Township Tour

Saturday morning, we rose bright and early to go on the Township Tour that had been arranged for those who were interested.

Prospective exchange Rhodents: It’s R400. Do it.

We met at the clock tower and I forced everyone to take a family photo:

good job guys...so proud <3

We then all climbed into a shuttle bus operated by Pretumsa (pronounced: Preh-toom-za. Sp?). Our tour guide was Mbuleli Mpokela. A sweet sweet sweet Xhosa man, who has lived in Grahamstown his whole life.

He took us first up to the monument to give us an overview of the monument and the township. He was a little hard to understand and rambled on about disjointed anecdotes rather than gave actual statistics or historical information. He is clearly very knowledgeable about the area but in an informal oral tradition kind of way. I would love to have dinner with him and just let him tell stories but I wouldn’t quote him for a history report, if that makes any sense. I’ll have to buy a book on Grahamstown I think.

Mbuleli our fearless tour guide

Everything the light touches, Simba, will soon be yours.

Photo cred: Nicola (Front to back, left to right) 1.Megan, Sean, Jennah, 2. John, Jake, Sean, 3. Becca, Some Chick, Nora, 4. Katie, Mary (not shown, my dumb head is in the way), Gillian, Caitie

Next he took us up into the township. We drove past a farmers market that I will have to check out next Saturday. We climbed and wobbled up into the hills past the physical town, pausing for cows along the way. They were so close to the bus!! Throughout the tour we saw dozens of free roaming cows, dogs, goats, and donkeys. Mbuleli “joked” that the animals in the township have more rights than the people. For the next time you are driving around the Grahamstown township, which, let’s face it, could be any day now, remember: cows have right of way.

We were told not to take pictures of people during the tour. A lot of people waved at us from their yards like we were a parade float. Most stared at us, not smiling, not waving as we passed. I actually found this “no pictures of people” rule a lot harder than I would have thought. The people we passed we so beautiful and helped me gain a strong feeling of what day to day life must be like in the hills above the town. The “no pictures of people” rule helped restrain me from daring to assume I knew anything about what these people experience on a day to day basis.

Particular things I remember

1. There was trash everywhere
2. There were a lot of churches. They had really specific hours and regulations for who could attend what service and when
3.  There was tons of bright laundry flapping in the breeze
4.  Lots of barbed wire and security
5. Washing machines were outside the house
6.  Mbuleli mentioned there was a 60% unemployment rate in the township
7.  Mbuleli greeted everyone with a huge smile

Next we climbed higher into the township to a high employment area. The houses here were bigger and more individualized. In the lower part of the township, people live in the standard houses issued and built by the government. They looked like oversized bricks with doors, painted every color of the rainbow.

In this part of the township there is a community garden, a sports/recreation center in progress, and an artist’s initiative called Egazini. The space, a former Apartheid riot police center, was reclaimed around the turn of the century and turned into a “space which reflects the exciting new South African history and experience, echoing ‘voices’ that are committed to reconciliation and nation-building.” We were greeted by one of the artists and invited to look throughout the gallery and the workshop. He clearly loves the work he does and I felt so fortunate to see the place that allows him to embrace his passion and talent. I bought a lot of the art haha. 85% of the proceeds benefit the artist. 15% goes to sustaining Egazini. Most likely visiting again before I leave.

The final part of the tour included a traditional Xhosa meal at Mama Dukes house. (I don’t know how to spell her name, but that’s how Mbuleli shortened it) But I mean just look at her:

She's perfect in every way oh my God. We saw her come out of her house as we pulled up and we just knew she was wonderful. She greeted each of us with a handshake and smile.

She didn’t speak any English to us, but she welcomed us into her beautiful home and cooked an amazing meal for us. There was lamb, some amazing bread dumplings, a powdery rice like substance that you mixed with sour milk to make a kind of paste…., a spinach goulash (delish!) of sorts, and some white beans.

 I didn’t understand any of the names of the dishes because they all had Xhosa names. I wish Mbuleli had written them down for us. Regardless of their names everything was delicious and we ran out far too quickly. (Still adjusting to portion sizes here…) The meal ended with a piping hot cup of Rooibos, the best tea in the world.

Papa Aidan at the head of the table

Delicious home cooked South African meal

Family dinner (Left to Right: Mary, Paul, Anna, John, Gillian, Nora)

After the meal, she sang some Xhosa songs for us with her children. I wish we could have stayed longer…or that it was a weekly visit.

We had been promised a trip to the orphanage to meet a whole bunch of beautiful Xhosa children, but we had spent too much time at Egazini and Mama Dukes. Plus I’m pretty sure Gillian would have baby snatched any chance she got.

isiXhosa words of the day:

1. Molo – Hello
2. Molweni (pl) – Hello
3. Unjani (oon-jawn-ee) – how are you? (Mbuleli forbid us from saying this to anyone because apparently if you ask someone from the township “How are you” he or she is gonna tell you haha)
4. Enkosi (I heard it “en-go-za” but that could be totally wrong) – Thank you

Possibly reliable website for isiXhosa phrases: http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/xhosa.php

Overall, I was glad I went on the tour. I wouldn’t have traded seeing Egazini or eating at Mama Dukes for anything in the world. Walking around the township looking like a tourist on a people safari made me really uncomfortable and exceedingly, obnoxiously privileged. A very humbling experience to say the least.