First Day in Langa - June 10th, 2019
First, we had the opportunity to tour the township of Langa. Our guide extraordinaire Siviwe is from this township. Within the township, he showed us the different divisions- shacks, middle, and the rich areas. There was a hierarchy of housing with shacks being the poorest areas with things like illegal aka "tolerated" electricity lines. Within the township there are illegal bars called the Shebeen, in which Siviwe explained the communal and cultural connection of traditional Xhosa beer. "If a man wants to drink his beer alone, he can also share his troubles and his life alone." As we toured, we were joined by Mlibo a teenager in Langa, who we asked questions about his life and learned that he loves English and wants to be a guide like Siviwe. (Siviwe knows EVERYONE and is obviously well respected in the community.) We learned that places like bars are owned by women - a typical concept in Langa. Women make up 70% of the business owners in Langa and run the shops like breweries and sheep head markets. Men on the other hand operate places of worship like churches. We learned about the manhood tradition of circumcision when young Xhosa men of the age of 17 years old go to the forest (with traditional surgeons and NO professional medicine) to receive the procedure. Once they return from what our guide stated as "the most painful experience of their lives" they are consider a man and are given a new birth year* and are highly celebrated within the township. Next we moved into the "wealthier" area. We use quotes because in Langa "poor" or "wealthy" has a definition distinct from socioeconomic status. Instead of poverty relating to money, being a "poor person" means one that has a negative demeanor that not one wants to be around. You can have material possessions and be "wealthy" only if people want to spend time with you because of your positive outlook on life. Furthermore, we met a fellow guide and friend to Siviwe, who led us to discuss the evolution of LGBTQ+ rights and acceptance in South Africa. So many atrocious events had taken place in order for people to openly express themselves.
Within Langa we stopped at a preschool, where we got to play with little kids, which was one of the most heartwarming experiences of our lives. We spent our time playing on the playground, dancing, and hugging them. All of us could tell how excited these young kids were to just meet new people.
From there, we headed back to the Community Centre, named Gugu S'thebe which implies that the elders provide the plate of knowledge that nourishes, where we had lunch. After we ate sandwhices, Siviwe gave us an in depth and detailed talk on the connlization of the cape by the Dutch and British, its transfomation into apartheid, and the most important point being the power of education to provide all people with equal opportunity to succeed.
Following this we drove to iThuba where we met all the smiling kids we had come to South Africa to learn from. Our icebreakers were simple introductions of name, age, and favorite subject. We had a "Spot It" tournament where 3 different teams of both Poly and iThuba students battled to crown a single iThuba and Poly student as champion. We went on to share our knowledge of games - down by the banks, slide, and most notably the cup song. After this, we were partnered up with one iThuba student. Each of our parters took us on a tour of the school grounds while we worked together to prepare an introduction for our partners. The iThuba students practiced English and we practice Xhosa until we eventually regrouped and each pair presented the other person's name, age, family, and "favorites". Once everyone was done, we bid our new friends a temporary goodbye in Xhosa "Enkosi Kakhulu" and boarded the bus back to the hotel where we got some much needed R&R and hot coco.
-Nick & Meg
*If a man was 17 when he was circumcised on his 37th birthday he would say he is 20 years old.
Within Langa we stopped at a preschool, where we got to play with little kids, which was one of the most heartwarming experiences of our lives. We spent our time playing on the playground, dancing, and hugging them. All of us could tell how excited these young kids were to just meet new people.
From there, we headed back to the Community Centre, named Gugu S'thebe which implies that the elders provide the plate of knowledge that nourishes, where we had lunch. After we ate sandwhices, Siviwe gave us an in depth and detailed talk on the connlization of the cape by the Dutch and British, its transfomation into apartheid, and the most important point being the power of education to provide all people with equal opportunity to succeed.
Following this we drove to iThuba where we met all the smiling kids we had come to South Africa to learn from. Our icebreakers were simple introductions of name, age, and favorite subject. We had a "Spot It" tournament where 3 different teams of both Poly and iThuba students battled to crown a single iThuba and Poly student as champion. We went on to share our knowledge of games - down by the banks, slide, and most notably the cup song. After this, we were partnered up with one iThuba student. Each of our parters took us on a tour of the school grounds while we worked together to prepare an introduction for our partners. The iThuba students practiced English and we practice Xhosa until we eventually regrouped and each pair presented the other person's name, age, family, and "favorites". Once everyone was done, we bid our new friends a temporary goodbye in Xhosa "Enkosi Kakhulu" and boarded the bus back to the hotel where we got some much needed R&R and hot coco.
-Nick & Meg
*If a man was 17 when he was circumcised on his 37th birthday he would say he is 20 years old.
Siviwe taking us through the township
Sitting inside the Shebeen
Nick + Goat heads- a popular delicacy
Discussing the middle area and LGBTQ+ issues in the townships
Discussing the contrasts in the township
Spot It with iThuba students
Playing "Slide" with iThuba girls
Connecting and learning about one another
Sharing stories
Holding hands
