Khayelitsha: May 30th

On May 30^th we began out day with a discussion with the Treatment Action campaign (TAC). It is located in a township called Khayelitsha which in one of the newest townships in Cape Town. Its population is roughly 700,000 people (7x larger than Rochester and in probably a quarter of the space). Lumkile Sizile facilitated our discussion and initiated the conversation with statistics such as that 36% of the people there have HIV/AIDS. It is one of the major issues that needs to be addressed and their mission is to establish support groups and develop current support groups as well as educate and advise/counsel as preventative measures. As Lumkile told his story he concluded by explaining that his acceptance of his HIV positive status came with the question, “What is my mission in life?” He Wants to help others help themselves, and educate them so that they know how to react to the disease and effects it has on the individual, the family, and the community. It took him years to come to grops with the harsh realities of his positive status so now it is his goal to help others do the same as well as help others recognize the issue and work to improve those poor statistics. To me, working to change people’s mindsets to a more positive thought process can help work as a preventative measure. It can also help as a way to help those who are infected cope and live a longer, more enjoyable life. However, one must come to peace with themselves prior to developing other to think optimistically and with hope.

After this powerful story, we had the opportunity to talk with Mandla from the Social Justice Coalition. The main topic that was discussed was the connection between the tap water system, the sanitation system and violence. Their main focus is on human rights and building a stronger community through discussing key issues that need to be addressed. In these townships, there are about one toilet for ten houses and one tap for about 20 houses. The public access to these spaces becomes extremely dangerous where an immense amount of violence and rape occurs and where gender-based violence is exploding. However, these victims are not seeing justice because of the gap between police and township members due to their harsh apartheid part. There is distrust and thus a lack of quality justice. This separation, distrust, and tight quarters is frustrating. Why isn’t the government more concerned about these issues? What are they doing to improve those issues? Why can’t they create job just surrounding cleaning up the environment in these townships and supervising and patrolling those public spaces? How can the government and SJC collaborate to solve these issues? How can people work to restore the trust and loyalty of the police and safety systems?

These meetings were followed by a tour through Gugs. Our first stop was the Guguletu Seven monument where police killed a group of black protesters. It was interesting because the monument had outlines of bodies with holes so that when the sun casts a shadow it shows bodies on the pavement. We then moved to Amy Biel’s cross. She was an American student who was murdered by a group of black men. Her parents began a foundation in which a few of those convicted of her murder are now a part of. These monuments helped show some of the past struggles that Gugs has endured and are still working on coping with. It aided in putting the community into perspective. We ended the tour at a local market where various items are sold, one in particular are smileys, which is a sheep’s head. For me, the visit to the market was extremely uncomfortable. We were stared at and many were unfriendly (probably because we were not buying anything). I left there sad and hopeless that I could ever be accepted into the community.

On a more positive note, we had awesome guests at dinner. Our friends, Edwin and Justin, from a program called “These Numbers Have Faces.” It is a program whose mission surrounds the fact that education is power. They fund for students to attend tertiary schooling in return for their dedication to the program through service learning, mentoring and goal-making. The other student that is staying with Noxi during our stay is Akhona, is a part of this program. She explained, “It is the opportunity for me to give youth in which I am mentoring hope, because I have so much to give.” The program is described as a developmental one instead of simply aiding students to get tertiary training because it requires personal growth from the students.

These guests reinforced many leadership concepts that we have learned about.

One – it is essential to utilize assets within the community before seeking out assistance from the outside. They talked about an example of an American student who came down with a bad rash while staying in Gugs but tried to solve the problem by calling the US. However, the problem was not in the US, it was in Gugs, and Gugs resources and assets could work to solve the issue. Why do people always resort to going to the comfort place before exploring options in their own community that could possibly work much better and quicker? By searching for a solution to an issue, it could also give rise to relationships and open doors to the community.

Two – it is so important to follow your passion. Justin began this program while attending grad school and completely changed his direction to explore an interest that turning into his passion and entire life. It made me feel fortunate that I found my passions for health care and children early in life.

After everyone left we were able to finally talk with our host mom, Noxi and her other student, Akhona. She told us about how she got there and about her deceased parents and her son, who was murdered when he was just 17. My first impressions for my host stay family were indescribable. They were perfect. It amazed me how quickly we all became comfortable with one another and shared very personal stories. The conversation flowed and information was exchanged. I couldn’t have asked for a better home stay situation. Noxi accepted us as her children and for the next of the week, we intended to be just that.