whaaaaaat

i recently heard that a friend from the states referred to south africa as "not real africa". whatever that means. what is "real africa" anyways? i would say that it probably means on the african continent...but i am just making sense. many americans i encounter who hear that I am in south africa are sometimes even shocked to learn that the peace corps are here. seriously, how ignorant are people?

sure, south africa has big cities (joburg, cape town, pretoria, durban, etc.) and areas that could be in the US. you can get corn flakes, coke, and even kit kats, but when you can't afford that stuff, why does that matter? south africa has the 2nd most hiv/aids cases in the world (after india). The lowest on the totem pole at my work make about $3.30/day. This is pretty nuts, considering that they actually have jobs, and the majority of my village is unemployed (around 85%, not an exaggeration).

I was reading this article recently on bbc.com that was about people in Pakistan who are selling their organs to survive. There was this taxi driver who was offering to sell his kidney. He made about 14 dollars a day to support him and his family. Selling your kidney is a pretty drastic measure, if you ask me. Then, I was thinking about it—women at my work make way less then that! (at least 5, and all the 20+ home based carers). It's pretty astonishing that I know people who are as poor as someone who is so desperate that they are going to sell their kidney to survive. Just a thought.

Last week I walked around my village for 6 hours going from house to house (we got dropped off really far from our center and then made our way back while visiting houses where we knew orphans and vulnerable children lived). It was pretty astonishing. First, I haven't been that far in the village period, because no one ever offered to walk there with me (people here generally do not walk leisurely in their spare time). But this time I walked with them so now I know my way around—and also people know that a white person lives in their village (this village is actually quite huge—there are primary students who walk an hour to get to school every day!). now i feel more safe and welcomed by people in the community because they saw me with my coworkers (who seem to know everyone in the area). i mean, i would say mainly because of the history of south africa, as well as just generally, white people do not usually go wandering in poor areas. when people who don't know why i am there see me in the village, they always give me a "what the hell are you doing here??" look, which can go both ways. i feel safe, and most people welcome me, but some are also very distrustful of whites in general, so they are a little more wary until i whip out some of my zulu. niiiice.

I was really struck by the poverty people live in. it rained like crazy last weekend. It was so cold that there was snow on the drakensberg mountains, which are nearby my house. While walking around I saw mud houses that had literally collapsed from the rain storm. I saw a lot of houses that had gaping holes in the roofs where people still were living—but there was nothing they could do about it.

I saw numerous houses where there were an upwards of 8 children living there, with either only one or no one working. People's entire houses were smaller than your bedroom in your house (which I knew before, of course--but it's different when you see that 8-15 people live there). Many of them didn't have proper floors, doors, or even beds to sleep on, making me think—where do these kids sleep? How does someone who is sick with HIV sleep on a mud floor? How does that affect their health?

I got lots of photos of my village, so you can actually see what I live looks like. That's exciting. Overall it was a wonderful day. I had a great time with my coworkers and really got a feel for the village.

Anyways, I just can't believe how ignorant people are. it really gets to me sometimes. this is not meant to be an "africa poor contest" by any means, but i am just trying to get across the fact that south africa is STRUGGLING and needs help. i'm not really sure yet whose help yet it needs yet (definitely at least more from it's own people and government). i have been doing a lot of reading about foreign aid and thinking about my ultimate role here, and what i am actually accomplishing. i will get back to you on that.

<3