As we enter the second half of our
orientation here in Cape Town, I think I am starting to understand the reason
Vernon structured our itinerary the way he did. He told us to pay close
attention to the order, and as I reflect on the emotions I have felt each day,
I believe our itinerary was divided into three “phases” that were designed to
expose us to the expansive history and culture of South Africa.
The first phase was what I will call
the Tourist Phase. I was enamored with the physical beauty of the city: the lush
vegetation, the clear waters, and the looming mountains. I indulged in the unique
cuisine. We visited the University of Cape Town, one of the top universities in
the world that we have the privilege of accessing. Each day after we were driven
around the city in our tour bus, I got to return home to go for a run around
Rondebosch Common and cool off in our pool. It certainly seemed like nothing
about Cape Town was undesirable.
The second phase, what I will call the
Harsh Reality Phase, was a complete wakeup call for me and I’m sure for many of
my classmates as well. This phase began with a visit to the District Six Museum,
where a former District Six resident taught us about the policies in
apartheid-era South Africa that led to the development of informal settlements
in the Cape Flats. Our tour of Cape Town’s slave sites caused me to think about
how the city was built on the backs of slaves that are hardly given proper
recognition. Our visit to Robben Island, which included tours by two freedom
fighters themselves, further opened my eyes to the brutal struggle to bring
South Africa to where it is today. This phase culminated in our community tour
around the townships. Sitting in the bus as we drove through miles of tin
houses that stretched along the horizon as far as the eye can see broke my
heart. I have never seen poverty concentrated in one area like I saw in the
townships. I kept thinking how unfair it was for a government to knowingly
force people to live in such unsafe and unsanitary conditions. It was sobering
to realize that these lifelong residents of Cape Town have not and probably
never will see the sights that we saw within our first week. These few days greatly
tempered my original estimation of the perfection of Cape Town.
We are now in the middle of the
third phase, what I will call the Life As A Capetonian Phase. Having seen both
the highs and lows of Cape Town, we are now normalizing and experiencing
features of everyday life. We traveled to Stellenbosch for wine tasting and
attended a powerful church service in Gugulethu. We are touring everyone’s
internship sites to see all of the ways Capetonians are making a difference in
their communities. Later this week we will be mastering public transportation,
brushing up on our Xhosa, rooting on Ajax Cape Town, enjoying a traditional
braai, and picnicking and listening to music at Kirstenbosch Gardens. All of
these experiences are little flavors of South African culture that those who
reside here longer than a 10-day vacation can enjoy.
Although I am privileged enough to
be able to access some of the more high quality aspects of Cape Town, I will
always be reminded of the disparity I witnessed this week. Through my
internship and activist project, I will readily welcome the opportunity not
only to give back to the locals, but also to take from them lessons on
happiness and perseverance to bring back to the United States.
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