Khayelitsha

I wasn’t going to write a blog for this year. I landed in Cape Town, had an uneventful weekend orienting myself, and went to work on Monday. New, yet mundane. It wasn’t interesting enough to merit a blog, I reasoned. And then I went to Khayelitsha on Friday night, to a work related ‘party’. It blew my mind. And now I need to write about it. Letting other people read my writing still terrifies me. So this is what I tell myself: I’m mostly writing for myself, so as to not forget the small details that make this experience remarkable. I also plan on using Wikipedia liberally, so that I don’t have to type out the translations/explanations of all things South African.

Anyway, Khayelitsha. It is one of the most well-known townships in Cape Town. Townships were created under the Apartheid regime, which prohibited Blacks from living in the cities. Khayelitsha is predominantly Black African, with about a million residents. The conditions there reminded me of Dharavi (a large slum in Bombay).

I was in Khayelitsha because mothers2mothers has a beading center there for HIV+ women who have gone through the m2m mentorship program and need economic help. As part of the m2m Creations program, these women create jewellery etc, which is then sold in SA and abroad, making them financially secure and independent. I’m still unclear on the details of why we were hosting this party (something about the Dutch royal family), but hey, when has that ever stopped me? We spent some time checking out the little shop that sold m2m Creations stuff, and other items all created by the Township people. I’m planning on buying ALL my gifts/souvenirs there—that stuff was so great. So if you’ve been a good friend, you know where you’re getting your African souvenir from.

We then moved on to checking out the live Marimba band and sampling the fantastic Amarula, in addition to some very girly, but very tasty cider drinks. The dinner was all braai food (South African barbecue), but they were considerate enough to have vegetarian options. I got a chance to meet a lot of the mothers that work with m2m on making the bead jewellery, and I’m going back tomorrow to spend more time with them at the three sites that m2m operates in Khayelitsha. There were so many children there—all extremely cute, and very young. They were all very active and happy to dance with me. I think that was probably because they were interested in the henna on my hands! It all seems very normal until you think about the fact that every single one of their mothers is HIV+, and will possibly not live to see these children grow up. A sobering thought, amid the festivities.

These pictures are courtesy Linda at the office. I was too afraid to take my camera to Khayelitsha at night. Ironically, my first 'night-out' in SA was in Khayelitsha, which is supposed to be unkind to visitors in the night. After a week of coming home at 5pm and staying in, I ended up staying out till 10pm in Khayelitsha. Oh well, I was with locals and I'm still alive.