Yesterday we had a lecture in our History and Culture of South Africa class about the Apartheid that happened a while back and the effects it had on the country. Today we went to visit a possible site for our community service and I could see the effects of history clearly along the streets of the town.
The Apartheid was a time in South Africa's history in which the 4 different races of people were separated and forced to live in designated areas. The whites had favorable lands and higher privileges because they were in control of the government. The coloreds were slightly more favored than the blacks, but they were still less well-off than the whites. The blacks were forced to moved to townships like Soweto in which they built small shacks with no electricity or running water. The townships were so overpopulated that disease spread quickly and unemployment was unbearably high. The Indians were forced to move to certain areas, but they still managed to keep their grip on business.
It wasn't too long ago that Apartheid finally ended. Learning the full story is heartbreaking, but even taking a simple drive through Kwazulu-Natal can be moving. The cities are somewhat more integrated because people have moved there to find jobs, but the towns are still segregated and the races that were discriminated against are still suffering the consequences. The government is slowly bringing electricity and water to the shacks, but many women still walk for miles to fetch water and people have learned to go to sleep when the sun goes down. There are several organizations working to improve the life of people in the townships that are full of poverty, but it's a slow process.
What I liked about the organizations we visited is that they follow the saying, "Give a man a fish and he'll have a meal, but teach a man how to fish and he'll have food for the rest of his life". The organizations here are working to teach people how to fish.
Walk in the Light owns several acres of land from which they grow a certain plant used to make perfume. They sell this plant and use the money to sustain their work in the community. They visit homes where people are sick or infected with HIV/AIDS and they provide transportation to hospitals. They fund funerals for those that don't even have enough to bury their dead and some years they have up to 40 funerals. They also provided food certain times during the week for the hungry. Their crops provide jobs for many unemployed residents and they teach the local people how to grow small vegetable farms around their homes so that they can have food to eat and maybe even food to sell.
Gateway owns a building that used to be a prison and has a very interesting history. In order to receive funds for their work, they've turned the old prison into a tourist attraction and they give tours to people every week. With that money they built Esther House which is a home for women who have been physically abused or have experienced domestic violence. They also have a school for children whose parents can't afford to pay for education and they sponsor these children through the UK and other countries. They also have an overnight homeless shelter, but, if someone wants to stay there, they have to do chores. The point of this is that the people won't get used to getting free stuff and that they'll be motivated to work and to improve their lifestyle.
The list of organizations goes on. One that really touched my heart was Ethembeni, a place were orphans come to spend the day or to hang out after school. Some kids don't have parents at all and others are living with parents infected with HIV/AIDS. The people in this place brought out 5 children to sit with us while we heard about the work they do and the children just stared at us. It must have been shocking to see 53 American young adults crammed into the small room, but I think their eyes showed a lot more than just shock. I could see the pain they had to go through every day and the fear they had after seeing their parents suffer from such an illness. I just wanted to hug them because some of them had bruises and others were so thin and light that I just wanted to feed them. Even in these circumstances, some of them grabbed toys and, when they waved good-bye to us, they smiled and yelled as loud as they could. It breaks my heart to see children that are so innocent and that just want to enjoy childhood, but they're held back by the environment around them.
Sometime this week we have to choose what site we want to work with for the month of March. We don't have classes in March, so we're pretty much going to work full-time at these sites. I'm not really sure where I want to work, but I know that wherever it is, I'll come out of it a whole new person.
No comments:
Post a Comment