Workin’ for the weekend

I know, I know…I’m really bad at updating. OK, I promise to do more than 1 update this week. And I’ll tell you more about the awesome road trip I recently took. But first…

Thank you! Together we’ve raised $883 so far, almost a third of the way to my goal of $3000. I want to get to $1000 by Sunday night, so please consider throwing a few bucks my way :) . I want to give a big shout out to everyone who has made donations to Grassroot Soccer so far: TVT, Debbie S., Allison K., Tory C., Becca F., Jackie K., Badrul R., my cousin Nickie, Sayrebrook Veterinary Hospital (thanks, mom and dad!), uncle Tony, and Michelle V. If you want to be in the company of these upstanding people, donate today!

Kids playing soccer in the street.

Why am I in Cape Town in the first place? All of this has been made possible through the wonderful people at the HIV Vaccine Trials Network, who have been generous enough to support my research project in South Africa. I am primarily based out of the Emavundlani HIV Prevention Centre located in Crossroads, a neighborhood in Cape Town:

Map of Cape Town.

Emavundleni Prevention Centre

One of the dogs that hangs out outside the center.

For my project, I am conducting a survey in the townships around Cape Town. Specifically, I go around to various taverns (known locally as shebeens) and ask customers about HIV, vaccines, and clinical trials. It’s been really great talking to the people in the community and they have been pretty welcoming. The taverns range from a small 10’x20’ shack with no electricity to larger places with pool tables and flat screen TVs.

Inside one of the shebeens.

The shebeens are where people in the community come together, drink, and socialize, which is why we think it is a good place to educate the community about HIV as well as recruit for clinical trials. And hopefully my project well shed some light on the issue. Pretty cool that I get to go to bars all day, huh? Except there’s no drinking on my part…

Castle: the official beer of everything in South Africa.

Next post:

-I’ll tell you about the most epic road trip ever. Bungee jumping, surfing, lion cubs, and a 16 hours on the road down the beautiful Garden Route along South Africa’s coast.

Future posts:

-I moved to the coast and it’s beautiful

-Shark cage diving and I do not agree on much, mainly on if I should keep my lunch.

-Bastille Day in SA!
-And much, much more...

Until next time,
John