First World vs. Third World

We decided to take some time off of work on Wednesday to accompany Drew and Holly to one of their township meetings - for Orphaned and Vulnerable Children.  [The previous president of South Africa, Mbeki, in the late 1990s denied that HIV/AIDS was caused by a viral infection that could be fought with medicine.  He believed, rather, that it was caused by poverty, poor nourishment, and general ill-health - the solution was not expensive western medicine, but the alleviation of poverty in Africa.  He rejected all free medicine and grants to help prevent the disease.  As a result, it is said that more than 330,000 people died unnecessarily in South Africa while he was in office and many children lost their parents to the virus - now known as the "lost generation".  Ikamva - the organization Drew and Holly work for - aim to help these children and the senior citizens that now must raise them.]
 
The meeting took place in Khayelitsha, a township we hadn't yet visited, the fastest growing in all of South Africa.  It currently houses over 400,000 people, so as you can imagine, it is extremely crowded, and very few have access to running water.  Most homes are shacks with flat metal roofs and mangy dogs run rampant amid the laundry hung out to dry.  [I feel uncomfortable taking pictures of the surroundings but the picture below pretty much captures what we drove through - although it was pulled off Google.]

We arrived at the meeting a bit early and after our drive in, I was not expecting the people who greeted us - a room filled with over 100 people (mostly women) and everyone was standing up, singing, dancing, and so joyful.  It was really uplifting to see such happy faces despite the world they live in every day.  The meeting was two hours long and conducted in xhosa, so we understood none of it.  We left after about an hour but not before they brought all of us to the front of the room for an introduction.  Everyone stood up again, and started singing in xhosa and dancing.  We clapped along as best we could until a women got up and started yelling "shake your boooddyy" - we tried.  I'm sure everyone got a good laugh out of us up there awkwardly dancing and clapping off beat but it was entertaining nonetheless.

[I expected poverty.  And shacks.  And cute little children without parents.  But what I definitely was not prepared for was the HUGE discrepancy between the rich and the poor.  Cape Town is definitely a first world country with gorgeous houses, fantastic restaurants, shopping, and scenery but just a ten minute drive out of town sits Khayelitsha, by definition third world.  Many of those working in Cape Town live in one of the townships - including many of our colleagues - and it's hard to imagine, leaving your home without running water and traveling to a warm, well-equipped office building for the majority of the week.  I don't think I'd want to leave work.]

After the meeting we drove into Gugulethu to visit a 'deli' we'd heard about called Mzolis.  We parked onto the street, walked into the small shop and were greeted by a big glass case filled with all sorts of meats.  We pointed to those we wanted to try, paid, and then brought our big meat-filled bowl back to the fire to cook.  Two men manned the fire and cooked our meat for us, adding some sort of great bbq sauce, and then provided one knife, two forks, and one napkin for the five of us to share.  As you can imagine, most of the meat was eaten with our hands and we were quite messy by the end of the meal but the meat was delicious.

Kirsten, Mimi, and I ended the day with a trip to the spa - a 30 minute hot stone massage, manicure, and pedicure for only $22!  Back to the first world again.  I think we should take Wednesdays off every week.