Author Archives: Alex Laverty

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About Alex Laverty

Recent graduate from USC's Master of Public Diplomacy and UCLA's Master of Africa Studies programs. My interests lie in understanding the interactions between digital ICTs & society. I try to make sense how are these interactions are changing democracy, diplomacy, and development.

Alisa Recovers from Bug and Teaches Grammar!

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Alisa has gotten over the infection/virus/bacteria that has plagued her for the past week as she adjusted to life in Kenya. She was taken to the nearest hospital earlier in the week for a malaria test, which was negative, and is finally regaining her appetite and strength. She is currently living with Emanuel, a school teacher with 4 children, near the town of Kilgoris. During the past week she and a group of other volunteers from the British Isles and the US put together latrines for the school, and also moved in beds for the boys’ dormitory in anticipation of the approaching school year. Emanuel’s school has been set up to prepare children for the national high school entrance exams that determine which high school you will be admitted to. Two of Emanuel’s own children attend boarding school two hours away in anticipation for these exams. Alisa has learned that public schools do little to prepare children for high school, as they adjurn for the day at noon. Thus Emanuel has set up his school for the children of the region. Continue reading →

Review: Kumuka Worldwide

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The decision to go with an Overland Tour to complete our bucket list of places to visit in Southern Africa was one that we arrived upon late into our two months in the region, but in the end provided us an opprounity to visit places that would have been very cost prohibitive had we done it on our own. Victoria Falls was number one on Alisa’s list, and as I had wanted to take the opportunity to visit Botswana, we looked for a trip that would cover both of these. Since we were approaching the end of our trip, money was becoming tight, thus finding the right option, time and cost wise, was imperative. Our search was extensive, but Alisa decided on Kumuka Worldwide as our best bet because they fit the timeframe we wanted, had an affordable cost, and had openings on the upcoming trip. Booking last minute proved to be difficult with some of the other companies so we quickly made the booking at Kumuka as Alisa assured me that I would be able to buy Travel Insurance through World Nomads (Kumuka requires travel insurance, and it was very easy to purchase from World Nomads). Our trip from Victoria Falls to Johannesburg was booked, so now we had to get up to the starting point. Continue reading →

South African Airways & OR Tambo Steal My Soccer Kit

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29 July

Unpacking my suitcase was something I put off for a few hours on my return, but as I started to do so, I threw much of my clothes in a pile to wash, and proceeded to unwrap the souvenirs. I usually have quite success when packing, having been raised traveling and moving all over Europe, and our two months of moving around Southern Africa didn’t result in any major damage to anything, save Alisa’s MacBook Pro picking up a dent on the corner (she of course blames me as I was usually the one carrying it, but an impact that strong would’ve been one that I noticed, so it was likely someone/thing running into me/the bag). However, our luck wasn’t to hold on the return journey. Alisa’ wooden candle votive from Vilanculos, Mozambique had a piece of it’s star-shaped holder broken, and my stone bird from Zambia had it’s head broken off, it’s tree stand spit in half, and its nose smashed. Quite disappointing considering how far it came. I also made a mistake and thought it was wrapped by itself, when it was actually wrapped with one of Alisa’s wooden Zambian bowls. The votive can easily be repaired, the bird… major surgery will be needed, but his nose is likely unfixable.

Alisa had written that she had arrived in Kenya without much trouble, so now we all have to sit patiently till she finds internet access or buys a SIM card and gets some data. Continue reading →

Out of South Africa

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June 28/29

We were awoke this morning just before Mandla came into Elna’s room to tell us goodbye before he went to school. He had been peppering us “Are you leaving now?” all last night, and now that the time had finally come, he seemed very nonchalant about saying goodbye. He came in to tells us that his mother was letting him take his soccer ball to school and that they had to write his name on it. This seemed to be the drama of the moment, and either covered up his feelings about goodbye, or he’s just too young to have them anyways. He didn’t even give a hug while we sat in bed listening to him, he just promptly walked out at the end of the telling of the story.

It will be quite interesting to see where Mandla is when we do return to South Africa in the future. Elna fears that his parents may take him back to Zimbabwe, where he’ll herd cattle, or that because of his education and life in South Africa (where he was born), his older brother and sister will come to resent him for being the ‘spoiled’ child while they remain in Zimbabwe. Continue reading →