This last week I spent living in Gugulethu, a township near Cape Town. I had the opportunity to live in the home of Buyiswa, her daughter (whose name I am currently blanking on), and her three grandsons (Buntu, Zozoso, and Sipaw). She also had her sister there to visit for the week to help better take care of us because of the fact that Buyiswa works a ways away and leaves early in the morning. Their home was moderately sized for the area. They had three or four bedrooms, a small kitchen/dining room, and a small living room. Their toilet was outside as well as a second sink. In other words, we got to use a flashlight, or torch here, whenever we wanted to use the bathroom. At night however, due to the area we were in, we got a chamber pot in our room just in case. That was an interesting experience that I have never really had. It was a very eye opening experience that showed me, more realistically than almost anything else, how the people in the townships live.
During the week for dinner each night we got to get together and eat at one of the host parents homes. In other words, each night we had a huge amount of amazing food. We also learned that in the townships, people love their meat. They were amazed that people were able to live as vegetarians, they even at times joked that they would make them into meat eaters by the end of the trip.
During the day we had the chance to use the JL Zwane Center as our home base. Because of that partnership we had the opportunity to get to know the people working at the center as well as get to know the youth who go to church at the center. That may have been one of my favorite parts of this last week. Getting to know so many new people and being able to learn more about their lives. They were all very open and welcoming. They were also a great support system for us during the toughest times this week.
Day 1:
On the first full day in the town ship we had the opportunity to meet with people from the Treatment Action Campaign and the Social Justice Coalition. Both groups are working for the betterment of people with HIV/AIDS. The TAC works mostly as a support group while the SJC works with laws and tries to change legislation. Later in the day we had the chance to see pieces of Gugulethu. It was raining but we visited the Gugulethu 7 memorial (remembering seven activists who died during apartheid), the Amy Biehl memorial (remembering a white girl who was killed due to her race), The Kiki Hostels (an area of shacks that was previously for males only), and the Township market (which included smileys, or sheep heads that are charred until their hair is gone and then boiled before being eaten). The last thing that we did that day was volunteer with the Rainbow after school tutoring program that is run by the center. I ended up helping with a group of kids who were in 6th grade and were working on fractions. Because they didn’t have much homework they finished fast and then crowded around me to ask me questions and to learn more about America. For many of the kids it was their first time seeing a white person and being able to talk to them openly. I actually laughed when their first question for me was if I had met Rihanna. After that, many of the questions revolved around music artists from the US that they know or about my life.
That night we also had the opportunity to have dinner with some people from the organization These Numbers have Faces. That organization is based in Oregon and works with people in the townships to send kids to college. They pay for their tuition, books and room and board fees in return for the student promising to do volunteer hours and donate at least 1% of their future income to enable a student from their high school to attend college in the future among others.
No comments:
Post a Comment