The Kayamandi Township

Kayamandi is a township in Stellenbosch where most of the Black people live. I didn't take any pictures of my tour of Kayamandi, because I didn't want to make a spectacle of the people or make the place seem like a tourist attraction or something. People actually live here! How would you feel if someone came to your neighborhood and took pictures.. yah know? There are pictures already on the internet though from other people, so I'll just post some of those.

Can you see all of those shacks? Thousands of people live in this township in crowded nasty conditions. On our tour of the township, there were people bar-b-qing piles of sheeps heads! There was also huge pigs heads just sitting out on tables! Some of the people are given animals to raise... they raise the animals and then give them back to the butcher shop or company or whatever, who in turn give them the worst parts of the animal (the head and legs). The Black people then sale or eat the head/legs in the township, while the best parts are sold by the company or farmer to the richer, White people in town. The Black people of Kayamandi barely make ends meet and on top of that, they are not eating healthy. Our tour guide, who still lives in Kayamandi, told us that many people in Kayamandi were on this type of plan.

I was lucky enough to get a volunteer position at the Pre-Primary School in Kayamandi! A lot of students wanted it, and I can't believe that I got it. I am a teacher's assistant in a classroom with children ages 4-6. Yes, they literally have students of different ages all in the same room learning together. Because of this some are faster learners than others. The teacher I assist is named Bukiwe. I was a little suprised because Bukiwe dresses so nice and modern. She been dressing better than me! Being a teacher is like the best position in the township to have. The classrooms aren't as bad as I thought they would be either. They are a little small, but they are colorful and bright.

I guess I came to the school thinking that I was going to be entering a wasteland or something. I expected the worst, but I've found the school to be a great enviornment for the kids. They do have 2 very small sets of playground equipment. It's not big enough for all the students to play on at once, but it's something. They also have a sandbox. The children aren't sad looking with flies on their eyeballs like they show on "Feed the Children" info-mercials. In fact, they are just like children in America. They are shy and loud. They want attention. They love to play, color, and sing. They also buy candy from a woman that sells chocolate and suckers at school. One thing that bothers me though is that they fight too much. When Bukiwe is in the classroom, they are so well behaved. But, if she steps out for a minute, they start acting a fool! The boys usually begin fighting a bit. They'll check the door to see if Bukiwe is coming, and when they see her coming, they go back to acting like angels. I guess we were the same way at that age! One problem though is the language barrier. I speak English and the children speak Xhosa! I cannot understand most of what they say, but we use sign language to communicate. They speak a little English also.

I see so much potiential in their eyes. The best thing I've seen in Stellenbosch is them. At snack time, the kids that didn't bring a snack are provided 2 pieces of bread by the school (I think the bread might have peanut butter in-between too). Then, the children volunteer to share their drink with the children that don't have any. I mean, they literally are eager to share their drink with the kids. They raise their hands so eagerly, it almost looks like they are asking to go to the bathroom, but really, they are just excited to share with their fellow classmate. It was one of those things that touched me deeply.

Every week, I, alongside my classroom partner Saila from Finland, will have to teach two activities to the children. The first one we taught was about "Winter." I've only been doing this for a week, but so far, Saila seems as though she will continuously set up times for us to meet and then cancel them. She's like, "Oh.. we need to do this!" Then, she will send me a text message changing the time. So, our first activities were pretty weak to me, but the children enjoyed them. They cut out snowflakes and colored children wearing winter clothing. Not too exciting. This week's activity is supposed to be "Emotions." Saila was like, "We should go ahead and meet tomorrow!" Then, that morning, after I had got out of my warm bed, she texts me saying let's meet later. I'll give her one more week before I get snappy with her.

The most important thing I want to tell the world is that these children need help! They need better school facilities.. better supplies... better food... better everything. However, don't pity them or look down upon them. They run and skip. They put their legos together and talk into them like telephones. It seems like they don't feel deprived of anything. They are happy, and many of us who do have are not even close to being as happy as they are.