Laura T surprised by the strong connections made in such a short time

This past weekend my fellow co-educators and I had the opportunity to live with a South African family in the community of Ocean View. Ocean View is a “colored” township about 45 minutes from Rondebosch, where we live. During apartheid, people were evicted from their homes (which were taken over by white people because of its great location) and forced to move to Ocean View (which actually has no view of the ocean). The area has a reputation of poverty and violence. But this weekend, I saw a different side of the Ocean View community.

Kaitlyn and I stayed with the Marshall family. They were such wonderful people and I am so thankful for their hospitality. They welcomed us into their home with open arms, made sure we were comfortable and (very!) well-fed, and treated us with such kindness and respect. Despite the hard times these people have lived through, and even though they do not have all the comforts and luxuries that we are used to in the US and in Rondebosch, they offered us their very best. I experienced so much love from them, which was amazing considering we were complete strangers. The homestay was such a great experience and showed me that the community is so much better than its reputation.

           

Laura (first row far left) with other UConn Co-educators and host families

My favorite part of this weekend was spending time with the children from Ocean View. I have been fairly isolated from the community so far in my time here, as I haven’t yet gotten into the swing of my activist project, and even though my internship is in the middle of Khayelitsha, it is in a nice, secure, air conditioned building secluded from the community. But this weekend, we got to spend time in a crèche (preschool/daycare) on Friday morning, where the kids were absolutely adorable! Although they were shy at first, by the end of the morning they were playing with my hair, sitting on my lap, and drawing me pictures. Then, that afternoon we went to the beach with another group of children. Although it was a cloudy and chilly day, it was still a blast, and I was happily surprised by the strong connections I formed with the children in such a short amount of time. In addition, Thursday night we went ballroom dancing, and there I met a little girl named Nikita who stole my heart. She walked right up to me to be my partner and helped me teach me the steps. As we were leaving, she asked if we would come back every week, which broke my heart as I know I will not have the opportunity to be back every week. However, I do hope to go back and see her before we leave South Africa. Finally, the family we stayed with had several grandchildren, who were so much fun to hang out with; they showed us their dance moves, and played on the jungle gym outside with Kaitlyn and I. It was sad to leave them, but we exchanged numbers so hopefully we will see them again!

           

Overall it was a good weekend and I am very happy that we had the opportunity to live with a South African family for a weekend.