Joe finds Capetonians amazing

Tom, Julian, Taylor, Joe, Brenna, Logan, Emily

So far South Africa has been everything that I expected and more. Although the house and landscape is extremely beautiful, the most amazing aspect of the trip so far is the people of the city of Cape Town have been unbelievable. They express a passion for their city that I have never seen before. For example, yesterday morning we were fortunate enough to attend a service at a church in the township of Guguletu. The service was filled with loud singing and enthusiastic dancing, though most of the service was in Xhosa, we were still able to understand the message that they were trying to convey. It was amazing how so many people were able to come together and celebrate though they lived in a very impoverished area stricken by high unemployment rates and diseases such as HIV/AIDS. The people of the church were very welcoming to us and we felt this same sort of hospitality at Vernon’s house as well. We visited Vernon’s mother’s house in another township that developed in the 1950’s after the Group Areas Act was passed. This was the government legislation that forced Africans and classified colored people out of their homes in the city and into the Cape Flats. The area that we visit was a township for “classified colored” people. I was overwhelmed by the sense of community that the people of the townships shared, and I also found it quite surprising that even after Apartheid was officially ended in 1994, many of the people who were subject to forced removal remained in their homes in the townships. I am excited to explore more of Cape Town’s beauty through my internship where I will be working more directly with people from the townships and other parts of Cape Town as well.