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| Maeve |
The first thing I noticed when we left the airport
in Cape Town was that the air smelled different. And it wasn’t because of the
people outside smoking; there was a detectable difference that alerted you to
the fact you were in a new place. As we started driving we finally saw it, what
we’d been hearing about for so long: the formidable presence of Table Mountain.
The mountain is always there as a guide and a compass no matter where you are
within the vast city limits of Cape Town. We all know what the view of the
mountain is from our house in the suburb Rondebosch and from comparison views
we almost always know which direction is home.
Home is a relative term. How we define our home
says something fundamentally about us and even more so about society. When you
think of Africa, the beautiful 5 bedroom house with 3 full bathrooms and a
kitchen which we call home for this month is definitely not what you see. The
general stereotype is a vast desert or slums on the side of the road. In the
first few days of orientation we saw the suburbs which aren’t all that
different from places in the United States and the townships which were
designated for people classified white during apartheid. These areas are
quite nice and have all the basic amenities and places you would expect from
any suburb in the US. Basically, it’s the exact opposite of the common
stereotype.
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| The house in which students live during their time in Cape Town |
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I arrived in
South Africa but one of the biggest surprises was how suburban this area is and
the modernity of it all. I had seen pictures and knew it wasn’t just some huts
on the side of the road but it was still a shock to see these beautiful areas
that could be from anywhere in the US. I’ve been to 38 states so I’m drawing
connections to all corners of the US not just where I’m from on the East Coast.
The architecture in the neighborhoods has some adobe-like designs that you
might find in Arizona or New Mexico and also beautiful terrace designs similar
to the streets of New Orleans. The craft fair in a park was similar to the
fairs in New Orleans, Arizona or New Mexico. The beautiful beaches look exactly
like the west coast in Oregon where there are seals and long seaweed. There’s
also a great deal of British influence which I recognize through Eddie and the
week I spent in London. Throughout these “tourist-y” days I was in constant awe
of the beauty everywhere around us.
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| Maiden's Cove, Cape Town |
Then on day six we visited the other side of Cape
Town. These are the townships that were designated for people classified
coloured or African during apartheid. These are the people who were torn
from their tight-knit harmonious community in District Six and moved to the
Cape Flats, miles from their homes and miles from their jobs. While visiting
the
Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), which works towards prevention, awareness
and treatment of HIV/AIDS in Khayelitsha (a township classified African/Black),
one of the community organizers said that there are two worlds in Cape Town:
there’s the suburbs and the white townships which are like Europe and then
there’s the coloured and Black townships which are like Africa. We had spent a
blissful five days living in Europe within Africa and finally we got to see
what it’s really like down here. These townships are ripe with poverty, hunger,
homelessness and strength. Yes, strength. Home for the people in these
townships is mostly makeshift housing from any materials they can find: sheets
of metal, blankets, rocks, paper. They have this one makeshift “room” squeezed
in among millions because of the housing shortage after apartheid. This is
something that when you see it, you really start to feel the effects of apartheid and how it damaged this wondrous country. You can’t shake it off or
look away because it’s all around you. And yet, there’s positivity and strength
too. Yes, there are people who are angry and sad and frustrated but there are
also people who are strong and courageous and who do what they can to make
their life the best it can be.
We met a boy Joseph, who currently has no home
because both of his parents are dead, and he was quite possibly the happiest
person I’ve ever met. He was so excited to show us the library in his school
and to introduce his classmates and tell us about them. The library was built
by the UConn students here during the spring semester after they learned that
Joseph’s classmates and schoolmates had no place to do work or study and lacked
books to read. The students transformed a storage closet into an extraordinary
library which was more than I ever could have imagined. As the learners
(students here are called learners) introduced themselves and expressed their
gratitude at the chance to meet us, their sincerity and gratitude really
touched me. Joseph spoke about how everyone in his class is special and
talented in their own way and in their own subject so they all work together to
make sure that everyone succeeds.
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| Joseph in the library at Sithembele Matiso High School |
Growing up there was never a question that I
would have access to books, a library, a studying space or a computer; there
have been computers in my classrooms since Kindergarten. Seeing how little they
had and yet how positive and grateful they were made me realize how incredibly
lucky I’ve been in my life to get the education I have and I’m so thankful for
the hard work of my grandparents and parents who made this life possible. The
unity in the class also gave me pause because my high school was a very
competitive environment where all that mattered was you doing better than the
people around you. The idea of everyone working together to succeed would be a
joke in my hometown to both the students and the parents. Their grace and
dedication and unity were inspiring and the few minutes we got to spend at
Joseph’s school will definitely stick with me long past this trip. This trip
left me even more motivated to get involved in making a difference while I’m here and beyond when I return to the United States.
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