So once again I’m completely astounded by Cape Town. Yesterday I had one of the best days of my life in the Guguletu township. We went for lunch to this well-known (around Cape Town) meat and only-meat restaurant called Mzoli’s in Guguletu. You choose what kind of meat you want, which can be any number of things including Beef, Lamb, pork, sausage, chicken, kidney, ribs, and tons of other meats, and then you pay for it based on weight. You take your plate to the grill and leave it with them, picking it up about an hour later. To accompany the food, we went next door and bought a loaf of bread and a couple of beers, AND IT WAS DELICIOUS. Though it was apparently a little emptier than usual, there was a dj set up in the street and it turned into an epic house dance party. How could life get any better? I’m coming back every Sunday I’m here until the program ends, it’s altogether too much of an experience. Remember that this is in the middle of the township at 2pm, actually the one where Amy Biehl was stabbed.
This started me thinking about how much I don’t understand South Africa at all. It seems that the longer I get here, the more confusing it gets. There are just so many polar opposites that exist together at the same time. There are the absolute wealthy, with beach houses worth over 8 million dollars and there are the absolute poor with no water, electricity, or food; South Africa is the country with the highest inequality disparity in the world. How can the rich not care about the living conditions of the poor? How can the politicians make so much money and not try to help the people they were elected by? There seems to be an atmosphere of community and everyone is super friendly, but crime rates are among the highest in the world and I know people who have been mugged multiple times. I have seen very targeted racism at several of my Asian friends in the program, and one of the kids at my job has experienced racism over and over in schools, but there is supposed to be a notion of reconciliation. People realize how dangerous HIV is, but don’t make any attempt to get it treated because they will be completely ostracized. Knowledge about who goes to the clinics is quickly spread, and because people won’t marry or even date people with HIV, many South Africans just keep their infections private. Something like one-third of the country is affected, but there is either too little money or too little support to help them.
The other highlight of my week has been a tour of the Cape Peninsula, driving down to Hout Bay, crossing to False Bay, and going to the tip of the Cape of Good Hope. Once again, all I can say is that the views were stunning, and I am actually going to upload some pics within the next couple of days. South Africa is hands down the most beautiful country I’ve ever been in, and that’s true everywhere we go. Unfortunately, my camera died right before we saw a family of baboons hanging out along the side of the road, including a bunch of adorable babies. Besides seeing another group of ostriches, we also saw a colony of small penguins who were about one foot tall. I get such a kick out of how penguins waddle along and they were only a few feet away so I was completely pleased. Frankly, I just wanted to grab one and run, but I don't think people in the program would really appreciate having a penguin wandering around the house.
I started my service-learning project at Beth Uriel (BU) this week, and have already spent about 16 hours there hanging out with the guys, helping them with work, and trying to understand the business they are trying to run. I say “trying” to run because business isn’t great. Here’s the site though, their products are sick: http://mekasi.co.za/. BU is a home for about 25 disadvantaged youth of ages 16-26 who are still enrolled in high school and trying to become independent. The focus is on Christian values such as tolerance and helping thy neighbor. My time there will be spent getting to know the guys, tutoring, learning, helping in any way I can, and essentially redesigning their business. They don’t have a lot of infrastructure, so Ken and I feel like we’re building a business from the ground up. It’s slightly easier because they have a team and a product, but no real ability to market or sell their goods.
The dynamic at BU is a very odd one, which I haven’t quite figured out yet. Perhaps because many of the guys have spent the majority of their childhood living on the streets or using and selling drugs, they all seem to be independent and many don’t really consider each other good friends. In fact I’ve talked to one in particular (maninho) that doesn’t trust anyone in the house. Some of this is certainly warranted, there continue to be incidents of theft within the house. The odd thing is that they all live together and seem to get along great, laughing and hanging out. It strikes me that the strict rules that they have to go to school, be back in the house by 6pm, study from 7-9pm, and go to bed by 10:30 would give them common ground to bond over, but I’m unsure whether that happens. There is also a very odd dynamic between the guys, the youth leaders, essentially residents of the home who have taken on extra responsibilities and are supposed to act as role models, and the staff, who are all volunteers except for one social worker living with them. Everyone seems to be playing dual roles of friends and authority figures, and it’s difficult to see what roles people are playing when. The mix of brotherhood and distrust is certainly something I haven’t seen before.
I also am tremendously impressed by several of the guys that I’ve talked to. Masecani, one of the youth leaders, is a reserved kid with more self-drive than most people I know. I had the opportunity to sit and chat with him about his life story Tuesday night, and it turns out that he lived on the streets most of his life. His parents essentially left him to fend for himself, and he hustled drugs for a while. His story is one of socialization, only starting school when he was 14. He was never interested in school before, but people kept asking him why he wasn’t in school and one day a woman convinced him just to come. He then found friends in school, and saw their feelings of accomplishment when they did well. Eventually he realized the advantages of school in getting off the street and feels that he should take every opportunity to better himself. This has created in him motivation to study even if it is really hard for him; he will be the first person in his family to graduate high school. He is currently working weekly as a chef, and sees himself studying at a chef’s school after he graduates because it’s the best opportunity open to him. Interestingly, He told me that he isn’t true friends with many of the other guys because though he has the capacity to joke around and hang out with them, he doesn’t really connect with them on a deeper level or have intense conversations.
I also spent a long time Thursday talking to Maninho, the manager of Me’Kasi. He also lived on the streets until he was 10, and what struck me most about him is that he has developed a very definite sense of right and wrong. He’s also not willing to give up his beliefs for anything, and is very vocal about it. This has gotten him into lots of trouble at schools as he’s butted heads with teachers. As an example, he told me how one time someone had written “Fuck blacks” on the board right under where all the homework was posted, and no one erased it for several days. He asked the teacher if he could say something in front of an assembly. When the time came, he brought up what was written on the board and started talking about how racism is just pain and fear within whites and accomplishes nothing other than making blacks stronger. After talking a bit about the perils of racism, some teachers started nodding along and agreeing with him as if they thought he was making total sense. He then proceeded to call them out for not erasing it or doing anything for several days, which got him into substantial trouble. I’m really excited to learn more of his life story and run the business together.
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