The Ocean View home stay was one of
the most eye opening experiences I have ever had. It pushed me way out of my comfort zone and
taught me more than any class ever could.
Even though we drive through the townships and work with the people who
live in them, we never see more than that.
At Tafelsig clinic we take care of their medical needs but don’t think
much about what goes on in their lives after their long day of waiting at the
clinic.
During my home stay, I stayed with
the Simon family. I had a host mom named
Sylvia, a host dad named Russell, and two brothers, Chad and Charlton ages 18
and 15. The first night we were there,
Russell told us story after story about his life during Apartheid and I had no
idea that conditions were so bad. Maybe
it was just because it was coming from a real person who lived through it, but
it seemed so much more real. He feels as though the best way to get to know
people is to hear about their life stories so we exchanged stories for most of the
night.
As a group we spent Friday at a
crèche with young children. My child for
the day was named Cleo. She was full of
energy and couldn’t have been happier to have us there. I haven’t spent a lot of time working with
children so it was a great experience for me.
I was a little nervous at first, but after talking to Cleo for a while
all my nerves were gone. She loved to
run around and I had to force her to hold my hand most of the time.
 |
| Emily & Cleo |
Friday night Chad took us to the Mr. and Miss
Ocean View Valentine’s Day pageant. We
were shocked to see scantily clad high school girls and boys being paraded
around the stage and dancing by many of the performers that would have been
deemed inappropriate in almost all high schools in America. It was one of the
many cultural differences I experienced that weekend. It was interesting to see how even the older
parents in the audience were cheering.
Saturday morning Lauren and I wanted
to take a shower so our host mom showed us how the bath works. Basically they fill up a tub with about 3
inches of water and give you a cup to wash yourself. It made shampooing my hair very difficult and
also made me so incredibly thankful for my shower at home. I have immense respect for the people who are
forced to do this every day. After that,
Chad took us out to breakfast at his favorite place and it was one of the best
breakfasts I have ever had. After that
we went to the Fish Hoek beach to work on my tan and my family wanted to show
us what a typical day in their lives would be like. Because of the heat, taking the short mini
bus ride to the beach is a frequent activity in their lives. My host family told us that it is usually the
best option to deal with the heat because no one has air conditioning and
sometimes it is hotter inside the house than out.
One of the biggest aspects of their
lifestyle that surprised me was how much pop they drank throughout the day and
the lack of water in their diets. Chad
drinks almost an entire two-liter bottle of Coke every day and really doesn’t
see a problem with it. He told us that
it is a sign of money if one drinks pop or juice and people who drink a lot of
water are looked down upon as being poorer.
I was amazed to find out this fact.
It might be because of the good quality and overall accessibility of
water here, but I was still very confused by this.
This weekend truly made me
understand the hardships that many people in the townships are faced with. I am blessed by the hospitality of our host
families and I am so thankful that they opened their homes to us. It can’t be easy to open your home to
strangers from a foreign country, but they welcomed us with open arms and I
wish there was something I could do to thank them more.
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