I am an International Development Studies student from Winnipeg, MB (Canada). I had been to South Africa in 2004, and dreamt of returning ever since. For my practicum, I decided to return to Cape Town. I did a lot of research and came across Connect-123 who offered to find me a placement. I was interested in putting into practice some of what I’ve learned in school regarding Monitoring & Evaluation, especially with small scale community projects. Connect-123 set me up with an organization dedicated to supporting urban agriculture in the townships of Nyanga and Khayelitsha. On my first day I was taken on a tour of one of the community garden projects. I was overwhelmed with the obstacles this organization faced and overcame in bringing small scale agriculture back to South Africa. It is incredibly encouraging to see Cape Town’s urban poor growing fresh vegetables year round to feed their families. The dedication of the staff, and the resilience of the gardeners continues to inspire and make me aware of the various social benefits stemming from such projects which focus on community building. Working in the heart of Nyanga also gave me the opportunity to learn a bit of Xhosa, as well as be exposed to what life is like for South Africa’s urban poor, and the challenges they face daily. Three months was not nearly enough time to soak in all the information I was attempting to process. It is an experience that has renewed my passion for this beautiful country, and has me wanting to come back for more. Thank you, Connect-123, for the wonderful job in finding me such a perfect place to learn and put my skills into practice!