The hike that put things into perspective

The Sunday before school started a small group of Internationals (myself, Rachel, and some wonderful new friends names Gillian, Megan, and Becca) hiked up to the Settlers monument that overlooks all of Grahamstown. Brief background on the monument: It was dedicated to the 1820 settlers of Grahamstown. History lesson over. Now I’m not much of a hiker, especially a constant uphill hike, but this one was relatively short hike- about 15 minutes- and the view was worth every awful step (alright I know that to most people 15 minutes is not a real hike, but in my defense Rhodes is already kinda on the mountain, so its just a matter of getting all the way up). At the top of the monument was the most spectacular view of all of Grahamstown and the townships. You could see everything and its truly remarkable how obvious the divide between the two are. By “the divide” I mean the unfortunate but definite line created by poverty, where the town ends and the townships begin. At first glance it all looked so grand, and my attention was drawn towards the things that I new to look out for- the University, the beautiful old Church that stands tall and proud in the center of town, the roof tops of my favorite bookshop, etc. But if you take a moment and really look, you see the whole picture. In the background, behind this quaint town speckled with trees and cute shops, are thousands of homes built from nothing more than scrap pieces of metal and plywood. The “Townships” as they are referred to here, are the impoverished areas around Grahamstown that, from my understanding, make up an area larger than Grahamstown. How is it that a University town, full of bright young minds and beautiful architecture, can also be home to those living in deplorable conditions?

Income inequality is one the largest issues still faced by post-apartheid South Africa. Although the government has attempted to tackle this issue on more than one occasion, and has seen some positive results, the income gap and rate of unemployment have continued to grow. I know am only a visitor in this country (something I am extremely grateful for) and I probably don’t have the right to criticize, but I’m going to anyway: For a country with so many freedoms, with so much understand, with so much acceptance, for a country based on this idea or philosophy of Ubuntu (I am because we are- community) to still have such an imbalance of wealth and massive levels of poverty (to me) is astounding. Obviously the situation is exceptionally complicated, and I definitely do not know enough about the history, politics, policy, or people to make any type of valid or remotely good suggestions, but as a visitor I know enough to know that this is not how things should be. 

This weekend I will be touring the townships and I will have a firsthand look into the lives of the people living only 30 minutes down the road from where I sleep comfortably every night. The reason I came to Rhodes University was specifically for this- community engagement- they offer students the opportunity to work in the townships once a week and to learn from the amazing and inspiring people living there. To have the chance to work side by side with individuals from these communities is not something to be passed up, and I for one cannot wait to get started.

The view from the monument 

***IF YOU WANT TO READ MORE ABOUT SOUTH AFRICAN INCOME INEQUALITY:

http://www.cfr.org/south-africa/south-africas-economic-fault-lines/p30727