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| Rachele's (far left) arrival at CPT International Airport |
My first impressions of Cape Town were of course it’s
beauty, the scars left from apartheid and above all the drive of the people
here.
Nearly every where we have gone so far Table Mountain
can be seen, and it is a helpful reminder of where I am in the city and it also
to reminds me that I am in South Africa and also reminds me of the amazing
opportunity I have been blessed with.
Cape Town has made me more aware of my race, my
privilege, and many issues regarding race. I have never been put in the
position where I felt like I didn’t belong because of my race, it was one of
the privileges of growing up in my small town that had a majority of white
people. Going into the townships here and certain parts of the city, I had
never felt so out of place in my live. Looking around some of my fellow
students and I were the only white people in sight. This is a feeling I had not
felt before in the United States but I cannot speak for those of other races. I
did not expect to see any remains of apartheid, I though the Rainbow City was
one, big happy place, but it is not the case. There is still some prevalent
racism, between whites and other races and even between those who were
classified colored and black. In most of the upper end restaurants we have been
to all of the servers were black and those being served were white. And most of
all there is the poverty. In Khayelitsha alone there are approximately 1 million
black people almost half of whom live in informal settlements without running water,
electricity, or a proper roof. Its surprising to see that most of these people
got stuck in this state of poverty due to apartheid and are in the same
situation 22 years after the end of apartheid. Some of them may have lived in
an upscale area close to the city but were then moved due to the Group Areas
Act, based on the color of their skin.
The people in Cape Town are amazing. There are so
many welcoming faces, and people, even the poorest, take pride in their
education. All the children have polished shoes and pressed pants for school
every day even though they may not have running water. The first few days in
Cape Town we saw a lot of the history and problems in the city. However,
yesterday and today we began to meet some of the amazing people and NGO’s whose
passions are working to make a better Cape Town. The past few days have taught
me a lot about seeing the injustices in the world and finding ways to take
action against them. The Woman’s March in Cape Town that we attended took away
my fears of marching for something I believe in and I feel that it brought out
the activist in me. I now feel more confident in standing up for something I
truly believe in.
Today I also saw the aquarium where I will do my internship and I could not be more
excited to see all of the work they do there educating people as well as
conserving the oceans. Monday morning when I start cannot come soon enough. All
of this activist and human rights stuff is so new to me. My last semesters at
UConn I have been focusing on my natural science classes for my major but I do
enjoy getting a more well rounded education with this program. Without this
program I would never have dreamed of attending a march. But, as much as I love
learning first hand about human rights and gender studies, my real passion is
the environment and the wildlife in it!
My time at the aquarium can not come soon enough!
So overall my first impression of Cape Town was that
it will be a place that will make me realize more about myself and the world
around me; something that may not have happened if I stayed in my comfort zone
in the US.
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