First Township Visit

First off I will explain what a township is. A township is what we would think of as a shanty town in the Great Depression. A plot of land is cluttered with little shacks that are constructed of any building material that could be found. The people that live in townships are living in poverty. When I would think of poverty in Africa I would imagine the commercial that asks people to sponsor starving children. I don't want you to think I am saying that townships aren't bad to live in but the commercials show us the absolute worst part of them. The people are always happy and proud to be South African. In all legal townships each shack has electricity and running water which they don't have to pay for. They are better off than the commercials depict but nowhere close to acceptable.
Masiphumelele is a township in Cape Town that houses 25,000 people but should only house 15,000. The unemployment rate in Masi is over 50%, therefore most children cant even afford to wear new school uniforms which go for about $50 each. We had the opportunity to visit one of the schools in Masi. We visited with the second grade. They were so well behaved while sitting in class. We had the chance to interview a few of the kids to put in a video about our trip. The kids all filed into the hall and immediately pummeled anyone they felt like for a hug and a picture. They were fascinated by everything we had from pamphlets to cameras. They loved being able to see a picture of themselves immediately. the smiles on their faces are still engraved into my memory and probably will be for the rest of my life.
More townships to come,
Meganne