Theresa: The Joy of My Activist Project

Theresa & Siphokazi at Waterfront
Peace Signs from all!

For my activist project, I have had the pleasure and joy of getting to know my little sister Siphokazi through an informal “Big Sister/Little Sister” program.  In the United States, one of my main roles is being a family member, and very importantly a big sister.  I have two younger sisters who I love dearly and being away for them has been especially difficult, so I jumped at the idea of being able to have a little sister on this side of the world.  Having little sisters is a special experience, you have someone to challenge you, to tease you, to share with, to learn from, to teach you, to be silly with and I am so fortunate to be having that experience here in South Africa.

My little sister here is wonderful, she is kind, she is intuitive, she is witty and she is smart.  We have been very lucky to see each other about once a week since the program started, this is always a treat (and we always get fast food so it’s an extra treat).  So far, my favorite things that I have done with her are participate in our large group activities mainly, the Two Oceans Aquarium, the movies and the sleepover that we had at our house in Rondebosch.

Nicole & Theresa with little sisters at the Two Oceans Aquarium

At home, my extended family has many females, and that has lead to wonderful bonds with me and my female relatives, whenever we can we jump at the chance to have a “Girl’s Night,” so the idea of having a sleepover with all our little sister’s (and one brother) from the program overjoyed me.  Meika and I helped to coordinate the sleepover, from planning dates to making permission slips to buying groceries to cooking the food. We had so much fun.  The girls arrived around 4pm, and even though it was a little bit chilly, they all went swimming in our pool.

We then ordered lots of pizza and ate dinner and then headed up stairs to hang out with each other.  In true sleepover manner, we painted nails, did hair, did Henna tattoos, watched movies, talked, and barely got any sleep.  It looked like everyone who was at the sleepover was having lots of fun and I know that the other big sisters and I really enjoyed ourselves.  Leaving Cape Town will be hard, but really leaving the people will be the hardest.  I am excited to stay in contact with Siphokazi and hopefully one day (she’s really ambitious and wants to be an optometrist and go to school in the US) she will actually get to meet my other little sisters in the US. 

School holiday sleepover.