During my undergraduate and honours degrees in South Africa I worked several jobs so my ability to exploit these opportunities was limited. Despite this I still managed to have my own show on UJFM during my first year and worked as a tutor and assistant during my third and fourth years. Maybe it was just me or maybe it is because my eyes have been opened by Lund University that I realise there wasn't that much to do at UJ.
At Lund University the amount of things there are to do is utterly crazy! Everytime I go onto Facebook there is some party somewhere where you have to do something or drink yourself silly. But on top of this usual university garb there are trips to other countries, booze cruises, and generally just awesome excuses to get out of town. The only ones I have were my day trips to Goteborg and Copenhagen. Being in a long distance relationship isn't cheap so I am having to save my pennies to visit Oliver which unfortunately means I miss out on some of these great excursions (but it's OK I don't mind).
However beyond the travel there are tons of groups and activities you can get involved in: everything from set painting to unions and radios. So with so much to be had what have I opted to do?
Well I joined Radio AF, Lund University's radio station and every other Tuesday I go on air with other presenters and just speak about random shit for an hour. It's great and it isn't too demanding which is even better considering the unbelievable amount of reading and work that is involved in a Masters. However, I also wanted to get involved in something a little bit more meaningful.
Because of time constraints back home (a poor excuse I know) I was hardly ever available to get involved in volunteer work. However, here I have joined UNICEF Lund! Again it is not too time consuming but being an active member is super rewarding and we were encouraged to come up with project ideas and ways of improving the group. With this in mind I came up with a pen pal idea and luckily people liked it, even the big bosses in Stockholm. So the project (now called Writing across Borders) got approved and now it is underway. The basic idea is to get children from two different countries (in this case South Africa and Sweden) to write letters to one another to teach each other about their homes and in turn teach tolerance and curiosity. To read more on this initiative you can read the entry I wrote for the UNICEF blog last Friday. The only hirdle left in the project is getting funding to post the letters from SA to Sweden.
The kids involved in Writing across Borders in Sweden
Now I wish I could get involved in even more...and in the upcoming months I am sure I will! So I will be keeping my eyes peeled and let you know the next time I stumble into something awesome!
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