1)
Access to
clean water. 
The
next day, I heard another roar from down below. It couldn’t but, but sure
enough the street vendors union was back. This time the police were ready for
them. I wasn’t allowed to go out on the balcony to see the demonstration like
the day before, because this time the police were armed. Their guns were drawn
(rubber bullets I can only assume) and their riot gear was in place. The crowd
was significantly smaller on this day, but their organization was stronger. The
group was chanting in unison and singing songs together. They marched
(somewhat) peacefully back to the mayor’s office where the police allowed them
to stay for at least an hour before breaking up the group. 
I
was absolutely fascinated by these occurrences, but it seemed to be another day
at the office for the Awethu crowd. They did confirm that this was one of the
largest protests they had ever witnessed. I keep checking the paper, but I
haven’t seen any major updates relating to their protest. I know there are 2
sides to every story, but this is one I don’t think I want the government to
win. |
Front desk at Awethu |
 |
| Top row: Lesika far left in yellow, Marcelo far right in red. Middle row: Shazia, Julie, Rohit, Adel, Laura, Gang, me/Jen Front row: Vivek, Hemang, Soichiro, Esteban |
On Saturday, my team
spent the day at an orphanage funded by Jo’Burg Child Welfare Society in
Soweto, one of the largest townships in South Africa. This particular orphanage hosts children who are taken out of their homes due to abuse, neglect, some are
orphaned and others are found on the street. When we got out of the car, it was
like the scene from Indiana Jones where the kids surround Indy and start
hugging him. I stepped out of the van and was immediately surrounded by
toddlers. I was carrying a plastic bag full of sweets in my hand and they knew it was for them. Their
arms were lifted high in the air longing to be picked up and held, and the rest
were crying for me to give them whatever I had. I picked up 2 little boys, one
on each hip, almost immediately. They just wanted to be hugged. It was very different than anything I had ever experienced in the States because most toddlers I've ever come across are not so anxious to be held and loved by strangers without hesitation.
The older boys started a
game of soccer with Esteban and Marcelo, while the little kids gathered around
the women and were excited more about the sweets we had to share. SAP brought
in a bouncy castle for the kids to jump on. They were doing karate moves to
Soichiro and Gang. At one point the house mothers handed out juice boxes for
the kids and I sat down next to them while they were enjoying their snacks, 2
little girls immediately sat in my lap on either leg. We took a tour through
the nursery as well where there were about 30 cribs setup for the toddlers.
There were 2 little children sleeping on the floor, a few crawling around, and
another handful still napping in the cribs. One little boy woke up and started
crying while I was standing next to Hemang, and then proceeded to rock himself
and put himself back to sleep. It was heartbreaking. 
We stopped for lunch at
Mama Lindy’s. Mama Lindy is one of Awethu’s entrepreneurs and her business is
to help tourists experience what a traditional South African household was like
when she was growing up. She greeted us warmly with a big hug just like your own mom would
do, gave us a quick tour through a museum house she setup, and then we sat down
to lunch at a large table outside. Part of her business model is to help
tourists understand that there was more to life than politics and struggle
growing up. There was love and happiness within normal families and their
stories were just as important. Mama explained to us that although she hasn’t
traveled extensively, her 
After leaving the Mama’s, we headed into Kliptown, one of the worst shanty towns in the area. Our group was greeted by a young man from the Soweto Kliptown Youth Center (SKY) who walked us through the streets. Founded in 1987, SKY is a youth center in Kliptown that provides hope and services to some of the most neglected children in South Africa. 
For the 50k residents, there are only 48 water spouts. There used to be 100 but the metal pipes were raided and sold off by addicts to support their drug habits. There are communal toilets, but no internal plumbing. Throughout our tour, we were followed by 2 adorable children from the Youth Center. It is not uncommon to see small children ages 2+ just roaming the streets of Kliptown on their own. And so it is no wonder to me that with the crime and drug & alcohol problems in the townships, horrific murders against small children like the one I mentioned above can ensue.
It started raining in the middle of our tour. We took shelter in the Youth Center where the kids provided us with an incredible dancing, drumming, and singing show. South Africa’s got talent! Shortly thereafter the rain turned to hail and the hail just came on stronger. We moved from the dining hall to the library where the roof started to leak. Everyone pitched in to move the boxes of books and papers away from the water. The toddlers were ushered in after us and were so excited to see water streaming from the ceiling – a built-in water park! But you could see the look of distress on the adults faces. They knew it was bad. We did what we could but it was time to go. We all had to take off our shoes and walk through 4 inches of standing flashflood water and ice to make it back to our tour van. I reminded the group that we all got our tetanus and typhoid shots, right? No seriously, I was panicking in my head. I’ve never seen a more filthy street and I was about to walk through it barefoot with no visibility in the pouring rain. I went first. A small boy in rain boots and an umbrella gave me his arm at the door and escorted me to the street. He giggled as I squealed with pain from the cold. Laura was just behind me and we took refuge on a rock sticking out from the water. Our legs and feet were bright red. We took the final stretch together with Adel and crossed the street to our van. Success! 
As we made it to our van you could hear music and drumming over the screams of my colleagues. There was a stopped train just beyond the field where we were parked. The men inside the train were singing and drumming to pass the time. It was like something out of a movie. To our left, a few little boys had gathered outside of the van. I had given away all of my sweets at the orphanage that morning, but had a few pieces of gum left. I handed out a piece to each of the little boys which prompted them to start dancing for us. Just in front of us, parents and community members were arriving to check on the status of the orphanage. I only remember one in particular. A man pulled up and got out of his car. He was carrying a handle of liquor and a cigarette. He took a long swig from the bottle and then proceeded into the children’s center. And how are the children? …
Saturday was an extremely tough day for me. You can see there is so much pain and need within the communities in and around South Africa. Yet, somehow these children seemed very happy. The children were smiling and laughing and finding pleasure in song and dance and small things like a stick of gum. They may not be in the best situation, but they are taught that their greatest downfall can be self-pity.They are taught to persevere and work hard to get an education and go on to live a better life. I have a lot to learn from these kids. I hope I never forget the way these kids made me feel that day. Everyone told me that this trip would bring a lot of perspective to my life, and I don’t know that you can sum up the changes this trip has made on me only using the phrase 'a change in perspective', but this sabbatical has certainly changed me for the better.
