quadra- and parapalegic community members whose homes were previously inaccessible. Guided by a member of the QASA board, Vusi, we visited several project sites and chatted with beneficiaries of the program. We spoke with both young and elderly quadra- and parapalegics whose lives were improved through increased mobility. Many of the ramps spiraled up steep hillsides which previously created enormous barriers to transportation, as quads and paras had to be carried up and down the hills whenever they wanted to leave their homes. One man we spoke with described several drastic lifestyle changes which accompanied the building of a ramp outside his home, including the abilities to create a small business and to have friends in wheelchairs visit him.

Learn more about the project by clicking here.

Safari Adventure

Our first weekend in South Africa might just be the best weekend that both of us have ever had. It was a two day safari escapade that we will both remember! The Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve, located three hours north of Durban, is the oldest game reserve in South Africa and is well-known for containing the Big Five game: lions, elephants, buffalo, leopards, and rhinoceros. Through the expertise of our seasoned guide and new friend, Prakash, we were fortunate enough find most of the Big Five as well as many other animals such as giraffes, zebras, baboons, warthogs, impalas, and nyalas. The highlight of our tour was witnessing (from a safe distance) a territorial stand-off between a herd of thirty elephants and an enormous white rhinoceros. The last segment of our adventure was a sunset boatride on the beautiful St. Lucia Estuary. After Sarah flightendly panicked at the thought of jumping over the dock and into the boat (terrified at the thought of falling into a hippo & croc infested waterway), we all boarded the boat and floated into the beautiful wetlands. During our ride, we spotted several large herds of hippopotami, a number of exotic birds, and enormous crocodile--one of which almost snapped at Eva as she unsuspectingly focused her camera into the vicious creature's eye from the edge of the boat. It didn't take long before she realized that it was wild and alive! The trip was a wonderful cultural compliment to our internship, and an unforgettable experience for us both!

Greetings from South Africa!

Sawubona!

So far, we’ve been given a great overview of what the QuadPara Association of South Africa [QASA] is all about. Here it is in four words: Empowerment, Disability, Employment, and Advocacy. The purpose of the organization is to ensure that para- and quadriplegics live a full and self-sufficient life by empowering them with all the tools they need to live life well-equipped. This means everything from supplying batteries for powering wheelchairs to providing job coaching in order to secure employment. Like its members, QASA must also be self-sufficient. This autonomy is exhibited in QASA’s strong financial backbone; the organization is a brand that operates with the spirit of social entrepreneurship. QASA owns a grocery, lodge, beachfront amusement park named “Mini-Town”, and a digital village (computer workshop)—significantly employing those in the disabled community. QASA also uses attractive products and catchy but proactive slogans to strengthen the brand and advocate for public safety. The change that this organization has made on the disability movment is tremendous. They've done everything from improving safety in the game of South African rugby to hosting a successful protest until the 2010 World Cup stadiums respected disabled patrons. We're excited to learn more about this organization and contribute to its long-standing history of results.