DukeEngage | Duke Center for Civic Engagement

    Yesterday here in South Africa was Youth Day- a national holiday to commemorate the Soweto Uprising in which black schoolchildren protested the apartheid policy of teaching classes exclusively in the Afrikaans language (associated with the Dutch regime). During this uprising, the peaceful child protestors were met with horrific violence by police forces. The first comparable images from recent American history that come to mind are those of the March at Selma during the Civil Rights Movement. Each year, special youth events throughout the country encourage people to take the time to remember this grave event in South African history. 

      As a special activity on our day off from work, our group toured the Langa township located just outside Cape Town. This was our second tour of a township area, and for me, these experiences have been some of the most difficult of the trip. When I see the level of poverty in these shantytowns (which from my perspective is beyond the conceivable notion of poverty in the States- that some of these conditions are even considered live-able is beyond belief), I literally have to will myself to keep my eyes open. I have to fight the urge to mentally transport myself to the comforts of home and instead absorb all that I can in an effort to understand even the slightest bit of what is before me.

      But I have also discovered a new comfort that exists at home, in townships, and around the world: the pure hope and joy of children. Amidst the squalor of a decapitated shelter with a mud floor and no ventilation for the indoor fire, I felt incredibly nervous and out of place. Yet a toddler sitting across the room began to make faces at me, and after several rounds of peek-a-boo, I too was smiling despite my discomfort. These children are the ones who give me the courage to keep my eyes open. I hope that I can at least share the story of their condition so that one day the youths in these townships can have the very same opportunities as those in more advantaged, developed South African communities. 
 

Yesterday, we visited Soweto, a township located outside Joburg. People had warned me- “Prepare yourself for the level of poverty that you will see. It is simply unlike anything you might imagine existing in the U.S.” And so I braced myself to take in the sight of row after row dilapidated shacks with communal toilets and water pumps to service the entire neighborhood. However, what I was not well prepared for was the blatant contradiction between wealth and poverty within the very township itself. I had expected to see homogenous levels of poverty among the entire community, indicating that perhaps people lived in the area by default rather than by choice. Remarkably, though, as some people within the Soweto township have become more economically well off, they have decided to renovate their existing houses rather than to move away from the area entirely. Essentially, although people in the emerging middle class could choose to find housing elsewhere, some people prefer to stay in Soweto.
This was an extremely important realization for me. Soweto is a complicated subject because it is an area of rich history to which people feel strong cultural ties. When government figures talk about creating housing projects in the area, these suggestions evoke very mixed reactions: on the one hand, people would surely prefer improved amenities; but on the contrary, many would choose to maintain their meager abodes rather than to be forced to abandon the area entirely. Policymakers cannot speak so callously about urban renewal and township redevelopment. These are people’s homes. As I policymaker one day, I hope to never forget that professional discussions have practical implications on the ground that actually affect real lives.