Seriously, this trip is long overdue. How is it that I have so much family in Cape Town but have never visited it before? I blame the cost. I am both excited and nervous to be arriving in Cape Town. I think the big thing I am nervous about is being there for a little over two months. I have never been in a different country for that long. I will essentially be living in a foreign country for two months. That's weird and new, but also exciting. I have heard a lot about Cape Town since I was a small child. I've heard of the good and the bad. I finally get to see that.
Part of the reason I get to be here is through Queens' JBIP program that has granted me the privilege to be able to do an international internship. My internship will be with an organization called the Refugee Legal & Advocacy Centre. This organization provides free legal support for refugees seeking asylum in South Africa. Refugees in South Africa mainly come from Ethiopia, Somalia, he DRC, Nigeria, Sudan, more recently Zimbabwe, and from other African countries as well. I will be learning about refugee laws when it comes to both South African law and the United Nations. I will not just be exploring policy but also see how that policy impacts refugees on the ground. I will be exploring the role that South African institutions play in how they help refugees. I am very excited to learn about these things and to see where this internship will take me.
This really ends up being a perfect blessing for me. Through this program, I get to learn a lot about the politics of another country, I get to visit family here, and I have my own place so as not to bug anyone. I hope to learn a lot about the culture and food there and to see where that will take me. This is an amazing opportunity and I hope to take full advantage of it.
Stay tuned as the adventure carries on.
~Noah Goldman
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