WOW!

I know that it's a massive understatment to say that Apartheid was bad - but it really was. This doesn't come as a revelation to me, but has been a bit more personalised recently I guess. As part of my fieldwork for a class I got to speak to people in a 'coloured' community in Wentworth. For those of you who like me didn't know what 'coloured meant', it was basically what we call 'half-caste' in Australia. The children of 'mixed relations' as they call it, are coloured. I know this definately counts for African/White relations but I think it also applies to African/Indian or Indian/White. Basically somehow this is an offical racial class here. Coloured people had to live in coloured areas during apartheid.

So one of the ladies I met was telling us about the community garden she works in in Wentworth (what I was researching) and I think I asked something about whether she learnt about gardening from her family - can't quite remember the context, but I do very distinctly remember her answer. She said she had gardner/farmer blood in her but never knew her parents. I'm bad with dates, but she was born 2 months before the really oppressive legislation that forced the seperation of the 'races' was introduced. So as a two month baby for whatever reason (maybe the colour of her skin, the shape of her lips - something absolutely ridicous and trivial like that) she was classifed as coloured while the rest of her family was not. She was removed and placed in an orphanage where she lived till she was 18. Can you believe that? Insitutions like orphanages are bad enough anywhere in the world - you always hear about the insitutionalised violence, emotional and sexual abuse... it goes on and on. But to be put there when you have a family who was willing to raise you is beyond me. She has been deprived of her family and childhood. I can't even imagine what that must feel like.

One of the others lady's stories was just as uplifting. She was incredibly open about her life - but in a way that almost made me feel WOW had made her an example/case study and wanted her to be so open - but I don't know that for sure. Anyway, back to her story. She was one of several kids from a very poor family. In SA I know now that you will recieve a pidly amount of child support from the government till the kids is 10 years old (coz clearly at that age she/he's no longer dependant!). So when all of the kids in her family passed the age of 10 they literally had no income. There is freakishly high rates of unemployment, its like 40% here in Durban - the third largest city in SA and thats in 2006. And absolutely no unemployment benefits, so people are pretty desperate. Basically this girl was forced to become a prositute to support her family. She was a sex worker for a long time from what I can tell. She now has AIDS - she has quite bad TB and a huge range of other AIDS related health problems. I asked her a question about whether she felt proud of growing her own food in the garden and I think she misunderstood and answered "I'm have no pride, I'm a simple person" or something to that affect in the most downtrodden way I've ever heard anyone talk. It made me sooo sad. Like you know that feeling deep in your stomach like you almost want to be sick? i felt that.

These women had THE most awful circumstances thrust upon them and its ruined their whole lives. I know I should have already worked this out, but I am so grateful for the circumstances I've be fortunate enough to land it. And luck is really all it is. Had I been born in a township here and had no money to go to school and consequently no skills for employment (and I'm talking today in 2006) there is a good chance that prostitution would be a pretty viable option. People know vaguely about HIV but no thinks that long term when you or your family are hungry today. Its such a fucked up situation and its still the same for the most part. I know apartheid is over and for some its improved, but largely its improved for the few who were doing pretty well before. There is still a fairly similar number of people living in absolute poverty here - like literally maybe 1-2km from where I sleep at night. Cato Manor sounds very fancy, but its actually an 'informal settlement' which means everyone there lives in little shanties illegally - no real facilities like sanitation or running water and no legal rights as they are all techniqically squatters. and there is no security in a little shanty from the drunken gangs of men who also live there. I can't even imagine what that must be like.