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| First week in Cape Town: Emily W, Melanie, Savannah, Jen, Ava |
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I will be returning to my own bed
and closet in a week; where has the time gone? I plan to spend my last week
doing all of the Cape Town activities I have not done yet, i.e. Table Mountain
(best for last) and one last Lion’s Head hike. My mom also arrives this evening
from Zimbabwe and we celebrate her birthday tomorrow in Cape Town! My knowing
that one day I will return to complete my post-graduate studies at the
University of Cape Town is the only thing cushioning the crushing sadness of my
departure. With all the mixed feelings, half excitement and half devastation,
that has been going on in the house and inside me, the time has come for the
end of trip reflections. As I prepare to be bombarded with questions about this
experience, I try to think about what my reply will be to: “How was it?” All I
can think of mustering up is “It was great” as a response, but that does not
nearly cover what I want to say. I think I will try to explain my experience
with a story I want to share with you now. It is a Cherokee legend I heard once
from a friend that goes like this:
“An old Cherokee is teaching his
grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It
is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil- he is anger,
regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies,
false pride, superiority, and ego”. He continued, “The other is good- he is
joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy,
generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside of
you- and inside of every other person, too”. The grandson thought about it for
a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?” The old
Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”
I think I am ready to go home, but I
do not regret the lessons that I have learned while being here. I have been
humbled by people half my age and by people close to death. I’ve learned the
value of hard work. I have learned the meaning of love and forgiveness, of
anger and of oppression and I would not trade those lessons for any trip to
Europe or million-dollar job deal. Before this semester had started, I thought
I knew what evil looked like. I saw evil in the politicians, CEO’s and bankers.
I saw evil in humans who acted on greed and who stole from others for the sole
purpose of accumulating more for themselves. I would sit and think about all of
the evil going on around me and become angry and bitter at my inability to
change it and utterly hopeless for a better world. I was afraid of the capacity
for evil in myself.
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| Ava helping create a room for teen girls |
In Cape Town, I learned another side to what people would
call “evil”- a side that is the breaking point of the human spirit in which the
person commits an act out of desperation that completely detaches them from
humanity. There is a point at which a person reaches such a low that there is
nothing better for them than a life of crime. There is a whole world of evil
that surrounds us…but there also exists an entire world of good. Africa’s
history helped me understand the capacity of humans for forgiveness while
learning about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The people who can show
greatest acts of evil can also show great love and compassion, especially when
a lost tourist is walking around Green Market Sq. trying to find the direction
of the minibus station. The most amazing thing that I have seen while here is
humans helping humans. There is an unbelievable capacity for a person to love
and show compassion for another person without wanting something in return and
that is single greatest thing that I have learned from Cape Town. This lesson I
have learned can be summed up by a South African word that I’m sure some of you
have read on this blog before: Ubuntu. It means many things, but simply put: I
am because we are. I have come to understand that the capacity for the evil wolf
lives inside of me, and inside of everyone, but the capacity for the good wolf
exists just as well. What really defines you as a person and us as humanity, is
which wolf we choose to feed. I look
forward to working out how to explain the rest of my experiences to my loved
ones and to keep feeding the wolf that reflects the type of world I want to be
in. Until next time, Cape Town!
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