Monday December 31st
Today was the most amazing experience
thus far. Today we woke up and immediately headed to Haut Bay. While
driving there (approx. 40 minutes away from Mowbray) we drove though one of the most affluent
neighborhoods in Cape Town, Bishopscourt. I'm not kidding when I say that this
is wealth I have never seen in the states. These multi-million dollar mansions
reached a level of grandeur that I like to forget even exists. Of course, they were highly secure, most were
surrounded with barbed wire and electrical fences. Every car in these driveways
were either BMW's, Mercedes, or Audi. Literally every single mansion was
coupled with a pool. These houses were built into the mountain and were very
symbolically at the top of a pyramid. Just a short fifteen minutes later we
arrived at the township we were to visit. As we walked up the glass covered
street that was the edge of Mandela Park, the first thing that I noticed was
the smell. It was horrific, a mixture of garbage, rotten food, and the chicken
coop in the township. These people were literally living in metal make-shift
shacks smaller than my freshman dorm. The township had their own bars, stores,
even competing barber shops. I mostly felt guilt while walking through Mandela
Park. Here I was three weeks ago actually complaining about finals, and that was my
biggest problem. Meanwhile these kids in this township are struggling to find
things to eat. The teenagers and adults deal with violence, rape, and keeping their
family afloat on a daily basis. I realized that what most people consider
problems in the U.S. are really what people would consider privileges here.
Anger was a huge over-riding emotion while walking through the township. These
wonderful welcoming people were here barely staying alive, while their family
and friends die of HIV/AIDS. The symbolism was impossible to ignore as this
township was at the bottle of this magnificent mountain. The people of this
township are forced to look at these luxurious mansions atop the mountain while
they struggle to live at the bottom. Despite these people's everyday life experiences, they welcomed 25 relatively wealthy Americans into their community
to see their way of life, it was amazing. The juxtaposition of the
disparity in this country and city was truly life changing.
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