Introduction to Gugulethu

**Sidenote before I write anything: I discovered the most delicious combination at Wimpys the other day when we were sitting down for some burgers.. Fries dipped in mashed avocado. Give it a whirl. I'm really craving that right now.

We are going to our homestays tomorrow, so Aaron wanted us all to blog before we left since we won’t be by our computers until Friday night.

Today was was a little introduction to the upcoming week for us. Today definitely was heavier than what we experienced all of last week. We had class at the JL Zwane Community Center and had three lecturers. First we heard from Edwin Louw, who works with the community center, and he described a little bit about his life. His mother was a white woman who came from a very rich family. She gave up all family and financial support to marry Edwin's father, who was poor and Zulu. Edwin's grandmother was extremely racist and would treat Edwin and his siblings much much worse than she would treat their cousins. Because of this (and I really respect and appreciate his honesty), he told us that for a long time, he held a strong hatred of white people. He really changed his point of view when his son was born and realized that he did not want his son to look through the same eyes that he had looked through; he did not want his son to live a life so entrenched in hatred because nothing good would ever come from it. He made a conscious choice to change his outlook.

It's hard for me to explain my reactions to the lectures we got today. It was so refreshing to me to hear the absolute truth about what these men felt, but I definitely don't feel like I know enough about their side of the story to form any solid opinions. I'm not used to putting all my thoughts and feelings out for everyone to read them, so that's another reason I'm having trouble writing this.
Edwin talked about a couple other points, but they completely flew out of my mind as I was writing the last paragraph.

Dr. Rev Spiwo Xapile spoke to us next and told us about where he is from and the work he does. Spiwo was supported by a local pastor because his family did not have enough money to finish his education. The pastor's decision to support Reverend Xapile, he said, changed his life. It seemed to me that this situation played a large role in his belief that leaders do not create change for others, but rather help them to create it themselves. A big thing that I took away from his talk was that a huge part of a leader's work is to help people see that their situation does not have to be the way that it is, that it can be different. He said, "leadership is helping people cross bridges that they have to cross."
To move on from the history of Apartheid, he believes that black South Africans have to realize that they are somebody and that they need to be the ones to make change in their own lives. They have to create South Africa's future and make it different. His role in this is helping people switch to that mentality, especially by expanding their worldview past the borders of their township. He travels with members of the community to various countries to show them that it is possible to create an environment better than a township.
There were a couple other things that Spiwo said that I really liked. First he said, "I'd rather ask the church for forgivness than to ask for permission for someting that will never be granted." What he meant by this is that in his line of work as a reverend, actions must be OKed by the church, but because the situation in the townships is so dire no one really believes that positive change will actually happen, so many requests for projects are rejected by the church. He would rather have to ask for forgivness for taking an action may produce results rather than waiting around for the church to grant a permission that will never come. At least, that's what I got from it.
The other thing I liked that he said was, "Some say that if you walk with dwarves, you will be a dwarf; if you walk with giants, you will be a giant. But leadership is making giants out of dwarves, and you can't do that unless you walk with dwarves." Think about that one for a bit. It reminded me of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and how he walked with the people.

The next person who spoke to us was Kenneth Lukuko from the Institute of Justice and Reconciliation. It's an NGO that was created to deal with the issues not addressed by the Truth and Reconciliation Committee.
(The Truth and Reconciliation Committee was set up after Apartheid to hold hearings for both the perpetrators and victims of Apartheid-era crimes in order for them to tell their stories and begin a healing process.. I would recommend the book Country of My Skull by Antjie Krog if you want to learn about it)
Basically, the TRC only dealt with the physical harm that was caused. The Institute of Justice and Reconciliation was created to address the mental, emotional, etc harm that was caused. Much that is being addressed now deals with the violence that occured between different black and colored communities because of fighting political groups. Communities come together and each person comes up with 5 milestone years and how that year affected their lives, their families lives and the lives of their community. This process challenges the assumptions that members of each community have about each other. It brings people back from the state of dehumanization that was caused by the enviornment of Apartheid and builds new communities across geographic, racial and political boundaries. Kenneth called it 'Rehumanization'
This process is so important because the harm that was cause not only affects a person's mental state, but it also affects people's ability to come together. The different groups here are now in a position, for example, where they are allowed to work together, but it causes huge problems when you work in the same building as somone who murdered your brother 20 years earlier. This whole thing tries to heal the wounds so people can move on with each other.

Ok so enough about the lecture. It's late and I want to go to sleep. We had an AWESOME lunch today that was made a few women at the community center. Absolutely delicious, it was like Thanksgiving. If I could eat homemade South African food everyday for the rest of my time here, possibly for the rest of my life, I'd be cool with it. Then we watched a small performance of a singing/dancing group from here that is about to travel to the states to put on a ton of shows. When they are in Cape Town, they travel to schools and different places to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS. They were amazing. I can't even tell you how cool that was. There was 5 singers along with a small band and those 5 singers could take out any 50-person chior I've ever seen. And their dancing was pretty kick ass too. (They'll be in Minneapolis around July 5th, you should definately go check out the show, seriously).

Then we were driven around Gugulethu for a tour. This was surreal. Pictures can't quite describe it, I've seen photos in National Geographic of shanties before, but I went in one today. The people that live there are a 17 year old girl and her 9(I think) year old brother. Their mother died 2.5 years ago, and they are now left to take care of themselves. What they live in, I guess you could call it a dwelling, but there is no way you could call it a building. 2 rooms. Both less the size of a small walk-in closet. One room is the kitchen, the other is everything else.. except a bathroom, they dont have one of those. They have a wash bin but no toilet. Nothing is new, or even in good condition. There are tears and dirt and even the wooden beams that hold the 'ceiling' up are cracking and bending.

It is damp in there too and just like the rest of their house, the floor is made out of scraps of anything flat. As I'm writing this, it's pouring rain outside and freezing cold. I feel pretty dumb for complaining about how cold our carpeted and roofed house is as I sit here and think about where they are. Driving around today, it was aparent that they are the rule and not the exception in the townships. It is weird to think that there are entire cities of this. We have areas of cities that are bad, but this isn't just an area. Take your city and replace everything with a scene you would imagine from under a bridge in New York City. That's basically what I saw. There are houses, but they are more like a dilapidated strip-mall version of housing. Rows of tiny houses just stuck together, better than shacks but I wouldn't like to live there. I didn't take many pictures because I felt crooked doing it. This is these people's reality and it's not here for me to gawk at or take pictures of simply so I can say I visited a township. I did take a few pictures, however, because I want you to see. I want you to see because I believe these people deserve to have someone know of their situation. Just to know and acknowledge that they exist halfway around the world, I think, is a step in the right direction. And it isn't just about these specific people in South Africa, but people around the rest of the world as well. But at this moment I am here and this is what I can provide, so here you go.

We saw two monuments: the first one was in memory of the Gugulethu Seven. On March 3, 1986, these seven black men were walking to a demonstration march when a white police officer came down the street and shot everyone of them to death without provocation; the monument was built on the spot where they died.
The second one was for Amy Biehl who was doing missionary work with children and was murdered by two black men outside a gas station; her monument is also on the spot where she died.

I will post pictures and some more messy thought blogs that done make any sense when we get back from our homestays on friday, I'm tired now and want to go to bed. More to come then!