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So, the other day I finally got to experience a bit of Africa outside of the confines of Stellenbosch. We went to a place called Kayamundi for about 1 ½ hours on a guided tour through the settlement. It's a colored township with about 33,000 people who all live in a space equal to and/or less than the size of my bathroom back home. Best case scenario is when a family has a shack of their own that I about 8 feet by 8 feet and one room. Otherwise they live in a place called hostels with 20 families in one large room. Each family has one twin sized bed that is in an area with 4 other families who have the same space. There is also no form of central heat or air conditioning, meaning that when people have to literally pile up to sleep it's just too hot to sleep. So, many children sleep on the floor as they get older. These places are the "government" housing, meaning that all of the people in the hostels are generally employed in some manner. 39 %+ in the township are unemployed for the fact that there are simply no jobs. So, they get scraps from the butcher to live off of (generally the animal heads) and sometimes sell to their neighbors.
Another thing about the hostels is that they used to be the place that men would sleep. During the Apartheid men were not allowed to sleep with their families in an effort to break down the family structure of the black and colored people (which worked considering there are now hundred of single mothers). So they would sleep 20 to a room in these hostels away from their families.
If that wasn't enough, there is a huge prevalence of AIDS and many other viruses and diseases causing even the guide to be confused when we asked if there was anyone 60 or older in the township. People lead about high the life span as we would expect in the states, and with only one doctor in the area I am surprised that they are doing as well as they are. In addition there are still stigmatisms with AIDS that say if one has sex with a virgin that they will be cured, or that condoms cause women to gain more weight. Education is growing, but it's hard to break things like this down.
With education, about 80 % of the children are experiencing some form of education at one of the overcrowded schools in the area. With teachers moving more toward the city areas, and poor conditions; it's hard to get everyone formal education though. That is what our group will be doing there, teacher aids, after school assistance, and basketball coaches. I am not sure if I will be in this particular township just yet, but it stands as a huge example of the problems in the area. I can't imagine living in such a place, much less being trapped there by my socioeconomic status.
Long story short, South Africa isn't all pretty mountains and vineyards.
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