"An ideal community is one that has a place for every human gift"
Margaret Mead

Township Tour

Tonight I thought I'd write the blog while Wayne is taking a nap! As we wait for our boat I am trying to think of things to do so Wayne won't go crazy waiting. Let me first say the boat is progressing but at a snails pace. This week the plumbing and electric work was installed but we still don't have any cabinets or even engines! We thought for sure we would be on our way by now. The good news is we are in South Africa which is amazing.

I am afraid I won't be able to sail back as time is ticking fast. I figured that we have to be on our way by May 10th for me to return with the boat to at least as far as Brazil. If that isn't possible I have a ticket to fly home alone, (crying) on May 22nd. So keep your fingers and toes crossed that we will be underway by then.

So today what did we do? We went on a Gospel tour through the townships. Cape Town is divided into Townships (different communities). Today we went to Langa which is the oldest African black township and toured District 6. The District 6 is a neighborhood within the City where Africans (blacks) and multiracial (colored) folks lived together. There were three classes in South Africa - whites, colored and blacks. The goal was to separate the classes during the Apartheid era. In 1963 the Apartheid Government decided that because this was a prime location within the city, they made all the blacks and colored move out of the neighborhood, their homes were torn down in order to develop "white only" neighborhoods. The contractors refused to build homes so the land was never developed and is now being returned to their rightful owners. To think Apartheid was only demolished in 1993 it is a very sad, recent history.

In the township of Langa (a shanty town) we went to a Baptist church. The singing was wonderful and they introduced us to the congregation. They were very welcoming and it was fun, not like the stuffy churches at home! (although we don't really attend often) The children kept yelling "abalulu", which in Xhosa means "white people". The tour guide said not to give the children money as then they will not go to school and will instead wait for tourist to come and visit the township. I wish I had known to bring small candies as they would have enjoyed the candy. The children want their picture taken and with the digital camera wait for you to show them the picture,

Wayne said he would be dead if he lived there - they cook food on open grills fueled by wood. The meat is in the sun, and has flies on it. On the grill was beef, chicken, liver and intestines (being in the medical profession we were able to identify various organs). Few have indoor plumbing and use a low level type of porta-john. Water is clean and many of the women were washing the family clothes by hand in buckets. One home we went in, the room was the size of our bathroom and two families slept in the same room. There is a very strong sense of community in the townships. All the kids were all well fed, happy and healthy. They all go to school, and the families pay for the schooling. If they do not have money then the government pays. This all sounds depressing but it was very interesting..... maybe that is why he doesn't let me write!