Community Service Day 1

Today was our first official day of community service. We split up into three groups, each one working with a different aspect of the community. This allowed us to see the different challenges and obstacles that the South African people face on a daily basis.

Heal the Hood is a non-profit organization geared towards engaging the youth in underprivileged areas. The idea is that through hip-hop kids can build self-esteem while staying engaged and off the streets. This self-esteem and identity building activity provides a solution for many of the issues we have been discussing in regards to healing, race, self-worth an identity. Today we took away from our experience with Heal the Hood the other side of what the World Cup is doing for South Africa. The government reallocated its funds for non-profits, such as Heal the Hood, and redirected it towards preparing for and financing the World Cup. In the coming days the entire country’s school children will begin a five week break. This is longer due to the World Cup. This is a time when youth geared organizations like Heal the Hood are critical and yet they are going unfunded. This certainly brought to life for us that while the World Cup for many is considered positive it definitely has negative externalities for the people living in underprivileged communities of South Africa.

Another group headed off to St. Augustine’s, a Parochial School, in Ravensmead. Here we were immediately confronted by the large disparity between the curriculum goals and the reality of their situation. It would be easy to sit back and blame this failure on inefficient teaching methods; however, these teachers are confronted with almost insurmountable odds every day. Class sizes can have up to 30 children who have not received proper nutrition. Yet the kids seem to know whose most in need and even during snack time were willing to share so that everyone had something. At the end of the day we realized that in any classroom, regardless of the country, if you find a way to engage your students you will be rewarded two-fold by their excitement and joy from what they have just learned.

The final group today spent the day in Ravensmead working at the battered women’s shelter From Dusk til Dawn. It currently houses 18 children and 9 mothers. This fluctuates because it is a common occurrence for women to leave for weeks at a time looking for work. The director of the shelter, Monica, does the best she can to provide for these women and their children, but the high demand placed on her and the lack of resources and government funding leaves her constantly falling behind. The kids are left playing in a glass and trash filled area behind the shelter. Today we worked to try and clear some of the rubble to create a safer place for the kids. Tomorrow we plan on cleaning out two of the rooms in the shelter so that potential new arrivals will have a place to sleep. Monica fears that with the World Cup there will be an influx of young women and children being trafficked to satisfy a need created by tourists and foreigners.

Today provided a glimpse into another side of South Africa and the potential dangers of a major event like the World Cup. It also gave us insight to the emphasis that South Africans place on community and how they value and take care of each other. We are looking forward to the many lessons that our next two days of working within the community will bring.