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Yesterday was without a doubt one of the most memorable days I have had in Cape Town thus far, and probably will ever have in my life. I wanted to come home in the afternoon and write about it immediately, but decided to hold off until I could get the pictures from one of my friends who brought their camera with them. So, all the wonderful photography you see here is courtesy of Britt, who graciously said that I could use them with my blog.
Our day was spent volunteering at a children’s group home in the Kyaletshia Township on the outskirts of Cape Town. Kyaletshia is a settlement that was created in the late 1950s and early 1960s by the Group Areas Act, which relocated all the black people from the area into the less desirable real estate in town. While some houses were built for them, overcrowding soon became a huge issue and shacks sprang up everywhere. It reminded me a lot of the 9th Ward after Hurricane Katrina…but worse, because people are living there. The population is estimated around 900,000-1.5 million, but nobody knows how many people live there for sure, because of the transient nature
of the population. Many people don’t have plumbing, and almost nobody has heating. There is a 51% unemployment rate in the township, crime is rampant, and the police are corrupt. The HIV population is also huge.
With all that in mind, I knew that it was going to be a different sort of look at Cape Town from the fancy life I’ve been living here. Every time we go out on the highway on one of our various trips, we pass by Kyaletshia, where the shacks where children are playing in the dirt are separated from the highway by only a few yards, and a rickety fence. I was really looking forward to getting an opportunity to meet other types of Capetonians and to see what the majority of the South African population lives like. I also really was looking forward to doing something for the community, and giving back to a place to which I feel attached after such a short time of being here.
We arrived at the group children’s home in the morning, where we were divided into two groups. My group was set to the task of cleaning out a building that the home
had recently acquired and they were in the process of turning into a soap factory. The building used to be a Chicken Express, which is the most ghetto-fied version of KFC I have ever seen in my life. There were chicken droppings and chicken grease all over the floor and walls, and about seventy layers of dirt, bugs, and grime. We worked really hard all morning, using very little materials, and some of the children from the home came out to “help” us, which really consisted of them getting into water fights with sponges and the buckets we were using. One little boy in particular, Mendoza, and a little girl named Tambi, who were both five years old, were decidedly unafraid and very cordial. Mendoza knew more English than the other children, and he proudly told us his name, how old he was, and learned all of our names in the time we spent with him. He also knew quite a few English songs, like the “itsy bitsy spider” and “head, shoulders, knees and toes” which he also demonstrated for us.
After we finished cleaning out the Chicken Express, we walked back to the children’s home to have lunch.
It was pretty sad that for the two blocks that we walked, we had to have township guards accompanying us. They made us remove all of our jewelry, sunglasses, and watches before we even left to go to our worksites, even though we were walking in groups and were being accompanied by the guards. Lots of people came up to us and were trying to take things from us to “help” us, but we got back to the children’s home unscathed. At the home, we had lunch, which was prepared by the resident pastor/cook, which was a very simple meal of a pot roast type of food, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes. The meat was actually seasoned very well, but it was such a cheap cut of meat that I don’t think they’d even sell it in the States.
After lunch, we went into the playground of the home, where we raked the sand to remove glass, rocks, and other debris. The children decided to “help” us again, by pushing wheelbarrows around, playing in the sand, and climbing on top of us. The children at the home have such different mannerisms than the children in the US. In the
US, children that age are often shy, and don’t want to talk to adults. Here, the children will run up to you and will jump in your lap, grab you by the hand, and start talking very animatedly. Tambi kept trying to teach me how to say “ear” in Xhosa, but unfortunately, the guttural clicking sounds (think Starvin Marvin for all you South Park fans) prevented me from ever saying it to her satisfaction. She did however, derive a lot of satisfaction from tugging on my top earring (I left it in since it was just stainless steel). Kimberly, another girl from my class, kept making all the kids blow their noses, and she found it to be a good way to connect to the children. I managed to find my way in to the vegetable garden to help clean up there, and found that neighbors had taken to dumping all their trash in the vegetable garden, including personal hygiene products, food containers, broken bottles, nails, and other very dangerous items. Luckily, we made a lot of progress, and hopefully it will help the children out quite a bit.
After we finished in the yard, we got to sit
around and sing camp songs and nursery songs with the children. Obviously, this was the favorite part of everybody’s day. Quite a few of us girls remembered songs from our childhood, and surprisingly, the kids there knew all of them! Old McDonald, Bingo, Hanky Panky, The Wheels on the Bus, and Itsy Bitsy Spider all made reappearances, and all the kids were delighted to be able to sit in our laps, climb all over us, and generally get a lot of attention. We were told that they already get tons of attention from the people that work there, and that they are just little show-offs…which I can kind of believe.
All in all, it was certainly a remarkable day, and one that I will not forget. I hope you guys enjoy all the pictures. Without sounding like a telemarketer too much, the NGO we were working with gave us their information if anybody wants to donate, and if any of you feel compelled at all, this is a really great cause. These kids are great, and this is an amazing place in a township that really doesn’t seem like it has a lot of hope.
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mommy
non-member comment
good for you
I am writing this comment on your first blog altho it encompasses both this and the shark blog as well. Kudos to you for both the blogs and the experiences they encompassed. Sorry you got seasick but at least you got to see the sharks up close and personal, and it is a good story for later on. Your community service also sounds admirable and again something that will stick with you for very many years. It is always remarkable to see life thru the eyes of others and get a whole new pespective on what life holds for each of us. Think how different you would be except for the accident of your birth in the US to parents who could afford you everything you need, as opposed to in a South African township where existance is so day to day. I am sure that we each have a destiny and karma and perhaps yours will be to help out in some way. We are really enjoying sharing this with you and we look forward to reading more. Stay safe. Love Mommy