Imizamo Yethu: Our Collective Effort

I was talking to my friend Rachel today, while we were standing in the middle of a muddy road in a township, observing the progress of the mangiest dog either of us had ever seen, and I asked her if she’d been on a field trip like this with a class from back home. Neither of us could really think of any. But here we were, our second week of class, in the midst of a shanty town, observing processes of social change in conjunction with environmental degradation. We’ve been discussing systems theory—how environmental and social systems aren’t separate but codependent, and here we were in the middle of a such a system in disarray. It was fascinating, refreshing, and very real.

The township of Imizamo Yethu began as a group of shacks on the beach of Hout Bay, on the Atlantic. The rich residents of Hout Bay, mostly from Constantia, a town of wine estates and oversized homes, got upset with them there. So in 1992 550 families were picked up and moved to the side of the mountain, well above the beach, in a forested area. They’ve since grown to 38000 families packed in on a little plot of land. They’re having issues with soil erosion and water quality, constructing around boulders and trees, but the township grows every year as more and more people leave their homes in the Cape. It was inspiring to see all the businesses: there are 63 informal bars, several hair salons and shoe repair guys…all sorts of people creating a community that will never be officially recognized by anyone. But the people were lively, the colors were bright, there was music, beer, children. It’s strange to be in a township—on the one hand it’s great to learn and see and talk to people, but on the other it feels like exploitation, glorifying the experience of the poor for our own entertainment. Personally, I think you have to come face to face with poverty to get a good grasp on what’s going on. I can guarantee you most of the residents of Constantia had never smelled the sewage water in these street or that poor mangy dog. Yet here we were. Most of the residents here are Xhosa speakers, so as we walked around little kids ran up to us for high fives and to scream ‘Muzungu!’ excitedly at our faces. Yes, we know, we are white people.

Everyone gets their electricity illegally. It's crazy dangerous.

Restaurant. Some guys laughed at me after I took this picture and asked if I wanted a wing...

A shabine (local pub) They got this word from the Irish. Go figure

The area used to be a landfill. This stormwater runoff goes down to the beach--one of the most polluted beaches in South Africa.

The new development on Hout Bay Beach in the back there was once the location of Imizamo Yethu settlement.

Beautiful Hout Bay

school, sweat and culture shock

School has officially begun, which means the reality of living abroad has officially sunk in. There are lots of new things. I've never been patrolled in the library to make sure I'm only doing research. I've never had to lock my closet doors when I leave in the mornings. I’ve never sweat this much before. Temperatures are in the high eighties every day. yikes! I try my best to be savvy…I wear shorts and sandals and tank-tops, take the Jammie shuttle up the mountain to minimize the walk from lower to upper campus, I wear sunscreen, carry water but regardless, I’m always dripping by the time I sit down, casually wiping sweat into my hair and hoping my shirt isn’t sticking to my back. It’s a real art. It doesn’t help that the Jammie schedule is extra confusing. There are multiple routes and several different stops, including three on upper campus. It’s pretty impossible to know where you're going to end up, if it's stopping at all, so for now I just hop on, cross my fingers that it’s going the right way, and hope I don’t smell too bad.

UCT is an interesting place. It was designed by Rhodes to be Africa’s own Ivy League—the buildings were designed especially to grow ivy, like Oxford. It’s really beautiful. So are the students. 20% of us are international…over 700 of us are semester study abroad students and the rest from other countries in Africa. Most of the Africans I’ve met are from Zimbabwe, but the university maintains a 50/50 white/black ratio in its student body, according the website. Students are well-dressed; it might be 90 degrees out but, yes, those knee-high leather boots do look fabulous with your mini skirt and that handbag might not hold your books but at least it matches your sunglasses. I wear Birkenstocks with my skirts, walk to campus and don’t have an Iphone or a Mercedes, so before I even open my mouth it’s apparent I’m not South African. That’s alright—there are over 21,000 students here so I’ll blend in somehow.

I’ve signed up for three classes for a total of 16 credit hours: Sustainability and the Environment, Principles of Ecology and Race, Identity and Culture in post-Apartheid South Africa. It’s been a long haul to finally register but I’m satisfied where I’m at for now if my classes ever show up on my record. I think they should soon… My camera is still in the shop getting repaired; thanks mates for the photos!

Shark flags went up while we were swimming at Muizenberg. They have helicopters and people in the cliffs above hired as shark spotters. Great Whites are a huge problem...someone was "taken" from this beach two weeks before we got here! woah. i stared at the water for hours but didn't see one. shucks.

yes, more braai. we grill out at least three times a week. mmm. those big sausages are boerworst, a spicy South African brat. (i ate the eggplant...)

Table Mountain, Upper Campus, sunshine.

The top photo was taking on the other side of table mountain on a hike above False Bay. It was fantastic. :)

aloha, Wilderness

I hadn’t showered in five days when I walked into my house again this morning, but that was alright because I’d been swimming in a freshwater pool at the base of a waterfall the day before so I felt pretty decent about myself.

Christine, Christina, Emily and I spent the last few days llazing about in hammocks, frolicking in the Indian Ocean, wandering the beach collecting shells, eating fresh calamari and prawns, drinking cocktails and cozying up around the fire at night. We were staying at a hostel in Wilderness, a little beach town 7 hours north of Cape Town and on a marvelous stretch of beach. It was refreshing to be able to relax and wander around paradise safely and on our own. We’d taken the “dodgy” bus line up on Sunday night and were the only white folks on it so the ride was a concert of Xhosa—the Southern African language with click consonants and vowel intonations. It was lovely. Our Greyhound picked us up this morning at 2am, so we’re a little wired but content.

School starts tomorrow which is hard to fathom after growing accustomed to two hour-long seafood dinners, the sound of the surf at night and naps on the beach, but I think I can handle it. That is if I can find my classes. Room numbers are kind of like this: HUMBL2. Hmm. Also, I’m not officially registered yet because my account has an error on it. Whatever that means. Hopefully, it’ll be fixed. If not find me at Beach House Backpackers in Wilderness in a few months and I’ll serve you up some mean oysters.

Christine leant me some photos:

Emily, castle and Beach House

those are little snail things eating the jellyfish. woah

we rented canoes in Wilderness National Park and paddled/hiked to this waterfall.

we made a friend at Happy Hour. :)