Desmond Tutu

Where the Wild Things Are...

Kalk Bay

Kalk Bay fresh fish market.

Orange River/Service

Khayelitsha

This past friday I spent a night in Khayelitsha, a township close to Cape Town. Townships are settlements that are typically pretty poverty stricken. This is where shacks are set up and houses are constructed with tin and the floor is cement however, in townships there are also nicer house that have been properly constructed and have electricity and running water. Another girl from the program and myself stayed with a friend we met in our ethics class at school. Andiswa lives with her mother and two younger brothers on the developed side of Khayelitsha. On Friday we went to a love service at her church and we danced, sang and were blessed with holy water. When we got home her mother had a delicious South African dinner for us, which included chicken liver! The rest of the night we chatted with neighbors and visited with her family. Then on Saturday we went to another church service. The service was much different than anything I have experienced because they strongly believe in chasing out evil spirits within people and they chant their prayers. It was very culturally eye opening and I learned a lot about Xhosa traditions within this particular church. 

Carlyn and I were the only white people sitting amongst the congregation and everyone came up hugging, kissing and  telling us we are blessed. I have never felt so welcome and part of a family at a church. Their sense of community was overpowering and I felt like I had known these people my whole life. At the end of the service which including a lot of sining, dancing and clapping of hands we were escorted to the front of the church and had to dance in a circle and sing in front of everyone. I was having the time of my life dancing in front of all these strangers without a care in the world.

Then in the afternoon we met up with another friend from school and he took us to the more undeveloped side of Khayelitsha. He showed us where he lives and we walked around the block just soaking it all in. Townships are predominantly still all black so once again we stood out but everyone we encountered was excited to see white people in Khayelitsha.

Service

Service is going well but I haven't been there in almost a month! My university was on break a week before theirs and then they had two weeks off and I then Easter break rolled around so after just over a month I went back this Thursday. Right when I walked in the office, a teacher informed me that the English teacher who I teach for is out on sick leave for 2 weeks. This does not effect me much since whenever I am at school he does not come to the classroom but it means that my students will only be taught English the two days of the week that I am there. I have really been struggling with the South African education system and how difficult it is for teachers to properly educate the students due to lack of resources and the sheer number of students per class. Because teachers feel helpless they then become unmotivated and tired and do not go to class or simply give the kids busy work. It is also difficult knowing some of the kids only one meal a day, which is provided to them by the government so they physically and mentally just do not have enough energy to pay attention in class. Overall though I really enjoy being at service and my students are great!