Volunteering between rights, relationships and contradictions: my experience in Cape Town with ASCS
My Civil Service experience with ASCS led me to work at the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town, in Cape Town, where I am part of the advocacy team. On a daily basis, I am in contact with migrants, asylum seekers and refugees, offering support in handling legal and paperwork. Together with my colleagues, we accompany people on an often complex journey, trying to provide concrete tools to navigate the administrative system and protect their rights.
This is highly formative work, particularly valuable for those who wish to work in the legal and human rights field. Dealing with very different situations on a daily basis requires listening skills, technical precision and emotional resilience. It is not always easy: each story brings with it fragilities, urgencies and expectations. However, the satisfaction that comes from knowing that you have contributed, as much as possible, to improving someone’s condition more than repays the difficulties.
In parallel, I volunteer at Lawrence House, a group home for teenagers. Working with teens at this delicate stage of life can be challenging, but from the very first moment I felt welcomed. Lawrence House has a special ability to make you feel part of a family: even on the most tiring days, when energy is low and the dynamics become intense, the time spent together retains a deep value. As in any family, there are moments of tension and moments of joy, but the sense of belonging never fails. Even during the holiday season, the distance from home was felt less precisely because we shared that time together.
And then there is Cape Town: an extraordinary, complex, layered city. It is as if it encapsulates several cities in one ; one only has to move by neighborhood to perceive completely different atmospheres. Natural and architectural beauty are flanked by profound contradictions: extreme poverty and luxury coexist just a few meters away. The historical consequences of Apartheid are still visible and affect the city’s social and economic dynamics. Living within this tension on a daily basis is not easy: sometimes a sense of discomfort emerges in being able to afford experiences that many of the people I meet every day cannot even imagine.
Moreover, the process of gentrification that is transforming several neighborhoods makes this phase even more significant. One has the impression of witnessing a moment of transition, perhaps the last fragments of a city that is rapidly changing face.
I feel deeply grateful for this experience, which is enriching me on a professional, human and personal level. Living and working in such a challenging and contradictory context means constantly confronting one’s own limitations, privileges and responsibilities. It is challenging, but extraordinarily formative.
