Reality Check

I've been debating writing this entry for most of the night because the last two days have been some of the most difficult days of my entire life, and I don't know if I can put it into words. I feel a lot of what we've been seeing is only believable if you are here. Being here makes all the problems about HIV and townships around the Cape Town area seem real, blunt, and in your face, and that's entirely in a good, eye-opening way, but it is so incredibly difficult to deal with.
Going to a township, Mandela Park, was the first experience our entire group had in a neighborhood built of metal, scraps of wood, and pieces of basically anything found to block the rain or sun from coming in. It was very emotionally hard walking through the gravel streets of this neighborhood as we were stared at by the locals who probably were wondering what the hell we were doing there. It gave me an uneasy feeling because thoughts of disrespect for the townships' people and embarrassment on my part for just going to observe this place when I have so much back home made it difficult to continue walking. The experience of seeing the townships didn't really slap me in the face until we drove to MaAfrika Tikkun in Delft, where we will be doing our service learning every morning. On the drive, I just stared out the window. I was truly speechless of what I saw. Miles after miles, there were metal shacks continuing far past my eye could see. It seemed to be never ending. Piles of garbage lined the streets with random horses planting their faces in it, and still yet, the metal shacks seemed to not stop. I just can't believe that people can drive past these neighborhoods every day and not do something about it to help. It's mind-boggling to go from Camps Bay where their is a gorgeous resort and shopping area along the beach that is surrounded by multi-million dollar houses, then see the true SA of endless metal shacks and barbed wire fences. I can't even begin to describe what it looked like or what I was thinking on that 20 minute drive.
Excitement overcame me as our first morning at MaAfika began, and we were greeted by children ballroom dancing in a quaint roofed area. MaAfrika Tikkun is an organization in which brings people of the Delft township together and provides a safe place for children throughout the year. Although that is a very lame description of the organization since they do SO much more than that, I want to tell you that the people working there are truly heroes. I very much thought the day was going to be spent at the central MaAfrika Tikkun buildings, but the staff members wanted to show us more of their town and other things they do during the week.
We were taken to government housing in the township and they were all made of metal as well. When getting out of our vans, I did not know what we would be doing and a staff member began to explain the at home care they do throughout the township to people who are dealing with disease. She asked us if we would like to see her patients, and without really thinking, I grabbed a mask and I was suddenly standing in front of a man, laying on a bed who was very sick of tuberculosis and HIV. He probably weighs less than 100 pounds and the best way to picture this is like the horrifying pictures of people during the Holocaust when they were not fed. You could see every bone in his body. The staff member began explaining that he refuses to go to the hospital and take his meds and she believes its because he doesn't think it is that bad.
Not only was that difficult, but we were next driven to the only hospital in Delft to take a tour. I could talk for hours about this hospital because it was so...wow. Literally, the hospital was jam packed with people needed to see a doctor. There was hardly an room to walk in the place, it was FULL. We were explained that this hospital now has reached its full capacity of doctors and nurses and still there is just an overload of people needing care and absolutely no more space in the building. It would have to take an entire day to get in to see a doctor. The truth is, people here, 1 out of every 6, have HIV/AIDS which means in order to get the medicine and care they need, they need to see a doctor often and it is almost impossible to do so. Like I said, I could continue talking, but I can't put the words together. It was so hard to see.
I now believe the only thing that could get me out of this strong mixture of emotions was exactly what we partook in after the hospital tour...and that was the joy, innocence, and happiness of children. I had a chance to jump rope, laugh, talk of American celebrities, and future dreams with African children. They are truly beautiful and fascinating, and it is so amazing that a place like Ma T provides this safe environment where they can just be kids. I am so excited to be working at this organization for the next week because this is one place that brings hope to the struggling South Africa.