Goeie More!
I’ve been taught that the title of my post means “Good Morning” in Afrikaans (there should be an accent on the final “e” but I’m not sure how to do that on a computer.) Goeie More was the first of the Afrikaans phrases that I’ve learned to spell and (sort of) pronounce, courtesy of my coworkers Jackie, Manelli and Yvonne at my internship placement. They patiently repeat each phrase several times so that I can write them down phonetically, since the letters in Afrikaans are pronounced quite differently than they would be in English, or, for that matter, Latin or Spanish, the other two languages that I am mildly familiar with. Afrikaans is something else altogether!
I chose “Goeie More” as my blog title, because every morning here has been just that – a good one! South African mornings are beyond beautiful, with fresh, crisp morning air and the sun flooding in through every window. I find myself excited to be up and start the day, though I haven’t had to wake up before seven since the days of high school, which, three years later, feels like another life in a different world.
I’ve only been at my internship placement with the Cape Town Community Housing Company for three days and I’ve already had the opportunity to soak up a near-overwhelming amount of information. I’ve learned about the types of social housing that the CTCHC works to provide as well as the criteria to live there. For accepted clients, I’ve learned a bit about the financial processes by making phone calls to clients in arrears on their accounts and setting up meetings for them to meet with the manager of CTCHC – my supervisor, Doreen. I’ve then been allowed to sit in and take notes during these meetings. I was originally sad to learn that clients who fall behind on payments, unless their circumstances have drastically changed, are granted very little time to make amends before they are sent an eviction notice. As the week went on, I realized that with a backlog of an estimated 350,000 homes, it is impractical and frankly impossible to allow people to fall behind on payments. If the company cannot make their money back from each new development, they will be unable to construct any new homes. There are literally thousands and thousands of other people that would jump at the chance to have one of these homes. It is absolutely astonishing how many people in South Africa currently live in inadequate conditions.
My favorite part about this week was being granted the opportunity to visit the CTCHC development called Morgan’s Village, which was built in three parts and is located across the street from the CTCHC office. On Wednesday, I went into the more established Morgan’s Village I development to help administer a survey to a handful of the occupants there. I also helped hand out home maintenance manuals in Morgan’s Village III, the newly constructed part of the development. The CTCHC’s community organizer, James, will be working closely with MVIII occupants in the coming months to establish a resident’s committee there. The committee will then serve to address the needs of the community at large. I am excited to watch this process unfold and hopefully take part in it whatever way that I can!
Informal Settlement in a Township
– this is the way that millions of South Africans are forced to live because of a lack of adequate and affordable housing
Morgan’s Village – phase three of the subsidized housing constructed by the CTCHC
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