Hello Grandpa! (and others who I added as I realized I was going to want to tell you about this anyway...)
Unfortunately, I don't believe that much of the aid from any country is really helping in South Africa at the moment.
Much of the problems stem from the fact that South Africa is still a very segregated country. While the Western Cape (the province that Cape Town is in) is very, well, westernized, it's the white people that have the highest standards of living. The colored, black and Indian populations still remain unable to access certain resources and education.
Many of the problems are also health related, and stem from the living conditions. A high instance of HIV/AIDs coupled with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Tuberculosis hinder a lot of human advancement, especially since they lack access to even the most basic things: indoor plumbing, electricity, doctors, etc.
Probably because of the low education rates, the crime rate and gang membership is very high. Mike can speak more on that because most of his work is in areas that are directly in the paths of gang violence. (He wants me to assert here that he's safe here, and well taken care of. I'll let him address the situations that he's found himself in and his reactions to them.) Many of the children are neglected and abused, and it's sad to see that they won't ever have access to proper schooling or resources.
I keep finding that my minor in Gender Studies is so very applicable to the patterns of male behavior here - especially since they lack legitimate means to access respect and power, so they choose to act violently as a way to gain the "respect" that they think they "deserve." Also, the country is still very far behind as far as advancement for women goes. There is a lot of violence against and intolerance for homosexuals as well as others who choose not to maintain a traditional life-trajectory of courtship leading to heterosexual marriage.
(Today, my Auntie Debbie - Mama P's neighbor - was asking me if I'd be married in a year or so. I laughed.)
But that is also incongruent with the statistics of out of wedlock pregnancy. Most of the young women here experience pregnancy during teenage years or in their 20s. (Here, they use the verb "fell" as in "I fell pregnant." It's an interestingly passive verb used to describe the situation.) However, even though these pregnancies don't always result in marriage, it's shocking to me that so many fathers are actually involved. The importance of family in the South African culture seems to be holding the family structure together, even if it is not directly aligned with the traditional family structure that we're used to seeing. But really, are we used to a traditional family structure?
The illiteracy rate is shocking, as well. Mike can tell a story about a friend of his who was trying to give him the Rastafarian history but who couldn't spell - so instead he drew a pictographic map of the history. It was actually really cool, but sobering.
South Africa has made me ever so grateful for my education.
South Africa is still struggling as a democracy, and the political structure (including police, etc.) is very corrupt. Without a unified plan to attack the social problems, South Africa won't be able to succeed as a fully integrated society.
I was on the train last weekend with Mike and we were speaking to a white couple about our work in the townships - which are places that few white people will ever venture into - and one of the women said, "It's such a shame there are so many social problems in the townships, but that's not the real South Africa." I was so upset because she was trying to say that they weren't her social problems.
That's the entire South African problem in a nutshell - no one wants to take responsibility for any of the problems and they keep blaming other groups, specifically racial groups.
But this is a beautiful country with a lot of opportunity for economic advancement, particularly where tourism is concerned.
Since it's English speaking, it doesn't present so much of a language barrier for English-speaking tourists from the Americas or Europe.
The wine here is amazing and priced incredibly well. I wish Americans drank more wine, I really do. I think I'm going to start sending away for some and having it imported into the US. South Africa is where the pinotage variety of grape was originally blended. I've been writing a story about wine for the journalism project, so of course I've taken the liberty of doing a bit of field research.
The tourism as well is wonderful and relatively cheap. It's also safe - we just got back from a six day road trip and we encountered no problems along the way, and were able to do the trip for about $100 US dollars a day including going out for three meals, accomodation and car rental as well as tourist attractions.
We climbed through caves and rode ostriches and bungee jumped and hiked in the national forests along the way and swam in the ocean every chance we got.
This coming weekend, since it's going to be our last in Cape Town, we are planning to spend Friday night in Stellenbosch, near the wine farms, and then come back to Cape Town for Saturday night.
From there, the plan is still undecided. I hope to spend Sunday or Monday at the beach, saying goodbye to the ocean.
We leave Tuesday morning for the airport. We will then fly to Johannesburg, have a two hour layover there, before flying to Washington DC. Then we will fly to Denver.
I'm going to need time to process the experience, obviously. I can't believe that we're about to leave - I feel like we just got here. But I can already tell you what I've learned about food.
I have been eating different types of cheese, and I've learned that they're not all so bad. Tomatoes were my newest obsession prior to leaving the US, and that hasn't changed, but I've added grilled tomatoes to my eating patterns. It's so strange just to eat half a tomato that is soft and warm, but it's wildly delicious.
Mushrooms, sauteed, grilled, raw, whatever. I want them all the time now. I want them covered in cream sauce on top of pasta, I want them next to my eggs at breakfast.
Curry. Not too hot, not too bland.
Hot sauce - chili sauce, green chili sauce, red sauce. I ate that on top of cheese toast this morning.
Alright, so much love to everyone from both mike and I.
and Happy Thanksgiving.
make Mom eat some cranberry sauce for me!
and Grandma Mary, will you please make me a jar so I can have some?
Love again
Katie
No comments:
Post a Comment