Let’s start of with the sweet song line that loaned itself to my blog’s title; it’s straight of the soundtrack of a brand new multi-media musical called Brothers at the University of Stellenbosch.It told the story of two brothers from an Anglican monastic order called the Community of the Resurrection who ministered in Stellenbosch from 1969-1970. Fr. Robert Mercer, Rector of St-Mary’s –on-the-Braak, and Fr Bernard Chamberlain, the University Chaplain, were deported for a welcoming church leaflet that went against the established anti-apartheid government. Many of the play’s characters were students, grappling with the issue of race and possibly challenging the establishment. The play was a really great snapshot of Stellenbosch at that time… another story of apartheid struggle. My new friend Maro played the very interesting character of Themba, a black janitor who went on to be the Dean of Students after the fall of apartheid. He did a great job!!!
Now, shifting gears a bit, I don’t have many pictures to share this week, but I do have this one (notice cloud-covered Table Mountain in the background):
Most weekends, I join Suzanne and Thembi on a field trip or two to one or more really cool parks. This was taken on a trip to the forest… but as you can see, it’s from before we actually got to the forest. There’s some really beautiful countryside here, but unfortunately, not every place can be so pretty and spacious.
Let me tell you a bit of local history… Monday through Friday, when I go to work at the ASF office, I take the train into Cape Town and then board a taxi to ride the 2-3 km uphill to Zonnebloom, where the office is. Every time, we drive through a part of the city called District 6, which is a giant empty field – a series of barren, empty blocks in the middle of this bustling city. On all sides, District 6 is surrounded by “normal” development, so what’s with the empty spot?
Apartheid.
Under apartheid, non-whites were evicted from the city center and forced to the outskirts. In the 1970s, over 60,000 non-whites were evicted from their homes in District 6 and the entire area was bulldozed (It is said that these event was one of the events that inspired the movie District 9). Many of the people forced from District 6 and areas designated as whites only settled into townships on the outskirts of larger towns and cities. Today, they still remain as undeveloped settlements – although I don’t think “undeveloped” really gives you a complete picture of just how undeveloped these places are.
On Saturday, I went with for a car ride with Suzanne and Thembi to Gugulethu, a South African township. According to the 2001 census, Gugulethu is home to over 80,000 people. It is one of many townships; Khayelitsha is a township with a population of over 400,000. Googling Gugulethu revealed that the township was the subject of a documentary called The Gugulethu Seven, about the seven young men killed there on 3 March 1986 in an ambush by South African apartheid security forces. Many of the people in Gugulethu now are on wait lists from the government for free houses, which the government doesn’t seem to be building. It raises an interesting question; would Habitat for Humanity Global Village work here? Would people work for a house in the near future if they knew the government might give them a free one in an unknown amount of time? I’d like to think that they would. As we rode through the narrow dirt streets of Gugulethu, I became very aware that I would never ever forget what I was seeing and smelling. It was like those adds you see on TV that ask you to send in $3 a month to provide school supplies and medicine for a child and they send you a picture of a kid (who’s supposedly the very one that you’re helping). Somehow, everything looks different when there’s not a TV screen and the Atlantic Ocean in between you and this place you see during the commercial break of your favorite television show. Riding down this dirt road, I contemplated taking a picture, but sitting there in a car, feeling very white and very rich, I just did not have the gumption to take out my digital camera and take a picture of the brook with clotheslines next to it or any of the houses where entire families occupy a 1-2 room space which is smaller than my last dorm room and which does not have running water. I did a Google image search instead and hope you check out the pictures here:
http://www.capetown.dj/people/people.html
http://www.worldofstock.com/closeups/AAB2246.php
I couldn’t seem to find any that were close up. I guess I’m not the only one who finds it all a bit overwhelming. Knowing these places are there and seeing them there are two different things; I don’t know why it’s that way, but there it is.
Thanks again to everyone for the love and prayers and support that got me here, and for taking the time to read this. If you get a chance, shoot some love and prayers in the direction of Gugulethu.
-A banner at St George's Cathedral, with a prayer we say at the end of each service
Songs (one old obsession and one brand new one): "Night Ride Home" by Joni Mitchell & "Something Beautiful" by Needtobreathe
Movie: Where the Heart Is
This is such a great post that it made me look up Gugulethu. And then I cam back and read this post again!
ReplyDeleteAnne!
ReplyDeleteIt has been a few weeks since I have been able to enjoy your blog (due to some of my own traveling!), but I certainly found some wonderful insights upon my return. Though I have read up to the newest entry, I felt most compelled to comment here, both to agree and almost apologize. You were incredibly right to recognize the distance afforded by a television when it comes to the more haneous aspects of our world; the lack of direct effect and proximity is certainly the foundation of many people's apathy and ignorance...unfortunately, including my own. I recently had a similar experience to yours; while in new Orleans, I visit the lower ninth ward, where the levees caused the most destruction. Aside from the incredible emptiness left in the wake of the disaster, there were also many new and interesting housing developments arising. As we drove through, my friend slowed to let ne take pictures, but I found that I couldn't. I was intruding on these small miracles; these were not tourist attractions - they were people's lives. There is no way to take a photo of the hurt, determination, and small triumphs, so there was no point in taking a picture at all. Anyway, thank you for sharing all parts of your journey - it is both humbling and appreciated!
Best wishes,
Heather
PS- I love your Disney references - I make them far too often haha