Capetown adventures!

Words can’t even begin to express how exciting it is to finally be in Capetown! After being in airports and on planes for 48 hours, it was very relieving to finally arrive Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, I arrived feeling very ill and spent the entire first day sleeping away my yuckiness. So, I missed out on all the orientation and meeting up with a lot of the other volunteers…which was upsetting at first.

Come Monday I was feeling a bit more myself and was able to join in on the experiences with my fellow volunteers. We were taken on a township tour of the city and got to see a few points of interests. The Trojan Horse Memorial, Amy Biehl Memorial, and Vicky’s B & B were just a few of the stops on the tour. It was really important for me to be able to see the townships up close and personal, as I know these areas in Capetown are in such dire need above any others. People that are forced to live in these townships make their homes from whatever they can find in the streets and cannot even have candles for light because if they tip over their entire home and entire neighborhood would be engulfed in flames. It is truly a devastating thing to see, but it is something I think more and more people should be aware of. I had prepared myself emotionally to come face to face with the townships, but in real honesty…you can’t truly prepare yourself for the devastation that is there. Unfortunately, I did not get to walk around as much as I would have liked to…many of the townships are still “no go” areas but I hope to explore them more with our guides during my stay here in Capetown.

Yesterday was our first day at our work placements. I had a bottomless feeling in my tummy out of complete nerves anticipating what my placement would be like…but when I finally started working I felt at ease, and at home. I’ve been placed at a location called Carehaven, which is a women’s shelter for abused women and their children from all ages, situations and locations. The morning started off with a beautiful prayer and song by the women who work at the center. I can’t remember what they sang, but I remember feeling completely at ease with the sounds of their voices. After the other volunteer (Seqouya) and I were given a proper introduction to the facilities and staff members, we were placed at our jobs for the day. For the first week I’ll be working at the criche (sp?), which is a nursery/day care center for the children of the women who are at the facility.

I spent the entire morning looking after 9 children from a variety of abusive backgrounds. Some were more playful than others, but all had such beautiful hearts. My first job of the morning was helping to feed a baby by the name of Joshua. He’s big enough to sit at the big kids table, but is still too young to feed himself. The way he looked at me when I was feeding him his porridge was absolutely heartbreaking… A particular little girl latched onto me quite quickly and I taught her how to “penguin kiss”…but when you teach one child something of course all the other children want to do it…so all morning I was giving all 9 children penguin kisses ☺ The center where they have the children is better than most locations in the area, but they still have no running water, no heat (and remember, it’s winter here so its quite cold right now) and their playground sets aren’t in very safe standards.

Talking with the children’s teacher/nanny, Cindy, was very vital for me. I’ve worked with kids before, but not to the extend that I will be here at Carehaven so I expressed my concerns about being able to handle the children correctly and how to discipline them in the proper way. Being a mother of two herself, she told me how children sense adults emotions. If they sense that I am nervous they will act out and know that they can get away with things, but if I am more confident in my body language they won’t try to get away with as much. It will be a learning process, but I am excited to learn everything about working with children.

Next week I will be working in the kitchen with Vicky and the rest of the kitchen staff, which is also something I am looking forward to. I am a huge food fanatic and love trying to cook, so I can’t wait to experience that part of my placement.
We had today off work from our volunteer placements, as there was a chance of a strike going awry in the city center, near many of our placements. Luckily, nothing too extreme happened (from what we know now, that is) and the organization allowed us to have a “free day” since work was cancelled. Many of us slept in since the night before turned into a bit of a party night on Long Street (where all the popular bars and cool places are) so when we all woke up a majority of us decided to go climb Table Mountain. All I can say is…WOW. I’ve been hiking before and I’ve hiked some pretty intense mountains…but nothing as ever intense as Table Mountain! Talk about a straight up nothing but rock climb! It was intense, but absolutely beautiful and breathtaking (in a good way, ha). When we finally go to the top and walked around for a bit I realized we were at the same level of the clouds! When you realize your that close to the heavens…it is truly an amazing feeling that I can’t express in words! If you’ve never seen photos of Table Mountain, I highly suggest that you google it and see just how gigantic the beautiful structure is…and to see what I conquered, knee brace and all! ☺

The rest of the volunteers and I are pretty popped from our hiking excursion, so many of us are just relaxing around the house for tonight. We’ve been throwing around ideas for excursions our weekend free time. Although I haven’t really decided on doing too much this weekend other than going to church with the family I made friends with in the airport most likely, however, next weekend one of my roomie’s (Kylie) and I are going to go stay at Vicky’s B&B in the township! This makes me SO happy so that I can get a chance to spend more time in the township under the direction of someone who lives there full time. Wow…I can’t wait! I’d also love to see the waterfront and experience the markets and Robben Island also! So much to do, so little time!

Until next time my lovelies ☺

p.s. for right now, I’m trying to save as much money as possible and since the internet is so expensive I don’t get to upload many of my photos. Take a look at my flickr account for a few frames from my first big day @ flickr.com/sunnyhutchinson and I promise to uploade everything as soon as I return to the states with free internet access ☺

Raised $2,585!

Wow. I can't believe I finally actually did it!!!!!! I am truly so thankful to every single person who donated not only their money, but their emotional donations as well!!! To all of you, you are my heros!

I leave for Africa in 23 days...Wow. I have so much to do and so little time to do it! Ek! But I am so excited that I can't wait to experience this big next step!

I'm reading Desmond Tutu's book "No Future Without Forgiveness"...and it is truly moving.

Just finished with my last shots over the past few days...no more immunizations for me! :)

Now, back to reading :)

Love to you all!

Meeting Hanson and more updates!

Wow. That is the first and only word that comes to mind when I try to think of a way to describe this past month. May has been an AMAZING month for me.

On May 5th, some of my best friends and I went to see Hanson in my hometown of Asheville, N.C. As I mentioned before in one of my posts, Hanson sponsors One Mile Walks before each one of their shows to make fans more aware of the many issues in this world, especially poverty and AIDS in Africa.

Every show I've been to theirs I've participated in the walk...barefoot. They've asked fans to do this so that you could feel what millions of children stricken by poverty feel on a daily basis. I've walked barefoot in Knoxville, Atlanta, Charlotte and Asheville. Every walk has been unique in every way..but I must say Asheville was an amazing adventure.

I briefly met Hanson before (see previous post with my interview attached) so I'm not exactly the fan to want to talk to them during the Walks...however, in Asheville I was given the chance to talk the drummer Zac about my trip to Africa. I wasn't really expecting to...for the simple fact that I am very shy when it comes to meeting people like that on a personal level. Interviewing someone is one thing, but just chit chatting...that's another level!

I really was speechless. Why? Because I sure as heck didn't think one of the Hanson's really cared about little ol' me going to Africa...but Zac seemed genuinely interested in my trip, even though I could barely speak out of nervousness. It was really a breath of fresh air to see how interested he was in my trip! By him being so interested, you could really tell that he and his brothers aim to make a difference in Africa is REAL. Passionate. And working.

I know I get made fun of for being a fan of Hanson, but they are just another piece to my puzzle. They truly have impacted my life and have helped me take the next step in my life in volunteering, and for that, I am forever grateful.

Here are some lovely photos taken by my friend Stephanie :)






Another huge update since my last post....
I graduated Winthrop University! I can't believe college is now a part of my past...I am thankful for every memory, hard assignment, late nights at my office...every single moment was worth it once I got my diploma!

I've still got a GREAT deal of fundraising to do! Now that I've harassed my family and friends, I'm hoping to get good responses from businesses in my area to help fund my trip. Currently, I've raised 57% of my goal, which means I've raised $1,643!

I need to raise $1,242 more by JULY 3rd in order to pay off my trip.
I can't believe my countdown is getting closer and closer...
2 months and 5 days. OH MY! :)

FEED Project and Mocha Club

When I first began researching which organization I wanted to volunteer with, my first priority was the issue of HUNGER. Being fascinated with food myself, I knew that the issue of hunger around the world was extreme...recently I've become, somewhat distracted with the issue of AIDS in Africa...and although AIDS Africa is a huge issue (43 million people worldwide are diagnosed with AIDS, and 66% of them are in Africa alone!)I do not want to loose sight of the issue of HUNGER.

350 million children go to bed hungry each night. Hunger and malnutrition kill more people than AIDS, malaria and TB combined.

Through TOMS Shoes (the organization I told you about before that donates a pair of shoes to a child in need for every shoe you buy) I heard about the FEED bag. By purchasing a FEED bag, $20 goes directly to feed one hungry child in school for one year through the UN World Food Program. I ordered my bag and received it in the mail yesterday...when I opened it this morning to put my school supplies in it, I became overwhelmed with emotion when I realized how distracted I had gotten with the simple issue of HUNGER.

As an American, I am spoiled with convenience and abundant food...when so many people around this world have LITERALLY nothing. How can we be so selfish?! I encourage you to learn more about the FEED project and consider purchasing a bag. They are 100% organically made and made from sustainable burlap and are the perfect size for grocery shopping..where you can LITERALLY see how much money you spend on food for yourself and where you can think about money you could spend on one other person who is far more less fortunate than you and needs YOUR help to eat a decent meal.

To learn more about the FEED project, visit FEEDprojects.org




I also want to take this opportunity to talk to you all about an organization called MOCHA Club that I just recently became a part of. I briefly heard about it through a close friend of mine, but at the time I didn't pay it much attention...Then last night while working merch for the Nashville, TN singer/songwriter Dave Barnes, I officially enrolled in the program.

Why?

Because MOCHA Club helps you:
FEED 1 Person in Africa for a month
EDUCATE 2 Children for 1 school term
SAVE 1 Person's life from Malaria
PROVIDE clean water to 7 Africans for 1 year

How?

By becoming a member of the organization and making a VERY simple donation of $7 a month!!! That's the cost of about two mocha's you would buy in ONE day. For a small donation that you most likely won't even notice coming out of your bank account every month, YOU can change the WORLD.

I highly, highly, HIGHLY encourage you to become involved with Mocha Club. For more information, please visit mochaclub.org

Benefit Concert #1: A Success!

Words cannot express the amount of joy I felt driving home Friday evening after my first benefit concert at Cupps Cafe. We had such an AMAZING number of people show up (around 100!!!) and I am still in shock the wonderful response I got from everyone!

If you came out just to see the music, THANK YOU!
If you came out and made a contribution, THANK YOU!
If you came out and got alcohol, THANK YOU!

I raised nearly $300, just that night!!!

It was so wonderful to see every single one of you and I can't thank you enough for your emotional and financial support!

Now, for pictures from the event! My dear friend Javy Gwaltney took these for me :)


Me with my lovely musicians: Jamie Morgan, Matt Bailey and Pilot Light!


Me yapping away about why I had the benefit concert


Pilot Light performing!

(Note: all of them are available on Facebook, so friend me and see some more!)

Benefit Concerts!

I'm proud to announce my FIRST benefit concert!


Please come out to Cupps Cafe on Cherry Road in Rock Hill on April 11th at 8 p.m. for a GREAT show! My friends Matt Bailey, John Earle and Pilot Light will all be playing!


Rock out. Contribute. Make a difference.
Help Sunny travel to Africa for volunteer work!


The event is FREE! but donations for the musicians and towards my volunteer trip are GREATLY appreciated! Bring your friends out for some great music, a wonderful atmosphere and yummy food and beer. Remember...the more beer you drink the more money is donated towards my trip! :) So, DRINK UP!


Please note: If you want to make a personal 100% TAX DEDUCTIBLE contribution towards my trip...Make your checks payable to CROSS CULTURAL SOLUTIONS with SUNNY HUTCHINSON written in the memo section! Cash donations will be collected as well, but will NOT give you the chance to get a tax deduction.

Class project

In my video editing course at Winthrop, we were assigned to concentrate on a Non-Profit organization...who better than Cross-Cultural Solutions! Below is my final product. I hope you all enjoy it. It will be shown on our University's news show, Winthrop Close Up, in the coming weeks. I hope it spreads the word about CCS!