Since I arrived in September, Edwin has been asking me to go with him to visit an area near a coloured township called Delft. As it always happens here your daily plans change constantly, everyday something else becomes a priority and things on your to do list keep going to the bottom. Two weeks ago I picked up a young woman who is from Minneapolis (such a small world) taking a 6 month course at a college here in Cape Town and brought her to the JL Zwane Centre. Her name is Laura Essenburg, she grew up in the Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis where her mother, Joani Esssenburg, started a non-profit called The Banyan Community (www.BanyanCommunity.org). The Banyan Community is diverse in race, class, culture and creed. Their common purpose is to develop their youth, strengthen the neighborhood families and create a sense of community. The reason I am talking about Laura and Banyan is because meeting Laura here in South Africa is the first time I didn't have to explain cultural diversity to a visitor. Laura lives it everyday and her wanting to come to South Africa to learn more about diversity and the challenges faced after Apartheid really impressed me. On the way back to drop Laura off Edwin asked if we had time to visit the Delft township that he kept wanting to take me to. As we drove along the road I couldn't believe what I saw. I am so used to seeing township shacks lining the road built anywhere there is an open piece of land that when I saw these zinc shacks lined up so uniformly I could only think that they looked like a communist built community. Edwin explained that these shacks were put up by the government about seven years ago after they removed residents from a neighboring township. We actually went into the area called Symphony Way, yes, can you believe it, and drove around. From what we could tell there were four shacks to every port-a-potty and water tap. We went to the "information centre" to talk to the people there and were told that there were about 12,000 people living in Symphony Way. There were blacks, coloured and even a few white people. As we talked to Oudie, Fatima and Gerald, we found out that Oudie has been waiting for a government home for 23 years and and Fatima for 20 years. Next to the information centre we saw people giving out food, there was quite a line and we were told that the food was donated through a non-profit organization called HOPE (I mentioned HOPE in my 11/30/09 blog). Oudie, Fatima and Gerald are community leaders for Symphony Way and when we asked them what their biggest challenges were they said education, employment and violence. Due to the lack of employment and that many of the youth were not attending school, the youth turned to violence within the community and as community leaders they did not know how to control it and were becoming disillusioned. They said the police do not even want to come into the area. This is a common thread throughout the townships in South Africa and a ongoing point of controversy.
On to happier news. This past Saturday I went with Mel back to the Bridging Academy (12/15/09 blog) for the official grand opening of the building and grounds. We were so excited to go back to see the children and talk to them about their new life at Bridging. When Mel and I drove up they came running to the car with the biggest smiles on their faces, they were so excited to see Mel (Mel was their mentor from the Orphan Programme at the centre) and be able to tell her everything. The programme started with the founders, Dennis and Susan Wadley, talking about their dream for the academy and how wonderful it felt to see it become a reality, to the finale with the children singing and dancing. It was a heartwarming experience for me just to see the children and to know they have a safe place to live and at the same time are getting the education and the nutrition to help them learn and grow. They told us that they were so happy making new friends, that they loved their teachers and of course the food!
Photos:
1. and 2. Symphony Way
3. Volunteer, Fatima, Gerald and Oudie at Symphony Way
4. Bridging Academy Students
5. Mel and children from the JL Zwane Orphan Programme at Bridging
Bye for now...
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