Some Reflecting...

My experience in South Africa was (so far) beyond words - I say "so far" because I am freshly back in Canada and still processing the past two months. I have been sitting in bed all day listening to music and going through photos really reflecting on my experience and trying to understand it's impact. South Africa grabbed me and swept me away - such an unbelievably beautiful country with beautiful people, despite its deep and dark past. While in Khayelitsha for the first month I lived with a host family who took me under their wing and showed me (in the brief time I stayed with them) what it was like to live in a township outside Cape Town. Once I actually went to Cape Town and saw it's wealth and beauty, I couldn't believe the disparity in lifestyles between the township and metropolis. The understanding I gained in my short time in South Africa on the apartheid system overwhelmed me. How does anyone justify such brutal systematic racism? It is still something I am grappling with and need to learn more about.



The last two months were filled with so many experiences, of all natures - meeting locals from the township and participating in local community projects, working with NGO's and youth, learning about apartheid from all perspectives - black, white and everything in between, as well as visiting museums like District 6 and Slave Lodge. And then breaking away from team programs and projects to become an independent traveler and put to use the lens I had gained from the program. Meeting other travelers and locals at each backpackers and hearing their perspective on the historical and current political climate in the country, as well as letting loose and just having fun, conversing about life in general and gaining perspective from everyones stories. It was such a whirlwind and I would do it all over again, in fact I really hope to get back to South Africa some day, there's just something about the spirit there...

Oh, the Places You Will Go!

Love and hugs from Botswana - I can't believe I'm back! Crazy the way things work out. I am having such an unreal experience in southern Africa and falling in love with this part of the world.
After saying farewell (but really, "see you later") to our friends and family in Khayelitsha, Dominica, Christina and I spent a week in Cape Town (that place is dangerously addictive!) before hopping on the Baz Bus to travel the coast of South Africa. We stopped in Knysna and Port Elizabeth on the Garden Route, before making our way to the Eastern Cape where we fell in love with the Wild Coast. We spent three nights at a backpackers called 'Buccaneers' in Chintsa and met some absolutely amazing folks. It was paradise and we did some soul searching on the beautiful beach that stretched for miles. We spent our nights meeting locals and other travellers who taught us lots about South Africa and life in general. The conversations we had in Chintsa will stick with me forever - I will tell you all about them when I get back.













Left: Birds of paradise
Right: Our South African friends, Vicky: "fun is fun!"

After Chintsa we headed to a place called Coffee Bay and stayed in a backpackers called 'Coffee Shack' - this place was wild! We met people from all over the world and had a ton of laughs. We walked the hills (and I mean HILLS) of the town, along the beach to get to a place called "hole in the wall", a massive rock in the ocean with a large gap in the middle. When I get back I will tell you more about the town of Coffee Bay - tourism has had some interesting effects on the land and the people. It's really interesting to come in as a tourist after spending time in Khayelitsha doing a community project with locals. The two approaches to travel come with completely different perspectives and emotions, ones that I am sure I will be reflecting on for days to come.











Left: The mighty hills of Coffee Bay
Right: Final Destination "Hole in the Wall"

Once our time in Coffee Bay was up we took a couple buses to get to Botswana. We are staying at the WUSC house (where I stayed last summer) and are on our way to visit the kids and teachers at SOS! I'm beyond excited and can't wait to see Sebaga and all the others. It seems so surreal to me that I am back in this beautiful country, returning to those smiling faces at SOS. It makes me happy to know that I can always come back...

Gaining Perspective

This past weekend our group took a trip into Cape Town (about an hour from the township) to do some sight seeing and experience life in the city. Upon entering Cape Town, there are some immediate thoughts and feelings that come to mind - why only an hour away are so many families living in shantis when the streets of Cape Town are lined with lavish banks and buildings, palm trees, street cleaners and designer stores? I would come to learn a lot more about this discrepancy throughout the day. Our project supervisor for Canada World Youth, Nozuko, organized this trip to Cape Town for us to learn more about the history of South Africa, which is extremely important in order to understand the politics and mindset of the people living here today. Our first stop was a museum called District 6, an experience that really shook me. District 6 is a former district of Cape Town that was destroyed during apartheid. It was home to so many African families who were forcibly removed under the racially segregated system of apartheid. The families left their homes and had to live in tents set up by the government. The museum was filled with street signs that hung to remember life in District 6 before being forced to leave.














While walking through this museum and reading more about the history of South Africa, I experienced so many emotions that I am still trying to process; anger, shame, disbelief and pure sadness among them. One sign in particular really erked me and brought me to tears, it read: "FOR USE BY WHITE PERSONS: THESE PREMISES AND THE AMENITIES THEREOF HAVE BEEN RESERVED FOR THE EXCLUSIVE USE OF WHITE PERSONS. BY ORDER PROVINCIAL SECRETARY".



The rest of the time spent in that museum I felt really angry and ashamed. Although I understand that I wasn't present in South Africa during apartheid, I had gained perspective as to what the colour of my skin represents. It was no longer about who I am as Claire, it was now about how people perceived my white skin. Coming to South Africa for me means different things, like how I want to learn about life in a township, about race relations and just listen to peoples stories and experiences, but for South Africans I represent something completely different than all of that, like privilege. A word I am beginning to dislike - why are some given opportunities while others are physically, mentally and emotionally oppressed? So many questions come to mind each and every day I spend here and I am beginning to learn more not only about the way things were, but about the perspective of South Africans who were either directly impacted by apartheid, or are growing up now learning from their parents and grandparents. The most common story I am hearing is that it is time to move forward from the past - time to unite as one, black, white, coloured, whatever, to create a nation that can forgive and move on to bigger and better things!














"We wish to remember so that we can all, together and by ourselves, rebuild a city which belongs to all of us, in which all of us can live, not as races but as people."