Khayelitsha

Hellooooo from 12,000 miles away!

This past week has been really life changing. Right now its 8 p.m., and i'm sitting around a heater with my new khayelitsha family watching a jackie chan movie. its been pouring all weekend, and really cold! south africa looks mystical when it rains. this thick fog develops and rests ontop of the moutains, and it is one of the most beautiful things i have ever seen. im taking lots of pictures! sorry for the lack of updates, ill fill you in on this past week in the township.

monday through friday i was working with thomas (another kid in my group) at a "cresh" is the TR section of khayelitisha. A cresh aka an educare is a preschool/day care center in khayelitsha. they are run by community individuals for families who have to go into town to work. paying for their services is optional, and most of the time the women who watch the kids are not paid. the children are sick, and the school is unstructured. we brought in crayons, and a majority of the students didnt know what to do with them. when we took pictures, the kids would all rush to see themselves. the TR section is the poorest in khayletisha, and has yet to seen any governmental fudning following the apartheid. it was scary walking to work. people stare, its the most unconfortable feeling i have ever experienced. most people are shocked that we are staying here. we are breaking barriers and social norms that people just dont do in south africa. white people dont go into townships. I was talking to a man and he told me 90% of the white population has never ever driven through. they have a rough and tough reputation with the outsiders, but the people here are the kindest people you could ever imagine. i dont even know how many times people have stopped and said welcome, and thank you for coming. its amazing the kind of community the people have here, and the sense of family. they speak xhosa, a click language, so i really have no idea what anyone is saying. most people do speak english, but im starting to pick up on basic words that can get me through.

i have adjusted a lot better than i thought i would. although having difficulty sleeping, everything is wonderful. we dont have running hot water, so you have to use water heaters. no heating unit, so blankets and a little electrical heater. no light switches, just one that controls the whole house. the walls are thin, and there is one bathroom for the 7 people staying here. the children all sleep in the same bed, and everyone takes turns serving dinner and cleaning. my momma is amazing. mommas here are the nicest people. if im walking down the street and feel unconfortable or lost, i just have to find the nearest momma. they call us their babies! I went to a friends house and my momma said if I was 3 minutes late getting home, no dinner for me! haha im having a wonderful time. and learning so much!

tomorrow we are starting school. instead of university of cape town, teri and gordon got us a lecture room at the castle in downtown cape town. its one of the oldest structed surviving the colonization of the dutch and british. the castle was built by the first dutch settlers when cape town was a post for saliors to restock supplies on a trading route. lots of history!

well im gonna head out. hope all is well back in the states! love and miss you all, ill try and write sometime this week to let you know how classes are coming along!

-Kaitlin