PCV: Paid Caribbean Vacation

While it’s hard to put into words all that happened to me here, I can truly say that South Africa is one of the most vibrant and enriching places I have ever been. I loved Brasil, but this was entirely different. I liked Brasil because it was something completely different and a unique experience that was due to the generosity of Daniel. South Africa was amazing because of the people and how amazing everyone is. They were so nice and I realized that we had so much to learn from them.
From the kids in the township, they have nothing. They live on nothing and they live in what we would call filth. They barely have enough money to clothe themselves. Yet, they are the happiest people I have ever met. They live in conditions we would look at pictures of and pity, but they do not want your pity. They want you to realize how good you have it. In a place where they have everything in the world to complain about, they do not complain about nothing. This is extremely hard to go from this to the ship where people are complaining about how the peanut butter tastes. We are so spoiled that even the things we think of as our rights to have, they know that they can’t take them for granted. Electricity is rare there. Drinking water? Good luck. New house? Not a chance. Bed to sleep on? If they are lucky. They are the most grateful people I the world and the saddest thing is how often they all thanked us for coming. This was more than the money that we were paying to come there that would help them see some of their own country or allow for opportunities that usually wouldn’t be possible, but they were thanking us for coming so that we can see how they live and so that we can go and tell their story to other people. While this sounds like a pity party, it wasn’t. They weren’t complaining, they just wanted someone to understand where they were coming from. They were thanking us, but in the end, we are the ones that should have been thanking them. It was an eye opener of what happiness really is. While I don’t know what it is yet, I think those kids in the townships have an idea. They don’t want anything. All they want is the friends and family around them. They are not distracted by iPods or computers or the internet. They only know love and each other. Both of which are not guaranteed due to the malnutrition/disease/and the risk of HIV. All of which we take for granted. It makes me think twice when I start complaining about how bad the food is for lunch or how bad the dining hall food used to be at CSU, because after all… I don’t have to worry about if I’m going to eat today or tomorrow. I take this for granted. Food is food. They know this more than any other.
Another thing to take away from South Africa is the way they have coped from the Apartheid. Apartheid is one of the most gruesome forms of institutionalized racism we have ever known. It ended a mere 12 years ago. In the United States, slavery ended over 150 years ago. The civil rights era was over 40 years ago. In something that didn’t necessarily happen to anyone alive today, we are still fighting about this problem in America. It’s not equal, there is a reason to fight, but there is no reason to complain. I can see how black people in America had no choice and were taken from their homes in Africa so long ago and the difference between us and South Africa where people came into their home land and took over their native land. The closest thing to a black person in South Africa is a Native America in America because they know what it is like. The difference is, in South Africa, they do not have a problem with it. There is still blatant inequality that exists (made evident by the townships) but there is no anger from those oppressed the most. The crazy thing is Apartheid happened to them. 12 years ago. That is in their life time! They know what its like to be beaten just for the color of their skin where the majority of people in America are lucky enough to no longer have to worry about this or ever had to experience it. South Africans lived this and have no malice in their hearts toward white people. It was the system, not the person that was holding them down. Whites and blacks alike, they have forgotten about it and moved on. Things aren’t perfect but I feel they have made more progress in 12 years in their country than we have in 150 years in ours. We have a lot to learn.
I would like to see more of Africa and not just South Africa because of all the lessons that can be taught from the culture here.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, I do not know how another country will have more of an impact on me than South Africa did. The rest of this voyage has a lot to live up to. I think it will take longer for me to come to terms with all that I really learned in South Africa but it was something that pictures won’t show, that stories won’t illustrate, and that only by experiencing it through your own eyes can you know how great it is.

You do not know beauty until you see South Africa
You do not know poverty until you see South Africa
You have know idea how good you have it until you see South Africa
I love South Africa