The one thing I wish I had done more this trip is spend time in the townships. This is why I was glad when Julian and I went to Nyanga to go to a human rights workshop. My good friend Koko was putting on his first peer education human rights program, and invited me to go, so I was thrilled to be able to witness such an inspiring interaction.
The entire experience there was amazing. When we first arrived in Nyanga we were a little lost on how to find the building we needed to go to. Since we are white we stuck out and I think it surprised people that we were there without having a black person with us. Everyone was so friendly and helpful. Multiple people stopped to make sure we were okay, knew where we were, and if we needed anything. One Rasta man, liking my new hair (I just got my hair locked) walked with us for a while just talking to us and trying to help with directions. This was just the beginning of the warm welcoming from the people of Nyanga.
After we found the place we were still early, so we decided to go get some food from an African Cuisine restaurant. First of all the standard of hygiene is very different than in the US or even than in the wealthier parts of Cape Town. We were served a plate with two forks. The women who served us brought out a cup of water with no soap and dumped it over the forks in order to clean it. Also when we asked for water she took a cup of water from a bucket, rinsed the cup out, and then refilled it out of the same bucket. Julian and I did not mind, it was just kind of a cool cultural experience. The part I didn’t like about it was the realization that this food take out place did not have running water, a problem all too familiar for many South Africans. While eating we experienced more Nyanga hospitality. The women who served us our food came and sat with us and we were able to talk to her. In the US it would be really weird if a worker came and sat with you during your meal, but here it felt so natural. She just sat with us and had friendly conversation, and it just showed the community feeling in the township. When someone came and asked if we were tourists she snapped back that we were not tourists but her friends. Soon after that a young boy and girl came up to us to say hello and then told us that we were always welcome in East Nyanga. These two comments about us being friends and us being welcome gave me cold chills and I felt so blessed to be able to experience the tightness of the community in the township. I am not saying that I would want to live in the poverty they have to deal with every day, but that I would love to live in a place where you can go from stranger to friend is less than 15 minutes. And it was not just like she said it, I actually feel like she became my friend.
The workshop itself was great. Koko had worked really hard on his presentation and the group discussion at the end was really inspiring. They had a discussion on refugees and foreign nationals. South Africa and even in Nyanga itself there is a problem with xenophobia. When they discussed the issue and their feelings towards refugees nothing was sugar coated. Even with a refugee there who was leading the discussion with Koko, people shared their feelings. They said how people from other countries sell drugs, don’t speak the language, take all the jobs, ask for too much, and a lot of other stereotypes that go along with being a foreign national. The conversation was all too familiar. If they replaced refugee with Mexicans and South Africa with the US, I have heard the same conversation many times before. At first I was taken back and even appalled by their openness on their prejudices. But out of their openness and conversation with a refugee progress came out. As the refugee explained it from his point of view and how people get in these situations, you could see the light bulbs light in everybody’s head as they started to make the connection of human rights and their treatment of refugees. The conversation even went from there into what each person can do to succeed. Sitting back and observing this really made me see the benefits of being honest with yourself. If they had sugarcoated how they felt and tried to make it seem like there was not that much of a problem, then they would have never grown from the conversation. I realized that I also need to be open with myself with my prejudices, because if I try to ignore them or water them down, I will never get to the root of it. I was also thrilled to see that at least 13 people showed up on their holiday from school. I do not know if I could get the same turnout in the US and if I did it would be from people who already have a strong interest in human rights. Most of the young adults who were there had little to no idea what human rights are, yet were still willing to come to expand their knowledge. This program of peer education on human rights is such a wonderful program. I just do not know if it would work in the US where there is not such a close knit community, and people who are not already interested in human rights rarely have an interest in learning about it.
I could not believe that Koko was disappointed in himself on the workshop. The fact that he has only studied human rights for a couple weeks now and was willing to plan an entire workshop and get up in front of his peers to educate them on these issues was an accomplishment in itself even if the workshop hadn’t gone well. On top of that the workshop in my opinion was a success with discussion, bonding, community building, and knowledge being shared. I was so touched by the entire experience. My new friend is now my new role model for doing so much to advance his community while still in high school.
After the program Julian and I wanted to hang out with Koko and his friend for a little bit to celebrate their first of many workshops. First we went to a barber shop in one of the trailers in Nyanga to get Julian’s hair done which was a really cool experience. Loud music, people just hanging out in the shop, and a very precise barber were all parts of the shop that made it a unique experience for Julian and I. Koko also stopped into his sister’s house who lives in one of the small homes (I don’t know if they are considered informal or not) with metal sheets as walls and down a skinny dirt ally. I was so surprised when we saw inside. Everything was so neat and organized with nice furnish and not a spot of dirt anywhere to be found. The only reason I expected it to be messier was because it must be hard to not have a cluttered house when there is so little room to work with. Even if it was a big house, I have seen few houses better organized. I was so happy to see the pride put into what they have. We finished that day off by grabbing a beer in a bar in Nyanga to toast their hard work and successful workshop. It was one of the best days I have had since arriving in Cape Town and I look forward to spending more time with Koko in Nyanga the last few weeks I am here.
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