When I was in Cape Town last December, I met a young man named Ongx. Ongx is 23 years old, an unemployed blues musician from the township of Khayelitsha. Khayelitsha is the township I blogged about last time that has a very large geographical area with a population of almost 1 million people. Last year Ongx was the winner of an American Idol type amateur talent contest sponsored by Nedbank, a large commercial bank in South Africa. There were over 100 participants from all over South Africa with the final performance in Johannesburg. To be the winner is quite an accomplishment for a boy from a township. The prize, a Toyota SUV. Now, for Ongx, this was rather ironic because he doesn't have a drivers license, a place to park a car or the money to pay for petrol. Ongx decided that the smartest thing would be to sell the car and use the money to buy a home as an investment. Ongx currently resides in a shack on the beach in Khayelitsha. The funny thing is if this was in the US it would be prime property for beachfront condos near the ocean. Ongx's shack is one small room, no electricity, running water or bathroom facilities. The first picture is of Ongx in front of his shack. Ongx was finally able to sell the SUV and has purchased a home in the township of Phillipi. It does have electricity, running water and a bathroom. It even has room in the back to add another room or a shack for someone else to live in, known as rental property! Ongx is standing in front of his new home in the second picture. Ongx earns money by booking gigs as a solo performer or with a band in venues around the Cape Town area. Ongx has been having difficulty making a living as a musician and has decided that an education is the only way to get out of the vicious cycle of poverty that he currently lives in. With the help of some very wonderful people in Minneapolis, as of Friday, Ongx has registered at City College to pursue a career in sound engineering. With the stability of having a real home and a chance at an education, Ongx now has the opportunity of pursuing his dream in music and moving on up much like the Jefferson's!
On Saturday I was invited to participate in my first South African World AIDS Day program at a grade school in Gugs. The program was organized by Lydia who has been HIV positive for 14 years and who is a member of the HIV/AIDS Support Group at the JL Zwane Centre. Besides being HIV positive, Lydia was diagnosed this summer with breast cancer. On Dec. 10th Lydia will have surgery to remove one breast. Lydia has a son Neo, he is 6 years old, he is also HIV positive and also suffers from epileptic seizures. Neo did not respond positively to his first round of Antiretroviral (ARV's) treatments so he is on a second course that doesn't look very promising either. You would think with all this happening in her life that Lydia would be at home, but no, she has been volunteering at the Lehlohonolo Primary School for 3 years educating the young students on HIV/AIDS. Along with the principal and a few teachers, Lydia planned this event. It was wonderful. To be among so many children who sang, read poems and performed plays which focused around HIV/AIDS education and how it affected their lives made me think of the 5.6 million people living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa and the 370,000 young people that die annually. We had a candle lighting ceremony and Mel, the assistant pastor at JL Zwane, said a prayer and we remembered all of those who have perished from this awful pandemic and prayed for the young children who hopefully will learn from the World AIDS Day Program that through education and the love from their community they have the ability to control their destiny.
Kent from Open Arms arrives tomorrow with his partner David to participate in the food parcel program that Open Arms supports on World AIDS Day. I am so looking forward to seeing them and hearing news from home! It will be a busy week but I hope to find the time to blog so I can keep you updated on what is happening here in Cape Town and Gugs. The weather is wonderful, sorry for all of you back in Minnesota and the northern states. Kent, David, Mel and I will actually be having a Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings at a restaurant here in Cape Town. I wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving celebration with family and friends. After almost 2 months being in Cape Town I realize how much I have to be thankful for! Thank you family and friends for your love and support and for reading my blog!
Bye for now...
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