Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Love

It's been 20 days since I left Cape Town, and I'm still having trouble processing all my thoughts about South Africa.  Why? Cape Town, South Africa has one of the world's biggest gaps between the rich and the poor, something I experienced first hand during my time in port.  In the mornings, I volunteered at an orphanage for 39 children affected and infected by HIV/Aids. I tended to babies, entertained all the children, cooked, cleaned, and did laundry. But in the afternoons, I became a regular tourist again. I walked around Cape Town's beautiful waterfront, went to Table Mountain (one of the 7 natural wonders of the world), ate delicious food, and even went to see a movie. And if I'm being honest with myself and all of you, I enjoyed my afternoons much more than my mornings spent at the orphanage. I was completely out of my comfort zone at the small, crowded, and dirty orphanage. I didn't know how to cook or clean the way the women at the orphanage did, and I never once had to be careful about children's cuts before coming to the Emasithandane Orphanage. But as time went on, I slowly became more comfortable in the township and with the kids. With each day,
I began to recognize specific kids and the kids began to recognize me. Even though you aren't supposed to have favorites when working at an orphanage, I found my favorite kids each day and was able to do different activities with them, like coloring, blowing bubbles, and jump roping.  I learned many of the children's stories, like the little boy who had just arrived from Nigeria when his mother died, and who will be staying at Emasi until one of his relatives can be found. And without meaning to, I fell in love with the kids. And once I fell in love with the kids, I really couldn't understand life in South Africa. The extremely wealthy South Africans live less than 20 minutes away from the black, poverty ridden townships, like the Nyanga township where Emasi is located. These rich, mostly white South Africans live way above their means, while people are literally starving right down the road from them. I don't understand how this is possible; if the wealthy South Africans spent just 5 days in a township or orphanage, like I did, I'm sure their opinion of the poor would change.  But in Cape Town, the wealthy and the impoverished don't mix, something I learned as soon as I got back to the waterfront each day and didn't see any evidence of poverty until I returned to Emasi the next morning. And this is why I'm still trying to process my time in Cape Town. Even though I worked at an orphanage every morning, going back to the ship and the upscale waterfront each day almost made me almost forget that there were even orphanages and townships in South Africa. It was a constant struggle for me, to try and remember how I felt each morning with the kids once I was back in my comfort zone each afternoon. Even though I can barely remember my time at Emasi, I still remember the love I felt for the kids. That love will have to be enough for me to continue processing my time in Cape Town, South Africa.

    

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