Molweni(Hello in Xhosa) from Port
Elizabeth, dear friends!
It
has been exactly a week since I arrived in South Africa and as you might have
imagined, there has been a lot to take in!(check me out taking it all in below) The trip was no easy feat either. Including
airtime and a layover in Johannesburg, it was over 20 hours of travel time to
get to Port Elizabeth, but I am indeed grateful to be here and was almost as excited as she to have found my new bed!
Over the past week, I have
tried my best to simply observe and digest both the subtle and not-so subtle. That has always been my go-to strategy for getting to know a place, and have already gathered a few insights that I'd like to share. I have already had the fortune of speaking with people whose lives have in one way or another been colored by experiences and circumstances that have often been unique to South Africa's socio-cultural landscape but not always. I have spoken with artists, NGO leaders, black, white, and coloured South Africans(I'm not trying to be offensive-- this has a slightly different meaning in the South African context), shared meals with persons who reflect the realities of life for the working poor, middle, and affluent classes of South Africa, African immigrants from across the continent, Americans, and through these interactions and other observations, have come to the conclusion that this is a country of contrasts.
I am certainly not the first to have realized this, as the country's revered Madiba has said this before, but that doesn't make this reality any less relevant. There are contrasts in the weather, at least during this time of the year, contrasts between black and white, between the rich and the poor, between the country's beauty and its pain, and it is striking. The weather for one has taken some getting used to. Now, don't get me wrong! Relative to the Bostonian winters, this is a walk in the park, because it can get pretty warm during the day(high 70s in Fahrenheit), but I am so happy that I brought my wool socks, because it does get pretty chilly during the night and early mornings(low 50s-60s).
The contrasts along the lines of race and class are a result of numerous circumstances in South Africa, but the remnants of the country's apartheid past are evident. Many neighborhoods have become more integrated than they were in the past, but like many neighborhoods across America, some communities have remained segregated by race and class. Access to educational, economic opportunities, and overall quality of life are sometimes drastically unequal between the rich and the poor, but that is precisely why I have come here. It is because of those realities that I find myself working with ArtWorks for Youth in Joe Slovo township, a community of predominantly black working and non-working poor, that according to many current maps of Port Elizabeth, does not even exist. Many of the young girls that I will be working with over the course of this internship are coming from families that, by the average standards, are destined for a life of poverty, violence, and less meaning. Somewhere in all of this, however, is where I find hope. In each of these young people, I see glimpses of promise and opportunity for their narrative to be a little different from that of their parents and the generations before them.
In some ways, South Africa is not particularly exceptional in its complications and nuances. The thing about poverty and inequality is that it is everywhere, including the United States, but I know there remains a beauty that is unique to the people, the land, and culture of South Africa. So, in celebration of this country in its natural beauty, I leave with you a picture of the sun along Port Elizabeth's Nelson Mandela Bay as it was about to set! I look forward to continuing along this journey and opening myself to all that this experience has yet to teach me.
