Kayla's excited and hopeful about her new internship

I began my first day at Preventionin Action yesterday. Emily and I started the day with a walking tour of Khayelitsha (one of Cape Town’s townships). Walking through the township is a much different experience altogether than our bus tour during orientation. We toured the facility we would be working in, the program leader’s (Mums) home, and a local shop. In the process, we were able to see the local church and primary school. One thing that struck me was Mums’ pride in what she had. When we were in her home she didn’t apologize for the mess or for the flies, which is something somebody in America would typically do upon entering their home. Instead, she showed us the sports trophies her son won with satisfaction. Mums didn’t apologize for the fact it was hard for the three of us to fit into the local store at one time, she remarked about how many items the store had.

Walking through Khayelitsha is drastically different than walking through the suburb our house is in. At midday, Khayelitsha still had many people in their homes and walking the street, especially women. I inferred that this was due to the high unemployment rate in Khayelitsha. The township also had many stray animals walking the streets and very obvious sanitation problems. The shack housing appeared to very unsecure, with many of the houses missing windows. To be quite honest, coming back to our house after working in Khayelitsha was difficult for me. I found it hard to process the fact that as a foreigner I am living in a beautiful neighborhood in a spacious house while locals are still struggling to survive.

Our day ended with a support group meeting for victims of violence, with both men and women present. I was very touched by their honesty and strength in telling their stories. I had many very horrific stories about rape and marital abuse from women. I was surprised when a man stood up and told his story about his abuse. He explained that he was in an unhappy marriage with frequent fighting. He claimed that one night he accidentally hit his wife in the face with a hammer and now he has a restraining order against him, causing him to no longer be able to see his children and making him suicidal. He viewed his situation as spousal abuse against him, not his wife. The women who were victims of violence were very welcoming to the man and not judgmental of his viewpoint whatsoever. Despite the fact I don’t agree with the man’s view, I understand his pain is very real and I found it interesting to hear the man’s side of the story. Often when learning about violence against women, we only hear the woman’s story so it was very eye opening to see how the story may seen from a male’s perspective.

I am so unbelievably excited to be working with Prevention in Action. It is amazing seeing an NGO working from the ground up. I am hopeful to see real improvement in the organization during my time in Cape Town.

Prevention in Action in Khyalitsha