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Some things are just very difficult to understand. I have been very blessed to be working in the Centre for Student Support Services this time at UWC. My colleagues are very fun, but are also incredibly smart, dedicated, and willing to engage and process so many things (yes, this is the nature of the therapeutic). Let me start by saying, I love South Africa. I love the people, the landscape, watching the transformation, the incredible history (and learning about it), the people I work with at UWC, and yes (of course) the food.
Each time I come here I learn so many things, about so many different things (including- especially including, myself). This time I have really struggled to understand the violence against women; not only the violence against women, but many things: the prevalence of rape and molestation, the fact that it is so commonplace, the exploitation of young women, the mindset of the women who constantly think it is "normal" to be in abusive relationships…the list goes on. Yes, we have all of this in the US, but not to this extreme. I even learned of students at UWC pimping out first year female students and offering them some form of financial security while they attend university! These are students pimping out their classmates who are simply in need of money. And fellow students are aware that this is happening!
A few weeks ago I went to a lecture that was part of a critical AIDS lecture series, where the presenter reported that close to 71% of Black African women in "peri-urban" Cape Town (what I believe to be the townships) have had nonconsensual sex. There are many different stats and many different things to look at, but the bottom line is, there are some very concerning things happening in this society!
I don't want to alarm those of you worried about my well-being, or dissuade anyone from coming to South Africa (it really is an incredible place to visit). The reality is that, as we find in most of the world, the not-so-favorable things generally stay in certain areas. You can essentially spend a lifetime in South Africa and not see a township, a dirt road, a subpar school….again the list goes on. You can have a South African experience that is very comparable to a trip to the wealthiest parts of Europe or the US. There are simply places you don't go and certain things you don't do at certain times of the day or without the right guide.
But as I said, I love South Africa, and to truly love something is to love it unconditionally- the good and the much to be desired. It is an incredible experience to be a very small part of a sector that is making a positive influence in a country in major transformation. I will continue to speak with and process with my colleagues to try to make sense of things and better understand. I'm sure I'll write more on this later.
Stay Well,
Christy
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