Day two in Guguletu

This morning Brittney and I were woken up by Kate carrying a bucket of hot water- a township shower. The amount of water is about an inch and a half deep. She didn’t give us much instruction so it was confusing as to what we were supposed to do. We dunked our heads upside down into the water bucket, while one person poured a cup of the water on the back of the other person’s head. We then took turns washing our hair so that the other person could help rinse. It wasn’t so bad! I felt like I was camping because there was also no sink for us to brush our teeth in, so we used the bushes. I feel terrible saying this because I know that there are thousands of people in the township that live like this, but I kept counting down how many more days I had until I could take an actual shower. I’m sure if I actually lived in these conditions it’d be different, because it’d be the only thing that I’m used to. But since I’ve had showers all my life it was different. I am super happy that I got to the real township home experience, though.

Our day started by going to the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) in Khayelitsha. Mandla Majola spoke with us about HIV/AIDS in Khayelitsha and what their program does. There are 600,000 people that live in Khayelitsha, 80,000 of which are HIV positive and only 11,000 get free treatment from the clinic. 74% of those that have HIV also have TB. One of the top problems that TAC is facing is rape. Two people get raped every day (that’s 60 people a month). Mostly three to nine year old boys are getting raped and two to 14 year old girls. This just tears me up inside. How can people do this to such little innocent children? One of the worst parts about it is that a family member or somebody they know usually does it. This is scary because it’s like you can’t trust anybody. Who can children trust if they can’t trust their closest relatives and friends? After TAC we went to the TB clinic. I think all of us were a little worried about stepping foot in there because we thought the disease would spread to us.

Then our driver, Xolani, let us tour is home in Guguletu. It’s weird because I would have not pictured him to live in a shack because he dresses nice, smells good, is always happy, etc. This made me sad and embarrassed for judging where people may live based off their appearance. His family is so friendly- I hope they didn’t feel too uncomfortable showing us their home. I think like I would feel a little weird having people I don’t know coming in my home and taking pictures like wild.

We went to the Rainbow After School Program at JL Zwane today also. The kids are very cute. They have the biggest smiles on their faces and are so happy. During tutoring I helped out a little 3rd grader named Xolisa. After reading, Xolisa asked me how dogs know how to sniff for drugs. He said that the police come by with the dogs to sniff around and if someone’s caught with drugs they go to jail for six to 20 days. He said that his mom smokes cigarettes, his dad drinks and his brother smokes drugs. His parents will get mad at his brother when he smokes drugs so they’ll hit him. I was shocked that Xolisa was sharing all of this information with me. It’s really heartbreaking to hear about what a 3rd grader has to deal with. I didn’t even know what drugs or alcohol were in 3rd grade. It’s also sad that his family is spending money on addictions instead of saving it for things like food. But even though Xolisa was going through all of this at home, he still had the brightest smile and such a bright, positive attitude.

Something that I thought about during Rainbow was its comparison to Y-tutoring at Nelly Stone Elementary School in the inner city of Minneapolis. It’s very strange because it seems like the kids here had better hygiene than the kids in Minneapolis. Minneapolis kids also have bad breathe and didn’t smell the greatest. Also, the students in Guguletu treat you with so much more respect that those in Minneapolis. They listen to you and look up to you, whereas in Minneapolis none of the students listen to the teacher or what you say. There is little obedience. This was surprising to me because you’d expect students in a 3rd world county to be taught little discipline and have worse hygiene than those in Minneapolis, where the schools have funds from the government and live in nicer places than a shack.

After dinner Kate and Penny sat down to talk with Brittney and me. Kate shared with us her family background, which was very interesting- she grew up with 15 brothers and sisters! Kate’s son, Paul, now lives with his dad. Penny was mad at him because he was on heroine and hung out with the wrong crowd. He once had to go to jail for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Kate seemed to be very disappointed in him and you can tell that she cares so much about him, but just wants the best for him. She said that you need to know why you should be friends with someone and if you don’t like them, you should be smart and drop them in the right way. I agree with this because your personality does change depending on those you are friends with and hang out with. If you hang out with a troublesome crowd, you’ll most likely eventually find yourself in trouble and making the wrong decisions. Friends are something that you want to think about and choose carefully. They are people that help you, challenge you, love you, and leave footprint in your life and heart. Another thing that Kate stressed, which I found interesting because it’s opposite of the SA culture I’ve seen, is that it’s important to be on time. During our stay in Mowbray, time was very laid back. During our stay in Guguletu, it seemed like time was stressed, especially at JL Zwane. I wonder if time is only stressed at the workplace.

Kate also stressed that education is very important to find a job. Edwin, at JL Zwane, also said that education is very important in order for the children to succeed and go ahead with their lives. The only thing that bewilders me is that they have to pay for the students to go to school, buy uniforms, buy supplies, etc. There are so many factors that hinder the children from getting a good education. Having free education and a simpler dress code would be a step closer to sustainability, because they would let children gain knowledge, ultimately giving them greater opportunities in the future. But I understand that they need the money to pay the teachers and for maintenance in the school. Maybe the government can help more? Then Penny was telling us how the white schools are more expensive. This shocked me because I didn’t think segregation in the schools still occurred. It’s sad to realize it does because it shouldn’t be that way- everyone should be given equal opportunities. I asked Penny how long she thinks they’ll still be segregated for and she said a long time because they always have been. How was I so oblivious to this going on? It seems crazy to me that segregation is still occurring after all this time. I thought that people were okay with people of the opposite race and they were all treated equally. Creating equality would be another step in the right direction towards creating systemic change. How this can be done, I’m still not sure.

I am inspired by Kate and how caring she is. She strives for everyone to be happy and will do anything for him or her. She always makes sure everything is okay and that we feel comfortable and loved. For example, Brittney’s camera broke and Kate called in sick to work to bring it to the store and see if they can fix it. How nice is that?! She treats us like family and is so loving. She loves children and tells us that she hardly sleeps at night because she wants to be there for every moment with them.