Upon beginning this reflection, I realized that choosing one single day of our experience would not convey the depth of what I have seen and learned, but rather that it was themes, present in many days, that could best convey what I have gained during this experience. Themes like light, contrast, and community are what have meant the most and taught me the most here in South Africa. Whether it was through a person, a place, a class discussion, or something I passed briefly while on the bus, certain moments of this experience have changed my outlook in countless ways and have shown or added on to my understanding of these themes.
The first theme I would like to discuss is light. To me, light represents the hope, kindness, acceptance and openness that I have seen in so many people here in South Africa, mainly within the townships. Before we went to Langa, we discussed in class how we would all inevitably feel uncomfortable going into the township, as Dr. Layne remarked that every year the class falls silent upon entering. This was true for myself as well. I was worried that the people living in Langa would be offended by our presence and the experience to me overall felt very rude initially. I thought that a group of students/tourists entering people’s homes and town as if it was a sightseeing attraction was absurd. We even discussed in class what Dr. Layne referred to as “white guilt”, which to me seemed an accurate term, and how some or even many of us may feel guilty for our privilege after our township experience, and this too is something I feared going in. However, when we arrived in Langa, these fears were dispelled. Our guides throughout the township were immediately so welcoming and seemed excited to show us and teach us about their home. People smiled, welcomed us into their homes, and were overall just so kind and reflected so much hope despite their past and their current situations. As we walked through the streets, I did feel some of that guilt, but what overpowered it was a sense of amazement at the positivity and light that these people had for themselves and brought to others. I saw that light reflected throughout other townships as well, especially as I think back on our experiences in Imizamo Yethu, Zwelihe, Hermanus, and Soweto. Within each township, and even within the Bo-Kaap neighborhood of Cape Town, I saw so much kindness, hope, acceptance, and light shining through the people.
The next theme that was prominent throughout my experience was contrast. Again, in class we spent a lot of time discussing the juxtaposition and contrast between the wealthy and the poor in South Africa and how the apartheid system created this gap. After forced removals, Bantu education and the apartheid laws were designed to keep races apart, the socioeconomic gaps had been dramatically widened. Even now, more than 20 years after the end of apartheid, this gap is still so significant. This became most apparent to me as we were leaving Hermanus. I sat next to one of my class mates on the bus that day and as we drove out on our way to lunch, I remarked to him that on one side of the street there were makeshift homes on the edge of the township and directly across the street was a beautiful, expensive home that faced the water. This absolutely blew my mind, but what astounded me more was the fact that even so long after apartheid fell, this issue has not been resolved. I don’t understand how you could wake up each morning, get in your car for work and see your neighbor struggling without being angry and working to fix the system. That’s not to say that no one in South Africa is working to fix it, of course, but in that moment I truly felt the contrast in the country.
The last theme that was extremely evident to me in South Africa was community. While this theme is something we discussed a lot in class and was evident in many of the places we went, it struck me the most in Langa and Bo-Kaap. First, in Langa, I was amazed how even in a township with so many people, it seemed that our guide knew everyone. As we walked through the streets he was constantly saying hi to one person or another. Maybe he didn’t know all of these people well, but he at least was friendly to everyone and you could tell that there was an air of kindness and connectedness amongst the residents. Secondly, this was apparent to me in the Bo-Kaap neighborhood. When speaking with our guide Mohammed, he described to us how many of the residents identified as Muslim but how their community as a whole blended with the surrounding area. Whether it was through attending other religion’s events and festivals, welcoming others into their mosques, relaxing traditional tenants of Islam such as women’s dress to make many feel welcome, or holding interfaith meetings in the neighborhood, what he described to us was a fully integrated and blended community in that area of Cape Town. While my own home town is very blended, that is primarily because it is so homogenous, while here in South Africa even the heterogeneous communities are as well.
Analyzing my experience in South Africa through these themes has been a very necessary step of reflecting on all I have learned. Thinking through day by day would have helped me remember our activities, but analyzing them through themes has helped me to realize what I have truly learned and gained as an individual through this experience. While our fall class, the readings we completed and discussed here, and even the research we completed have all helped me to look at several perspectives of the issues in South Africa, both past and present, this reflection and the themes that I have found within it are what will stay with me throughout the rest of my life and will provide me with fond but powerful memories for many years to come.
