Last night's dinner in the home of Suzette and Peter James will be remembered as a highlight of our stay in South Africa. Longtime friends of the owners of Micato Safaris (the hosts of our trip), they invited not only our group of 13 but also 7 of their own friends. Suzette prepared a delicious meal that included Afrikaner, Malaysan and other specialties of South Africa, and Peter served his favorite wines. Dinner conversation was fascinating as we were encouraged to ask any questions we might have, and I enjoyed a lively discussion with Ralph and Pearl on the country's history and current political and social situation.
We left the beautiful Twelve Apostles Hotel and entered a totally different world this morning. The contrasts today portrayed clearly the widening gap between South Africa's affluent population and it's extreme poverty. Driving south out of the city we again drove past miles and miles of shanties.
Last night I learned more about these shanties that have been built along side government-constructed homes, and this morning proved that information. Frequently, when a family moves into one of these homes, extended family from poorer rural areas join them. Almost overnight the homes are surrounded by shacks. Periodically the government comes in and bulldozes the shacks and tries to build new homes before shacks again cover the land.
A major force behind the poverty is the 27% unemployment rate which can rise to as high as 50% in some areas. Education is not free and many of the teachers were given a sabotical when the ANC came to power. The new government felt these teachers didn't have adequate traing, but nothing has been done to replace them; therefore, there is a critical shortage of teachers.
Turning off the highway we wound through a huge shanty town known as Kyayelitsha to a very special structure -- Rosie's Kitchen. Her story is too long, unfortunately, for this blog, but, essentially, this very poor homeless woman with 2 young children and help from friends and the Catholic church began providing meals for residents of this area. There are numerous other Rosie's Kitchens now, but we visited the one shown in the picture. In a space about 5'x5', 150 children come by at 6am for sandwiches to take with them to school. Then she begins fixing huge pots of soup for the residents each day. Women who are not working come in to help preparing the soups. Money is tight even with church support, and they were very grateful for all the boxes of vegetables provided by Micato Safaris and delivered by us today.
Not far away was Goldie's Flower Shop. Sixteen years ago, Goldie, a poor father living with his wife and 5 daughters in a shack had a vision about a rubbish dump filled with colorful flowers. He pursued this dream and now makes beautiful, colorful flowers out of old cans. He was truly an artist and is even selling these flowers in a shop in Capetown. I am bringing home one of his Birds of Paradise.
Lunch was at the grand 'Pink Lady' of Capetown, the famous Mount Nelson Hotel, followed by other site inspections. Our new home tonight is the Cape Grace Hotel right on the V&A Waterfront. Spectacular views of the harbour and Table Mountain from our room.
Tomorrow we're off for a full day of the Cape Peninsula and the Cape of Good Hope. Can't believe I'll actually be seeing this land made famous by early sailers.
Linda
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