Vukuzenzele

Directly translated from Zulu, vukuzenzele means, "Get up and do it yourself!" It has been an initiative started country-wide for township residents to not just expect the government to better their lives, but to be proactive and contribute to their community. It is so much as planting a garden with vegetables that can be sold by the side of the street, or teaching the men and women a trade so that there is some form of economy in the community. Today I was lucky enough to visit Vukuzenzele, a township development that is adapting to this concept.

It was quite an early morning... Kelly picked me up at 7:30 to take me to her cousin Tania's house. Tania and Pierre (her husband) live in a quiet, dry (as in no alcohol sold there) suburb of Cape Town called Pinelands, and their house sort of acted as a homebase for the day. I was able to spend some time with her two eldest: Rebecca, 10, and Jarrod, 7. And then there was Shannon, one of the funniest little 12 month olds I have ever met. She and I bonded quite a bit over the whole of the day. Tania's friend, Amy, picked me up around 10:30 to go to a preschool in Vukuzenzele. Amy and her husband and kids moved from the Carolinas as Baptist missionaries, but it's amazing how very little their actual work has to do with "religion." It was nice to finally meet someone from the States who isn't the least bit afraid of the ugly truths of this city.

Visiting the preschool was absolutely one of the best experiences of my life. The conditions were appalling. The majority of the 50 or 60 kids were sick, with runny/crusty noses and packed into two little rooms in a tiny township house. Metal gates separated the little ones (1 & 2) from the older ones (3 & 4, with a few 5 year olds) and the outside "playground" was a joke. In some many ways it was utterly depressing. I mean, how is life so cruel that these beautiful, innocent little children are forced to live like this. But in all of it, they were so alive, so vibrant. You can tell they've seen so little good, so little love in this world that all they want is to love and be loved. Amy spent the time teaching them about their sense of taste in English, though they really only speak Xhosa (pronounced kosa). The whole concept is to teach them English so that they are more equipped and empowered to better their lives with education and employment. As a stranger, they were fascinated with me. They climbed all over me, giving me hugs and kissing my hands and cheeks, sitting on my lap. At any given time I had 2 kids attached to me, and at times as many as 5 or 6. As much as I tried to be in the moment, I kept looking at these children and thinking.... How many of these are AIDS babies? How many are being abused at home? How many are the product of rape? How many are impaired in some way because their mothers abused drugs and had no prenatal care while pregnant? In so many ways, it is completely devastating. In the end, though, all I could do was smile because they were smiling... and if they can find a reason to smile, then I sure as hell have no reason not to smile.

After Amy dropped me back off, Tania took me over to a preschool she works with in Manenberg (a colored township- just for the record, colored is not derogatory in South Africa... instead it refers to people of mixed races). This preschool was structured, with classrooms, and protected from the harsh realities outside. It was something to be happy about, especially seeing people do so much to get these kids to a good start. But never in my life have I seen children so despondent and shy. Apparently the school is run with an iron fist, which is being changed, but even in a much better situation than Vukuzenzeli they suffer. I was far more disturbed visiting Manenberg than I was visiting Vukuzenzeli.

I spent the rest of the evening with Kelly, Tania and the kids and had my first taste of biltong (the South African equivalent to beef jerky). My first bite, I wasn't all that impressed... but then I kept eating it and to be honest, it puts beef jerky to shame. And they make it from all different meats... beef (which I had), ostrich, kudu (an antelope-like animal), springbok (looks like a small deer, but it jumps), you name it. I'm pretty sure my diet for the rest of the trip will consist mainly of biltong.

I was so tired last night that I couldn't finish writing and post- I kept falling sleep at my computer. Again, I am exhausted after a full day of traveling down the cape. I am going to hop in the shower and I will hopefully have enough energy to post a little bit later.