Day three in Guguletu

The second speaker we had during lecture today was with Dr. Deon Snyman, who is from the Foundation for Church Led Restitution. He brought up an interesting approach that said the fantasy of apartheid is that we just don’t know each other and so that’s why it’s difficult for us to understand one another. It’s so simple and seems too easy to talk with people to gain a better understanding of them, which is exactly what we did this week during our home stays. Even though it was scary at first to live with someone I didn’t know in an environment that I was unfamiliar with, it was easy. If all of us even just spent a day with someone from a different region or of a different race, we would learn so much. Getting people together to find out their needs and share their stories would ultimately prevent wars and battles like apartheid. Synman also said that you can’t have real reconciliation in South Africa by saying sorry, but you need to give back to the community. I totally agree with this- in any situation you can’t just say sorry, but you need to show that you’re sorry and why you should be forgiven. The community can’t just all of the sudden change their feelings because of an apology, but you need to show that you care, show that you did wrong, and show that you want to make change for the better. We need to do something about the imbalances and inequalities from apartheid. How long will this take? I know it’s making progress, but it seems like there is still so much work to be done. Synman raised a good point that people may be scared for change to happen because their comfort of living would be shaken. This is a perspective that I didn’t ever think of because I assumed that everybody would just want change for the better no matter what. If I put myself in that situation, it would be hard for me to get used to something that’s completely different too. (This also goes along with the fact that it’s difficult to give up some privileges if you’ve been privileged in the past.) But at the same time I think I would want to deal with that uncertainty if it meant that people would be treated equally. This kind of goes along with when I asked Kate if she thinks she will ever move out of Guguletu. She said no because she grew up here. It’s what she’s used to and she enjoys the sense of community where everyone walks outside and talks to one another. Even so, we need to create a way to gain the support of the people to take action in creating a difference, which may involve giving some privileges and familiarity up.

Another reason that’s preventing change is that people are afraid to talk about it because it’ll open a can of worms. But if this doesn’t happen it’ll create a deeper wound. I really like this analogy and agree with it completely- when you’re mad at someone you have to tell them and explain why because otherwise it could grow into a bigger problem in the future and nothing would change or get resolved. This is something that I sometimes struggle with because I like to avoid conflict as much as possible. At the same time, though, I think that some conflict is healthy and necessary. I need to try to get more comfortable with conflict and take the right approaches, like acknowledging when I do something wrong.

The lecturer mentioned that his biggest challenge is keeping everyone together and having them know what apartheid did to blacks in South Africa if you didn’t experience it first-hand. This goes along with what the minister said in Sunday’s mass about how we can only understand a black person’s experiences if your black. So we must learn through relationships to gain the deepest understanding possible and spread that understanding onto others. When I return to the United States I plan on sharing the stories of those I’ve been inspired by in Guguletu in hopes that those I tell will be inspired to pass along the stories and help with their struggles.

An attitude problem in community structures is that the younger generations find the stories of apartheid more humorous, while the older generation find them sad and think back to their families. Johanna believes that the younger generation doesn’t understand and is not interested about what they went through during apartheid. I don’t know if I totally agree with this because if we are here trying to learn more about it, wouldn’t other people our age from South Africa be interested too? She says that the younger generation needs to realize how lucky they are and all of the opportunities we have. I can understand that some people may take things for granted, especially when things are so available for you. For example, I take for granted running water. And a good point is that parents in South Africa don’t always know how to guide their children because of their differences in rights. Whereas in the U.S. parents compare luxury from when they grew up to now. My dad would always say, “When I was your age I always had to wash the dishes…” or something along those lines. Of course when I was younger I found this so annoying because I didn’t care that he had to wash the dishes, but now I have more of an interest and deeper understanding of why he kept enforcing things like that (so that we don’t take things like dishwashers for granted). I feel like I am a very appreciative person, but I can still sometimes take little things, like a mirror, for granted. There was no mirror at Kate’s home and Brittney and I realized that we never really realized that we’re lucky to have things like that all the time.

Later that day we brought food over to Priscilla’s home. She has turned her home into a foster home for 12 children. The bedroom that the kids stay in has one full bed, one twin bed and one futon. The rest of the kids have to sleep on the floor. Not only that, but the walls are bad, rain comes leaks inside and there’s no ventilation. These people have such big hearts and it’s just so sad to see them suffering. But the great part is, is that even though they’re suffering they’re still so positive and still so caring. They don’t stop loving. This is inspiring because I feel like I can loose hope so fast and easily. I need to learn that you can get through the bad times if you just keep believing and continue to have hope. And during this time, stop worrying about yourself and continue to help others- make a difference in someone else’s life.