training

After the three days of staging and a long flight, I will arrive in Johannesberg on August 18th for a two and a half hour drive to the training location. Training will take place outside of Mokopane (formally known as Potgietersrus), Limpopo. All of the people doing the program will be staying with families in smaller towns any where from 1 to 7 kilometers from Moletji (the training town). There's a picture of the area that I found above. I also found out a little bit of information on the area.
The Mokopane area is one of the richest for agriculture, with wheat, tobacco, cotton, beef, maize, peanuts, and citrus. It's also rich in minerals with diamond, platinum, and granite mines. Culturally, it is a mix of Ndebele, Pedi, Sotho, Afrikaans, and English cultures. For tourists, you can see ancient caves (with drawings by the ancient San people) and the Big Five. In the early nineties, the town earned the nickname "the racist capital of South Africa" after local whites tried to prevent black children from entering schools that had been all-white during apartheid. Although that was ten years ago, "Club Members Only" signs persist over white filled bars and fighting over local services and amenities.
Training will consist of five major components: Language, Technical, Cross-Cultural, Health and Safety and Security. Most mornings will be spent learning one of the following langauges: SePedi, SeTswana, IsiZulu, TshiVenda, IsiSwati, and Xitsonga. The language that I'm taught will be one unique to the area that I will volunteer in and may not be spoken in Limpopo. I will also be assessed on my productive competence, motivation, emotional maturity, and social sensitivity. If everything goes well during training, I'll be sworn in on October 1st.