2000+ and counting

2000 over bags. That is the number of goodie bags that the IAS volunteers packed today. A group of us (probably around 30 people of all age range and vocations) were at the Cape Town International Convention Centre today, helping the International AIDS Society get ready for its 5 day event.

I had volunteered for this conference because I didn't have the finanacial resources to register for the sessions; so a friend and a mentor of mine, at Carleton, suggested that volunteering might be a cheap way in. And so, I did my first shift, from 1pm to 8pm, packing bags for the attendees.

The job was simple. All the things that needed to go into the bags lined up on the long tables, while we collect them and place them into the IAS gunny bags. (I brought back the fibres from the bags stuck to my jacket as souvenirs home. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a hold of any of the bags that I packed.) Despite the monotony of the task, I enjoyed most of the time spent there.

I guess that in most of the things we do, the company we have make a huge difference. In retrospect, I should be thankful that the job was rather monotonous, because it allowed us to chat with other volunteers, and not disrupt the tasks we had to perform. I met many amazing people who share similar interest.

There was Bridget, a South African, studying at the University of Cape Town and one who is doing a master thesis research on HIV, migration and gender. (This is the title of my reserach paper I did for my Sociology Migration class).

Beryl, a community worker (I am not quite sure what that means) at the AFS, an organization that arranges exchange students from the US to and from S.A., was the first person I met. She is one of the sweetest people I have ever met. She literally knew everyone by their faces and name by the end of the first 2 hours! (Later I was surprised that she rides a moto bike. That changed my impression of bike riders as movies portray them to be).

I also met two bubbly korean girls, who were in Cape Town for 5 months, studying english. I am still puzzled by how/why they ended up in South Africa, but I guess they, like me, wanted to to travel. I will be sure to ask them about it tomorrow.

Guy Feng, Fidela, Richard and William are all university students from South Africa, Cameroon and Gabon, doing degrees in social sciences. This was the group I got along well with most, because they, like me are wack-heads. We just joked, laughed, and made fun of each other, as we performed our chores.

The person I worked most with today though, was Godfery, a 35 year old queer person, who was a social anthropologist but is now working as a project co-ordinator for an NGO that organizes activities with children with AIDS. It was funny, how we got to talking about the meaning of life, love and selflessness, in just a few hours of meeting each other.

And there were many other volunteers that I met, whose works inspire me to do the same. Knowing that I would see them tomorrow makes the task of packing 1600 more bags less daunting!