By skatz14
Hello from Cape Town! So far, this trip has been indescribable and I have begun falling in love with this place. While I have been exposed to all of the wonderful things that Cape Town has to offer, it has also been shocking to see the huge wealth disparity between the different people of Cape Town. Although it can be comparable to the U.S., I have really never seen anything like it.
This takes me back to my very first day in Cape Town, when I was on the plane about to land in what would become my new home. I remember seeing beautiful mountains and oceans, and beautiful big houses with pools in backyards. I was wowed. It was only until the plane was about to make it’s landing when I saw miles of townships filled with houses made of practically nothing. This struck me not only because the living conditions were so poor, but because the townships were located directly next to the airport, a place where people jet off to travel the world every day. Many of the people who live in the townships have never even traveled to other parts of Cape Town.
When deciding to spend my semester in Africa, I was not naïve to the fact that I would surely gain insight on poverty, but nothing can really prepare a person to see what I saw that first day. I had seen pictures, heard about these townships, but I had never truly thought that I would ever see such a low-level of living.
Having spent the past few weeks in South Africa, I have met the most interesting, gracious people, many of whom have lived or do live in a township and have faced oppression in their lifetimes. For many of the people who grow up in these conditions, there is little hope of having the chance to attend college or becoming something bigger in life. Essentially, the odds are against them.
I have not yet secured a volunteering placement, as the CIEE program has given us a few weeks to get to know the culture and then decide where we want to volunteer. I would love to volunteer in a township, hopefully tutoring or mentoring children. I am mostly excited to get to know these people and hopefully make some sort of difference in their lives. Based on the remarkable South Africans I have already met, I am sure that I will gain an enormous amount from this experience as well. Stay tuned!