Molo (click), South Africa!

This is a greeting in Xhoso, one of the many dialects of South Africa. It is especially interesting because there is a “click” of the mouth when words are spoken.

South Africa is quite a country… There has been so much turmoil there for so many years. White people colonized it and totally overruled the blacks, taking away all freedoms and drawing strict barriers between the groups. The blacks were forced to live in shacks made out of scrap metal and wood in townships while the whites developed the city and lived in nice homes. This huge gap, called “apartheid,” (uh-PAR-tide) only widened and there is now literally a 3rd world country and 1st world country co-existing in South Africa. Many blacks fought back… but failed. You may recognize the name of Mandela, who got thrown into prison for about 30 years on Robben Island but continued fighting for black rights. In 1994 Mandela was released from prison and was voted in as the 10th president and 1st black president of South Africa. This was anticipated as the end to apartheid, although it’s very obvious it is not. The government promised the townships that each shack would be replaced with a small cement home. Many were started but left unfinished. Today the majority of 79% Africans are still living in metal shacks in undeveloped townships and 9.6% whites are in nice homes in the developed city. South Africa has one of the highest crime rates. 1 in 5 people have HIV and 1 in 3 children are malnourished. This statistic really got me: A South African black girl has a higher chance of being raped than being literate… Apartheid, extreme poverty, unfair treatment, crime, rape, HIV- they aren’t problems of the past in South Africa… They are still every day struggles for the majority of the population. The land is gorgeous, the people are wonderful, but the problems are extreme.

As usual, I will share my days and experiences with you.

Saturday morning many of us woke up early to watch what we heard was going to be the most beautiful sunrise out of all our ports. And it most definitely was! As soon as I woke up I looked out my window and could see the distant shoreline filled with mountains. Then on the 7th deck we had the most glorious view of Table Mountain with the sun rising beside it. WOW. I also spotted a few seals jumping in the ocean as we pulled into port! (So far I’ve seen whales, dolphins, and seals jumping around in the ocean!) We pulled into our reserved dock, which was so close to Table Mountain. I could see one of the side mountains from my porthole and the entire Table Mountain from the back decks of our ship.

As soon as the ship was cleared, we headed out. We explored the area of Cape Town called Waterfront, which is actually where the port is located. Here we saw the very developed wealthy part of South Africa. As one of my friends who was in Cape Town earlier this year kept saying, this was not South Africa… We had the entire day free so a few of us decided to do one of the “musts” of Cape Town, a tour of the winelands. The drive there started showing us the contrasts in South Africa… beautiful mountains, very nice houses, then thousands of shacks beside thousands of shacks, then beautiful rolling hills where wine was produced. Our first stop was at Zevenschwat and second at Saxenburg. This area had tons of wineries and winelands, definitely a top production for Cape Town. Our guide, Stanley, was a cute short older man who was just plain silly. We were also on the tour with a couple from India and a lady from France. This mixture made for good conversations and fun laughs. We passed zebras, ostriches, and antelope on the way to the 2nd wineland. So here’s a funny little story: Stanley, our guide, stopped so we could take pictures. He asked if my 2 friends and I would want our picture taken with the zebras in the background. We said yes and he started “focusing” the camera. With his sillyness he kept saying, “3 ladies… and a ZEBRA!... 3 ladies and a ZEBRA!” After about 5 min he finally had finished his photography masterpiece. The Indian man chuckled and said, “You might want to check the quality of that picture.” We looked at the picture and laughed hysterically. Stanley most definitely got that zebra in the picture! But he missed 2 ½ of our heads, mostly getting only our chests! So we kept joking around and called the picture, “3 chests and a ZEBRA!” (I apologize for any inappropriateness to any youngsters… I guess this blog is rated PG!)

As our tour continued Stanley showed us the only strawberry in Cape Town (aka a giant sign in the shape of a strawberry advertising a farm) and then brought us to a cheetah reserve. However we missed it’s closing by 10 min so we could only see the cheetah through fences. But, from this tour I sort of had my own “African safari” in which I got to see zebras, ostriches, antelope, and a cheetah!

On Sunday I took a tour of Cape Peninsula and Cape Point. Cape Town (there are many different “Capes”; don’t get confused!) sits on the northwestern side of the Peninsula and Cape Point is on the very southern tip. We drove along the western coastline that was just gorgeous with mountains, beaches, giant rock boulders, and ocean. This area of Africa is known for sharks… and I’m about 95% sure I saw a shark fin peep out of the water! Towards the southern part of the peninsula is a national park and reserve for the impressive wildlife of flora and fauna (baboons, ostriches, etc.). At the very tip is Cape Point consisting of a lighthouse on a mountain looking over a gorgeous coastline. This is where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans are said to meet! On our way back around the eastern side of the peninsula we stopped for lunch on Boulder Beach. There are 2 really cool things about this area: 1) there are HUGE rocks lining the white sand beaches, and 2) there are African PENGUINS! We spent time watching them play around with one another in their natural environment. They were just too cute. It was a neat tour of the southern tip of Africa.

Later that evening we spent time at a local market where the locals sold whatever goods they specialized it. It was so neat to see the different artwork that they paint representing their land. They guaranteed us “closing prices” and “the best price for you, lady!” Haha. We also walked around the mall in the Waterfront area. Since crime is so high in South Africa, SASers were advised to stay only around Waterfront or Long Street at night. So although these were more touristy areas, they were safer and also had some good live music. We had met 2 local men the night before who cook food for those getting off work in the middle of the night. We ended up conversing with them this night for 2 hours! These conversations really shed a light on the country. They were quite talkative and openly shared their views on politics, apartheid, government, economics, pollution, disabilities, and the list goes on. They even talked about Obama! (Side note: Every place we’ve visited so far has mentioned something about Obama to us Americans! Ha. Either we’re walking down the markets and they yell “Yeah, Obama!” when they see us, or we see a Hotel Obama or Obama crackers, or they try to sell something to us and say that Obama bought it when he was there. Lol). They were quite excited to be able to share their stories and their land’s history with us foreigners. And those conversations are the ones that teach you the most.

On Monday I attended a program that taught us about Operation Hunger, which is a South African organization that focuses on the malnourishment and health of the people in townships. Operation Hunger is an incredible program. They have 5 different areas that guide their work: wellness, nutrition, food gardens, water, and relief. They seek to increase each of these in specific townships. They set up soup kitchens to feed kids a meal a day, hippo water rollers to provide clean water for townships, rainwater harvesters to collect clean water for townships, vegetable gardens to teach and feed others, nutrition classes, trauma/stress/coping with HIV/AIDS counseling, and many others based on what is needed most. The great thing is that there are people in Operation Hunger who are willing to help and serve their time to help those in need. The sad part is that their funds run out and they no longer have resources to care for them. SAS took 3-day trips with Operation Hunger while in South Africa. It cost us each $29 and with that they are now able to sponsor a new township that we visited. This township was definitely impoverished, just like many others… We started at the church where the town’s children were brought. We helped measure their height, weight, and arm circumference and then calculated whether they are undernourished, average, or overnourished. You can guess that most were undernourished. They take these measures once a month to watch the progress and determine what they can do to improve the health. We then went to a pre-school (it is in one of my posted pictures)… It was a small cement block building with one main room, one desk, 4 tiny chairs, and a slide as a playground. This school was to hold all of the children in the township. However, it holds much less than that on an average day. It costs $5/week for a child to go to school but these families couldn’t afford that… Therefore, their children didn’t go to school. For those that did, they learned from 2 caring unpaid teachers with the limited supplies they had… there was one shelf that held everything, all the toys, paints, books, etc. They were so short on supplies that when we asked what they needed, they couldn’t even find a pen to write a list down. The hearts to teach these kids are there… but the money and supplies are not.

We then all piled back onto our safe comfortable bus to go eat our guaranteed fulfilling lunch. This “satisfying” time of the day left me so unsatisfied. It just wasn’t fair… I was just in this village where they barely have enough to get by, and here I was comfortably eating a packed lunch. They needed it so much more than me… Our leader let us know that we would be going to another township after lunch and then helping out at a soup kitchen. Any uneaten food could be given to those at the soup kitchen. This was the perfect opportunity to take action on the changes going on inside me. I ate enough, but then saved the rest for those that actually needed it. To me it was another box lunch… but to them it was like a grand buffet.

We arrived at the next township, which was in even poorer condition than the previous (I posted a picture of this one as well), but also a more common condition than the other. We walked along the outskirts and then through the little spaces between the homes in extreme disbelief that these people really lived this way. They took scrap pieces of metal and wood and built a house that somehow withstands some weather (definitely not rain or strong winds). Most people had some sort of metal fence or barbed wire blocking the crime from coming into their homes. Loads of trash, metal, broken glass, poop, and tin cans lined the ground. I have never seen anything like it.

We then moved on to a “soup kitchen”… but not one like you’d think. A black lady who had a bit more money felt called to still help out her fellow neighbors. She built a small nice house right on the edge of the township, cooked soup in her kitchen, and had the school children over every single day to feed them their one meal. That day we joined her, and I have tears just thinking about it again. When we showed her all the food we had gathered from our lunches, she was ecstatic and so excited to see the kids eat more than just soup. We helped her prepare it all in the kitchen and then eagerly awaited for the kids. They started gathering but were impressingly patient for the food and more excited to talk with us! The soup kitchen lady gathered them all together then had them “perform” for us… they sang so sweetly, both fun and serious praising-God songs. It was very touching that these same kids, some with amazing voices, were living in those metal homes we had just seen. Then it was time to feed them, and oh the joys! They swarmed towards the food and were so excited to also get an apple slice and sandwich with their soup! We continued to play and talk with them as they ate. They kept wanting us to take pictures of them and got the greatest kick out of themselves when they looked at it. We were pulled away too quickly when it was time to go. So many wanted hugs goodbye. Watching them eat as we left was so humbling… I would share and give my meal everyday with an African child if I could…

After my day on Monday, I was so ready to work and do something to give to the townships. It was very convenient that I had signed up for Habitat for Humanity this day. As I mentioned above, the South African government promised to give each family in a shack a cement block home but then never finished this project. Habitat for Humanity has been working to build these homes so families can move out of tiny shacks into an “upgraded” longer-lasting home. Semester at Sea and each SAS Habitat worker sponsored a new house in a township. We started it on Monday and it was finished by Thursday! The house was being built right in front of the family’s blue shack. The new house was about 20’ by 20’ and made out of cement blocks. The family was entirely deaf but just so sweet. They were so gracious for our work. We had a great group of workers and Habitat leaders. The leaders were just full of energy and always singing. (Here’s a shout-out to Shining Through!:) They even sang Siya Hamba but changed the lyrics to, “We are building in the light of God, we are building in the light of God!” One of the most fun jobs was using the house floor to mix the “daga” (the mixture that holds the cement blocks together). The leaders’ cheers to get us pumped about it went, “DAGA DAGA DAGA!” and we’d respond, “OY OY OY!” I learned a few days later that the Habitat leaders also live in shacks in townships… but they choose to build others houses rather than themselves. Wow. By the end of the day the walls had moved from being about ¼ done to all the way to the roofline!

We had taken our lunch break in the middle of the day but were instructed that we must eat on the bus otherwise the kids would come up to us. The bus didn’t stop that. The kids ran up to the sides and stared at us while we ate. Some even held out their hands… Ugh, so heart-breaking. But thankfully again, any food we didn’t eat was given to the family, leaders, and kids. After lunch we took a tour of the township. Many of the “upgraded” houses had been built in front of the shacks already. As we walked around, kids gathered and started clinging to us. I had the sweetest girl, Flamenka, attach to me (there’s a posted picture of us). After awhile she jumped on my back and we had fun together. On our walk back she laid her head into my back and started singing the sweetest song. I sang some with her and then she sang to me. It was one of the most beautiful sounds I’ve ever heard. She was a hard one to say goodbye to! What another humble day spent in the townships…

On Wednesday, a friend and I went out and explored more of Cape Town. We saw many old pictures of historical Cape Town, including African tribes and the industrialization of the city. We also fell into conversation with a sweet African lady. She was excited to tell us about African traditions and how important God is to them. Later a larger group of us went to a place on Long Street called Mama Africas, which was sooo cool! It had live music, a band called AbAvuki. They had 3 marimbas, a drummer, a cowbell/drummer, and a singer. The marimbas were really unique in that they didn’t have any “black keys.” So basically all the music was in one key. They had so much fun dancing around, pulling us up on stage with them, and singing their lungs out.

Thursday morning was spent finding a place with internet and then uploading pictures to my blog ☺ If you have any questions about any of the pictures or blogs, email me at kjsmith@semesteratsea.net! So after that, a group of us rushed to Table Mountain (that’d be 7 of us in a tiny taxi… haha, fun times!). We took a cable car up to the top and, oooooh, what a view! This mountain is just plain awesome. It’s basically flat on top, hence the name Table, but reaches out into the ocean and is normally covered by clouds. We could even see our ship from up there! We all cheered with oreo cookies up top lol. I wish we could’ve spent more time up there, but it was time to head back to the ship so it didn’t leave without us! We made it back in time with even a few min to run to the grocery store and spend our last bit of change. As always, we watched the ship pull out of the harbor. The sun had already set and Cape Town was all lit up.

As soon as we pulled out the ship started REALLY rocking… It soon started hitting the roughest waters. It felt like a constant earthquake. However, it calmed down the next morning and has been pretty decent since.

We have had 2 days of classes so far (yup, you heard that right, class on a Saturday!) but have a study day tomorrow then 3 more days of classes until we’re in Mauritius! I will post again before we port. Keep taking care everyone, and enjoy the pictures!