A History of Cape Town and South Africa

June 6, 2013

So… I kind of wrote a book on this entry but there was a lot to take in today on our tour of Cape Town. 

Today we took a day off from the clinics and spent the day touring Cape Town and learning about its history and culture.  One of the best parts about the CFHI program is that they provide this tour for us, which gives us the ability to really understand the background of the city we are working in and the people we are helping at the clinics. 

Most people know a little bit about the Apartheid era in South Africa but it is impossible to fully grasp its effects without seeing them first-hand.  With the implementation of Apartheid, all South Africans were classified into various racial groups, which dictated the rights and privileges that people had.  Apartheid led to a complete segregation.  There were different hospitals, schools, buses, etc… for the different racial groups.  Also, the non-white racial groups, like the blacks and coloreds, were kicked out of their homes and sent to live in the townships.

Most of CFHI’s home-stay families and coordinators grew up in an area called District 6, which we got the opportunity to visit.  District 6 was a vibrant, multi-racial district in the city of Cape Town and upon implementation of Apartheid, the residents were evicted from their homes, the homes were demolished, and an enormous amount of people were sent to live in the Cape Flats (where I currently live and work in).  People’s entire lives were completely uprooted during this time and it was amazing to hear the stories first-hand from those that were affected. 

Our day ended with a tour of some of the townships in the Cape Town area, where many families were forced to move to during the Apartheid era.  The townships are still heavily populated today, which just shows the many struggles that many South Africans still face.  The visit to the townships was the most sobering and humbling experience of my life, and to be honest, I had a hard time facing the reality of it all.  Within the townships, there are hundreds of little aluminum shacks piled back-to-back and they are not much bigger than my bathroom or closet at home.  Their bathrooms consist of a porta-potty or two on every other block and the water source comes from a tap on every other block.  At one point during the tour, we met a woman who runs a community kitchen to ensure that the children are able to eat because many of the children do not have enough food at home to get by.  The best part of the day by far was getting to interact with the children in the townships.  They were so happy and energetic and they stuck to us like glue.  They wanted hugs, they wanted to be held, and they really loved posing for the camera.  They all wanted to have their picture taken and all their faces lit up when they got to see pictures of themselves on the camera.

It was a truly incredible day and a day that I will never forget.  Many of the people in South Africa face so many struggles and challenges, especially those that live in the townships, but they are all so full of life.  I no longer whine about not having heat in my home-stay, because many of the people we visited today have so little and yet seem so happy… it definitely put things into perspective.  

Children from a Cape Town township.

This sunflower was made out of scrap metal by a man named Golden in one of the townships.  The children collect the metal and sell it to Golden who then creates these amazing flowers and sells them to the tourists and members of the community.  The money he earns helps to support the township he lives in.