If you are not in South Africa, the word township does not conjur up images of corrugated tin shacks with no plumbing and sometimes no electricity. Somewhere else in the world the word might not mean abject poverty. Outside of Capetown there is a township that stretches out into the horizon farther than you can see, an ocean of corrugated tin.
Then I think of my kids. Most of them are township kids. It's hard to wrap my head around. They come to school sharp in their school uniforms, focused and ready to work. How is it possible for them to remain so focused in the face of such desperation at home?
Some probably do live in government housing that is slowly replacing the shacks in townships. These have electricity and indoor plumbing although many will still build an outhouse so that extended family still living in shacks can share in the plumbing. Can you imagine that? I cannot, not coming from where I do. The lists for these houses is long and the little houses go up so slowly.
When you speak to the kids you begin to understand that they know that their only hope to bring about progress is their education. It is everything for many of them. But, jobs are growing more scarce. Even if they are able to get degrees, even advanced degrees there may not be jobs for them unless the situation changes. Currently, there is increasing desperation among these people due to issues in the world market. The prices of their food, transportation and daily expenses are increasing. They cannot afford to feed their families or even get to work. Many of the kids in my classes pay taxi buses to pick them up at one stop, usually far from home. They have to walk sometimes as much as an hour to these stops and it costs their family money. The fares are rising due to the sky rocketing price of gas.
There has been progress in the past 14 years and I wonder if the current market will halt this progress for my students. Will these kids be able to continue to alter the face of the townships for the better? The worry is going to stick with me long after I leave, because now South Africa has a face. And the face isn't desperate and defeated. It's not what you see in movies. For me the face of South Africa is that of its bright-eyed, earnest students.
3 comments:
Cindy, you say two things that sort of stuck with me:
"Then I think of my kids. Most of them are township kids. It's hard to wrap my head around. They come to school sharp in their school uniforms, focused and ready to work. How is it possible for them to remain so focused in the face of such desperation at home?"
AND...
"When you speak to the kids you begin to understand that they know that their only hope to bring about progress is their education. It is everything for many of them."
In some ways, I think that the later sort of creates the former. I feel that in countries like South Africa, there is the beleif that education is the route out of the cycle of poverty and it helps create dedicated and appreciative students. You don't get the weird disinterested and oddly entitled students you get like you do in the US. It's an interesting observation.
Also, I agree with your assessment of ther being a sense of hope in South Africa. Actually, in my limited experience, the same is true for lots of Africa. In the States, all you hear about it the poverty, AIDS and problems Africa faces. But, you don't get a true sense of the hope and resourcefulness that also so fundemental to so many of the people living there.
It's true, everything you say. The greatest disservice our media does for the people of South Africa is paint them as victims. They don't see themselves that way.
And as for their resourcefulness, their are these great cottage industries coming out of the townships. They make souvenirs for tourists, some based on their culture. The Nbele are known for their bead art, and in the spirit of that they will make these elaborate beaded wire sculptures to sell, usually animals. Then they also sell sculptures made from aluminum cans and wire. They're amazing some of them. I bought a working radio made from nothing but wire and beer cans and some computer parts, but it works really well. Amazing!
Yeah, Sarah and I have a little beaded man and woman we bought from a store in Cape Town. They now reside happily on our bookshelf.
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