Hello everybody, I have been a bit remiss about updating my blog. John arrived on Wednesday night and it has been very busy and quite social since. It was a very busy week at the center (this is for you Muth) but I made the decision one day to take pictures of Gugletu to show you where I go everyday. Much like Minnesota, there are many potholes in the townships and unfortunately I hit one of them and ended up with a flat tyre (sorry Muth). We were close to the centre so I drove on the tire rim back to the centre where Edwin, the assistant pastor, changed the tire. I ended up back at Budget and instead of getting the tire fixed they gave me a new car. I am driving a silver Honda Jazz, 4 door automatic, it is rather sporty, not fast but fun.
Guguletu was established as a black township in 1958. Professional people such as doctors, teachers, lawyers etc. were given brick or stucco homes. As the years went on and people from the rural areas moved to Cape Town, different forms of homes were built. Men came down to work in the city and were put into homes called hostels. These are similar to townhomes that were built by the government. Years later, when more people came from the rural areas to find jobs, they would move in with family members or friends and would attach a room to the back of these homes. These shacks might be made of zinc or wood or any scrap of material they could find to build with. More and more zinc or scrap shacks were being built on any open piece of land. The government had a hard time controlling these buildings going up in the middle of the night and eventually they started to approve them as permanent dwellings and supplied them with portable toilets and water pumps in these areas. (Most shacks do not have running water, electricity or plumbing.) In the photoblog you will see each type of home. Habitat for Humanity is also putting up homes in the townships. Guguletu has it's first brick Habitat home where a woman and 5 orphans are living. In South Africa, the people who live in the Habitat homes are not required to pay for the homes, it is generally assisted through another organization. JL Zwane assisted in helping this home be built. I have also taken pictures of schools and hopefully other points of interest!
I forgot to mention some stats about Guguletu. Gugs has a population of about 350,000 people in a geographic area smaller than Richfield, MN (for those of you in Minneapolis), 50% unemployment and most people living well below the poverty line. Domestic abuse, alcohol and drug use and violent crime is rampant. The centre itself was established around 1992 with the new building being completed in 2004. Staff consists of about 10 key employees and many volunteers. (thank you Tony for the research)
Again, please let me know if you have any questions about what you see in Gugs.
Bye for now...
