The poverty left from apartheid is blatant and in your face wherever you go. For example, in the burn unit at the Red Cross hospital, most of the children there are Xhosa speaking. This is because burns are much more prevalent in the townships due to the stoves they use and the paraffin which is the fuel for the stoves. The poverty is even quite prevalent in the research I am doing. In each of the files there is the space for the mother’s name and a space for the father/boyfriend’s name. Many of them are unemployed and are receiving social grants from the government. This is the reality here and it’s frightening. Especially coming from a wealthy mostly white suburbia in America.
In the past month and a half I am beginning to understand the history behind apartheid and why there is still a strong reminisce of it after it was abolished. As the weeks go on I start to see the big picture instead of the present moment. This has caused a controversy for me. Each week I see the burn unit packed from wall to wall with kids, I can’t help thinking that no matter how many burns are healed the burn unit will still be packed each week. To really help these kids in the long term, the poverty needs to be stopped.
Last week I accompanied Prof into Khayelitsha. We were in the maternity hospital there. Child after child came in all with different smaller problems, but one of the overriding ones was nutrition. I can’t get the sight of this 8-year-old boy who was skin and bones with a belly full of worms out of my head. His mother was unemployed and an alcoholic. Again you can put the mom into rehab and find the boy a new home, de-worm him and start giving him the proper nutrition, but all of this will still not solve the overriding poverty that all of these families face. The route of the problem needs to be the main target.
One of the informal settlements in Khayelitsha
I am not writing this to make everyone guilty or depressed. I am also not saying that these problems are only in South Africa because America is confronted with them too. I don’t even have a solution to these problems, I am just identifying them and drawing parallels back to America. That is the first step, looking outside yourself and understanding the people and places around you, then putting them into the bigger picture. It took me coming to South Africa and understanding it’s problems to really understand America’s. I guess the message that I am trying to get out is that you can’t just accept things the way they are. Ask questions.
Two weekends ago a couple of us went to Camps Bay (a really pretty touristy beach), I felt uncomfortable there. Everyone that was there looked just like me. This one image won’t leave my mind; I was walking along the beach and I saw this white women laying in a rented beach chair while this black man was on his knees displaying his handmade crafts to her. Normally, I wouldn’t give this scene much thought but it made me mad. I wanted the women to ask him where he is from what his story is and why he has to walk around the beach in the sweltering sun selling crafts instead of relaxing with everyone else. I’m not trying to make the assumptions that he is automatically poor but that is usually the case.
The first step is recognizing these differences and the next step is to ask questions. Why is he selling crafts? If you understand the big picture you will know that most likely this man didn’t chose to sell crafts, he probably lives in one of the townships and can’t get a better job because he wasn’t able to receive the proper education. Next question, why can’t he get a better education? Maybe during apartheid he and his family were forced to move from their home and they were placed in a township. Maybe he was born when apartheid was outlawed but he still was born and raised in a township where they don’t have equal opportunities for education. There are plenty more maybes, the point is to ask yourself the question. Next question, why if apartheid is illegal are there still so many people living in poverty, without jobs and without enough food for their families? When South Africa’s new constitution was being discussed and written, everyone was given equal rights and discrimination was outlawed but economic and social redistribution was not fully addressed. It was said that everyone is equal, but it was also said that it is illegal to take money away from the people that already have it. So if you can’t redistribute the wealth how can everyone be equal? Those are just a small handful of questions that should be asked. Now there could be a possibility that the man doesn’t live in poverty, but most likely he does. The point is ask to hear his story. Ask to hear anyone’s story. These stories can help change views, open people’s eyes and slowly start the mind numbingly slow process of changing the world.
Keep asking those questions, Kayley. Some of the greatest insights and discoveries in the natural and social sciences occurred when people questioned their long held beliefs and challenged the dogmas of their time.
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