Soweto

Good Afternoon!

I am once again writing from an Internet cafe in Jo'Burg! Today is the first nice day we have had and we are relishing the sun. This week has been jam packed with speakers, field trips, and visits to various museums. On Monday we spent the day touring Soweto. Soweto is the largest township in South Africa. It consists of 3-4 million people and is home to a variety of people and classes. We first toured the wealthy part of Soweto. This section was used by the Apartheid government to show the world that blacks were not living poorly during apartheid. However, mere blocks from this area are shacks, hostels, and absolute poverty.

We started our tour of Kliptown ( one of the various neighborhoods that make up Soweto) at the field where the freedom charter was written. This document was written by black activists and demanded equal rights for all South Africans. Many who wrote this document were imprisoned for treason but the ideas of the freedom charter continue to guide the ANC today. The memorial at this field is beautiful and there is a 5 star Holiday Inn surrounding it. However, we were given the opportunity to walk through Kliptown by some residents. The people in Kliptown live in shacks that are built by sheet metal. There is no running water, electricity, or sanitation. Around 50-80 people share one toilet and it is not safe for women to go to the bathroom at night. Approximately, 80% of the population is unemployed. The children's swimming 'pool' is open sewage that spills into the area from a northern white suburb. I can not even begin to describe what I witnessed. I have studied poverty and development theory but until Monday I did not understand what extreme poverty meant. However, the young children represented hope as they swarmed around us and proudly held the hands of the 'loon', or white people.

One child, Teo, became attached to me during our tour. When I told him my name he laughed and just kept shouting it. He played with my hair and sunglasses and truly was awed by my camera. None of the children had ever seen one before and when I sat on the ground to show them pictures of themselves they swarmed me. As we left Kliptown and walked back towards the memorioal ( no more than 100yds away) a few of us needed to use the restrooms. We were given the key by a guard to the tourist bathrooms. These facilities were pristine and very nice. It was very difficult to understand why I deserved the use of this bathroom while not 100 yds away 80 people had to share a single outhouse. It is the stark contrast between wealth and poverty that has really struck me about South Africa so far.

We have also been given the privilege of meeting political acitivists who were imprisioned at Robben Island, the same place as Mandella. It is the living and breathing history of this country that has made the past few days powerful.

My group is wonderful! I truly enjoy the people and I can not wait to experience this semester with them. The food has been average. At breakfast it is not unusual to see fish sticks or hotdogs served!! My only complaint so far is the lack of coffee...they only serve the instant variety! I have yet to see a pixie stick Dave and Ifear I would still not know how to open one since I have no keys with me. Its bizarre to not have a cell phone but I truly appreciate all the responses I recived on my last post.

I hope you are all doing well and I will post pictures soon!