I have been here for three days. They have been amazing. On Sunday, we had orientation and took a tour of the city. We stopped at the beach and then drove past the beautiful beach-front property that goes for about $250, 000 here, which seems unbelievably cheap to me, as it is the Malibu of Cape Town. We also drove to the top of Signal Hill and took in the view of the city and Table Mountain. Cape Town is a really beautiful place.
Yesterday, we got our first dose of reality. We took a township tour which stood in stark contrast to the drive around the city the day before. The condition in which the majority of Cape Town's population lives is indescribable. Our tour guide, Richard, was awesome. He explained life in the ghetto in detail to us. He told us some really interesting things, like how the government tried to hide the reality of the townships by putting decent looking houses around some of the ghetto's borders so passers-by wouldn't see how atrocious they were inside. He took us into a barracks that was originally put up to house men who worked in the city. Now it houses multiple families in each dorm-sized bedroom. We met a woman who lived there and shared her twin bed with her husband. Her small children slept on the floor next to the bed and her bigger kids slept in the common kitchen. The other two single beds in the bedroom belonged to two other families. There were five other bedrooms sharing the common kitchen. The kids in the townships are amazing. They went crazy over us. If they see a person with a camera they start posing and singing and dancing. I took video of five little guys singing, "Ole, Ole Ole Ole". The sense of community was unbelievable and the beauty in that, and in the people themselves, far exceeded the glamour of the beach-front houses we saw the previous day. At the end of the tour Shamiel told us the reason that we were headed back into the ghetto. Richard, our well-spoken, educated, multi-lingual tour guide, that I had a little crush on, needed to be taken home.
Today, I went to my job for the first time. It is a great placement. I met everyone who works there and got a tour first. Then I helped a young guy from Zimbabwe find a pair of shoes, pants and a shirt from the donations at the center. Unfortunately, the majority of the clothing donated is for women and children, so we had a fairly difficult time of it. He had a great sense of humor, but despite my laid-back demeanor, our almost-fruitless labor broke my heart. He asked me to pick him out a nice shirt. I gave him a red flannel one, but just wished that I could take him to the mall. I asked him questions about himself and he told me that he was alone in South Africa and that he lived under a bridge. After that, I learned the process for interviewing the new refugees that will be coming tomorrow. Then, I went and made parcels to give the newcomers that contained a small bag of maize meal, and smaller bags of beans, sugar, rice and a can of spam-type meat. If I understand correctly, this and six rolls are to last a person for two weeks. I made a hundred packages, and am excited to go to work tomorrow and meet the people who need them.
South Africa reminds me every day, several times a day, that nothing is black and white - not people, not politics and not the complex social issues that face South Africa, the US or the world.
Yesterday, we got our first dose of reality. We took a township tour which stood in stark contrast to the drive around the city the day before. The condition in which the majority of Cape Town's population lives is indescribable. Our tour guide, Richard, was awesome. He explained life in the ghetto in detail to us. He told us some really interesting things, like how the government tried to hide the reality of the townships by putting decent looking houses around some of the ghetto's borders so passers-by wouldn't see how atrocious they were inside. He took us into a barracks that was originally put up to house men who worked in the city. Now it houses multiple families in each dorm-sized bedroom. We met a woman who lived there and shared her twin bed with her husband. Her small children slept on the floor next to the bed and her bigger kids slept in the common kitchen. The other two single beds in the bedroom belonged to two other families. There were five other bedrooms sharing the common kitchen. The kids in the townships are amazing. They went crazy over us. If they see a person with a camera they start posing and singing and dancing. I took video of five little guys singing, "Ole, Ole Ole Ole". The sense of community was unbelievable and the beauty in that, and in the people themselves, far exceeded the glamour of the beach-front houses we saw the previous day. At the end of the tour Shamiel told us the reason that we were headed back into the ghetto. Richard, our well-spoken, educated, multi-lingual tour guide, that I had a little crush on, needed to be taken home.
Today, I went to my job for the first time. It is a great placement. I met everyone who works there and got a tour first. Then I helped a young guy from Zimbabwe find a pair of shoes, pants and a shirt from the donations at the center. Unfortunately, the majority of the clothing donated is for women and children, so we had a fairly difficult time of it. He had a great sense of humor, but despite my laid-back demeanor, our almost-fruitless labor broke my heart. He asked me to pick him out a nice shirt. I gave him a red flannel one, but just wished that I could take him to the mall. I asked him questions about himself and he told me that he was alone in South Africa and that he lived under a bridge. After that, I learned the process for interviewing the new refugees that will be coming tomorrow. Then, I went and made parcels to give the newcomers that contained a small bag of maize meal, and smaller bags of beans, sugar, rice and a can of spam-type meat. If I understand correctly, this and six rolls are to last a person for two weeks. I made a hundred packages, and am excited to go to work tomorrow and meet the people who need them.
South Africa reminds me every day, several times a day, that nothing is black and white - not people, not politics and not the complex social issues that face South Africa, the US or the world.
1 comment:
WOW!!! It sounds soooo exciting. Can't wait to see pictures of where you are living. Very sad to actually see how people in other countries live. You haven't mentioned the cuisine that you are eating?!
Enjoy every single minute Annie!!
Love me
Post a Comment