Day Seven Follow Up

Tuesday, July 16th 2013

Today marks my seventh night here in Cape Town, South Africa. The trip and my current living arrangement are a huge adjustment for me, therefore I was unable to blog any sooner. Below is one of my journal entries and  photos with captions about the first project.

                    Thursday, July 11th 2013 Reflection

My fellow classmates and I started our first day of service-learning. Our project is to build a vegetable garden for the Nomonde Pre-School in Langa, which is the oldest township in South Africa. While entering into the community, I was blown away by my surroundings. In a way, I got the impression that I was no longer in Cape Town. Prior to arriving to Langa, I noticed that Cape Town is fulled with a diverse population, but I was under the impression that black South Africans made up the minority. I did not see too many people of my complexion. Those of darker skin were usually not the shoppers at the local stores but mostly severing as employees. Once reaching the township, I realized where all the natives were hiding. The township is equipped with all of the community’s needs. There are several schools, hospitals, churches, convenience stores, salons, markets and repair shops. When I arrived this morning, many people were walking towards the transportation station to get a ride the city. There were taxis and buses full of people. Since school was out for winter break, there were not too many children out and about.

Words cannot describe how I felt when driving through the community. Picture a typical American shotgun house but smaller, made out of tin and wood. Without yards for the children to play nor vegetation to grow, the streets remind me of a zero lot line neighborhood.  The houses are very close together, many are adjacent to each other with neither front porches nor sidewalks. I noticed that there were a few homes that did not stand perfectly upright, with the outer appearance notably slanted. Many merchants’ butchered livestock like chicken and pigs out in the open. There was also a herd of cattle crossing the street with a man acting as shepherd. He carried a whip and encouraged the animals to keep moving. Once out of the van, I smelled a strong scent of meat. After looking down the street, I spotted a row of sheep heads, commonly known as Smiley,  cooking on a grill.

Later that afternoon, children began to roam the streets. While putting together one of the garden beds, I saw a group of boys playing on the other side of the gate. I decided to take a break and interact with them. The minute I got closer, I realized that they created slingshots by using clean condoms attached to the mouth piece of  cut plastic bottles. The boys played like their toys were the latest models from Toys R US. At first I was worried about their devices, for health purposes of course, but then I quickly became fascinated by their simplicity and creativity….

Watching the people interact with each other in Langa made me gain a greater appreciation for family and friends. For the most part, everyone spoke to each other in passing and they seemed so filled with life. A few members of the community came to the school to help with the garden to show their gratitude for our efforts. The experience has sparked my interest to create closer relationships with members of my community to build a stronger sense of unity. I look forward to see what else Langa has in store. 

After building and painting one of the garden beds, Alyce and Sara move the bed to the dirt patch.

Ashley and Shawna add a total of seven bags of soil and fertilizer to one of the beds.

With his experience in agriculture and forestry, Dr. Sall explains the proper way to plant vegetables.

The peach tree

Alyce is the first to water the plants.

Me with the bed that my team and I built.

The teachers are also taught how to take care of the garden.

A few of the pre-school children.

We're almost done.

Before

After