As the weeks unfortunately start
winding down on our trip, my co-educators and I are packing in all our free
time with everything we can find in Cape Town. This past week was no
exception!
We have been frequenters at many of
CPT's concerts. This past week we went to Park Life Music Festival, as well as
Of Monsters and Men at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Jeremy Loops was amazing
in concert, and it was so cool to see someone so talented and successful who
was born right here in SA! Any concert at Kirstenbosch is great, even if the
music isn't that good you still are at a concert on the side of Table Mountain.
We also hiked (or attempted to) Devil's Peak.
I learned that the trails in CPT
are unlike those in CT, mostly because of their utter lack of signage. This led
to some guessed turns and estimates on the way up the mountain, and we ended up
on a peak right next to Devils, though not our intended destination. I was
still proud that we made it up there, and would have never guessed that I would
actually enjoy hiking, especially 3 hours up a huge mountain.
 |
| Drew, Trista, Caroline, Megan & Becca |
I also have started to reflect on
everything I have done at my internship this week. I didn't even realize it as
it was happening, but I really had my hands in so many projects. I was able to
write sexual harassment policy for R2K, make a packet they distributed on
campaign planning, make a database for every municipality in the country on
protest notices, attend workshops, forums, and provincial meetings, as well as
do research on everything from the basic issues in different townships to free
wifi to intersectionality within student movements. I really have learned a lot
about the political situation here in South Africa, and I couldn't be more
grateful to the organization for helping me along and allowing me to do so much
work.
Lastly, I went with Drew, Amelia,
and Mariko to their activist project in Khayelitsha on Friday. Going from
being at an Of Monsters and Men concert that cost nearly $25 US dollars, and
then going to their homes in the morning was a sobering experience. One of the
things I noticed about their project was how much being under-resourced can
slow a project. When I came to Cape Town, I really hoped I could join projects
here and learn from the amazing activists and see change happening before my
eyes, in the only 3.5 months I was here. While I have been able to join
projects, and meet amazing activists, the seeing fast change has not been part
of my experience. I realized that in a place where it is a process to even get
proper funding to paint a canister, you can't hope to help whole communities in
such a small span of time. It reminded me of what Sizwe was saying in class
about incremental change. You can't just go into communities, build even 100
houses and expect everything to be better. There has been hundreds of years of
discrimination and oppression here, which is still largely going on in the socio-economic
realm. You can't cut through that with some fast built infrastructure. It is a
confusing realization, however. What do you do when you come from a place where
you technically have the resources to speed the process? Yes, you can donate,
and donating to good causes is never a bad thing. However, that's not fixing
the underlying causes of their under-resourced situation. What are these people
to do, when they can't even use the money or resources you throw their way to
acquire the things they really need, like land ownership and proper education?
I'm not sure what the answer to this question is. However, it gives me a
renewed and deeper respect for the community organizers in South Africa, and
all the thought they must take and obstacles they must climb to make even slow
change.
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