Kids, Premiers, and AIDS

Today we interacted with the children from Saint Anthony’s school in Langa. We visited three preschool classrooms where we helped the students do their basic activities to stimulate their minds such as using puzzles, clay, Legos, and drawing. We then walked down the street to a grade school consisting of children ranging from ages eight to thirteen. We observed the classrooms and noticed how disciplined the children were. They had lunch and we got to interact with them. They were playing soccer, running around, eating, and at the end of their lunch break they performed a few acappella songs for us. It was mind blowing how they were able to self conduct such a beautiful and powerful sound.

Afterwards, we did both a walking and bus tour through the township of Langa and we were able to observe a day in the daily routines of the residents of Langa. Professor Toni Sylvester first, pointed out the older areas of Langa where houses were built as far back as 1923, and then he proceeded to take us to an area of the township that is in the process of being renovated and upgraded supplying older homes with necessities such as plumbing and electricity. It was wonderful to see that this kind of progress has been taking place, however, at the same time it was shocking to see how drastic the differences in quality of life were from one block to the next. Professor Summers and Meg said that, though this drastic difference was still prevalent today, it is much less than they had observed in previous visits to the township. This gives us great hope for the people of Langa. While on the bus tour we also made a quick stop to see the local shaman and all of his traditional remedies ranging from dried lizards to horse tails.

By this time we were all starving and had the wonderful opportunity of going to eat lunch at Peter Marais’ house. He was the former Mayor of the City of Cape Town, and the first coloured Premier of the Western Cape. While we ate an amazing home cooked meal in a garden by his pool, we listened to his life story and opinions on the many issues facing South Africa and the world. This was a great opportunity for us to pose every imaginable question we have been brewing up since the start of the spring semester and to have them answered by an individual, who lived through the apartheid government, was a colleague of Nelson Mandela’s, and fought relentlessly for his people through the government.

Following his intense lecture we briefly drove through the campus of the University of the Western Cape while Toni provided a brief a history and tour of the university, providing important information as to the significant role the institution is playing in educating a diverse population of South Africans and study abroad students. We then traveled to the AIDS Hospice that Mr. Peter Marais was instrumental in helping to open. We toured the facility and learned about the patients. It was very touching and emotional to see these individuals suffering from their terminally ill disease whether their sickness was Tuberculosis (TB), AIDS, or cancer. The day ended with a decompression dinner at a local establishment.

This first grouping of pictures are of the Marist students and the various schools they visited













A woman in the township of Langa---selling products and trying to make a living




Another talented woman selling her goods and providing some entertainment


Picture commissioned by Mr. Marais for the AIDS/HIV Hospice


Picture of the entrance of the AIDS/HIV Hospice



Picture of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Marais & the group