Week 2: We Made it to Windhoek!

Kevin, Jess, Alison

This has been a week of many changes and new experiences. Having finished our home stays in Soweto, we gathered back together as a group and headed to Pretoria, the capital of South Africa. Although Pretoria is only forty-five minutes from Soweto it was drastically different geographically and socio-economically. Arid flat lands were replaced with rolling hills and the sea of black African faces became more mixed as white faces began to emerge.

On the outskirts of Pretoria lies the controversial Voortrekker Monument, an immense structure that looms high over the entire city. Erected in 1939, this monument was built to commemorate the trek of the white Afrikaners from Cape Town to present day Pretoria. Since its construction, the monument has elicited a number of responses due to its negative depiction of the Zulu people, a fact which also held true in our group. From Alison’s perspective, this was an interesting experience. Walking through the monument I was upset about the images depicting the slaughter of the Zulu people. However, I had to keep myself in check, realizing that we (Americans) have done the same thing to the Native Americans. Thus, I need to set aside my own feeling of self righteousness and recognize that my own past is just as gruesome. The following day brought the climax of our trip thus far; we were off to Windhoek (that’s home)! Stepping off the plane, we were greeted with sandy hills and baboons, leading us all to question where civilization actually lay. The luggage collected and the visas stamped we finally embarked to our beautiful home in Windhoek. Our house, the White House, is a two story home set in a residential neighborhood of Windhoek West, a ten minute walk from down town. Thus begins our intentional living learning community.

Finally settled in, we rolled out in our kombis (pronounced kom-bee), which are similar to oversized mini vans, for a driving tour of Windhoek. Led by our political science professor Urbanus Dax, we headed out to see many of the lasting effects of apartheid still present in this city. One of the places where this was most present was in the various graveyards scattered throughout the city. While the historically white graveyard was filled with perfect rows of tombstones flanked by fresh flowers, the headstones found in the predominantly black cemeteries were mere blocks with rough cut numbers. This was further reflected in Urbanus Dax’s remark, “we see apartheid even in death.” From Jess’ perspective: I really struggle with the lack of acknowledgement of humanity in death. For me, birth and death are two places in the life of humanity where we are the same. Everyone is born and everyone must die; these occur despite a person’s race, class, ethnic background, history. To me, the inability to recognize a person as human in death is one of the rawest forms of true racism I have ever encountered.

Tombstones at Old Location Cemetery

During this tour we also passed by the informal settlements located in Katutura (meaning “the place where no one wants to live” or “we won’t live there”), the predominantly black township. An illegal settlement built upon a hillside, this small city is composed of tin huts, each lacking common utilities; there is no electricity, public toilets are few and water is not readily available. From Kevin’s perspective: I was hit really hard by our time in the informal settlements in Katutura. The conditions were dreadful; the housing was far more primitive than anything I have seen in the United States. According to Urbanus, these settlements are growing at a tremendous rate due to people moving from the villages in hopes of a better life. I have no idea what village life looks like in Namibia but it either must be really bad or people are moving to Windhoek misinformed. Seeing how people are uprooting their lives to live in an aluminum shack without plumbing, I cannot help but suspect that no solution to the urban, migrant poverty in Windhoek exists. Instead, I would like to further explore if there are ways to make village life more economically viable, in order to prevent over population in Windhoek and to maintain tribal culture that seems to be quickly and tragically becoming extinct.

On Friday, we participated in a “quest” in which several members of Katutura took us around in small groups. As there were many different groups all of us had vastly different experiences. Alison’s group visited the Small Business Incubators, a kind of market where many Namibians have set up a variety of businesses. We ended up walking around and talking to many of the shop owners including a jewelry maker, soap maker, wedding planner, dress maker and a caterer. Next, we traveled to Young Achievers, an organization that helps kids identify and pursue their goals. Overall, this day was an extremely positive experience as it showed a different picture of Katutura. While there are many problems facing it, there are numerous organizations and people working to better the community and their lives, you just have to look a bit harder to find them.

As we headed into the weekend we were excited for time to explore Windhoek on our own, embracing our new found freedom, and anxious to begin our internships and classes the next week.

Week 1: And So It Begins…

Kristin Rogers

Alissa Kretzman
Claire Bergren
Caitlin Fleck

After landing in Johannesburg completely exhausted from our 17 hour flight we had no clue how to prepare for the intense amount of information that we were going to receive in our first week in Africa. While we didn’t know what exactly to expect, once we got here it was clear that we were in store for a broad spectrum of experiences. Most of our expectations were based on perceptions that had been influenced from media and personal ignorance. Instead we discovered social, economic, and political diversity. It became obvious that we were not able to put all of South Africa into one box, and we needed to adapt our preconceived notions in order to leave space for real people and real experiences. This is when we started to break down our perceptions and labels, allowing us to build a new and more realistic image of what Southern Africa really is.

One of the things that overwhelmed us the most were the amounts of contradictions that we experienced and learned about. This further established our need to accept the idea of a broader Africa. Some of the few contradictions that we saw were very present in our daily experiences. There was an expectation to be in the position where we would confront racism but it was not something that any of us experienced at all. Instead we were welcomed with warmth and excitement about everyone mixing into one South Africa. One experience that has stayed with us is the trip into Kliptown right after learning about the Freedom Charter. The principles referenced in the Freedom Charter were a result of a survey done by 50,000 volunteers who were sent out to hear the freedom demands from the people of South Africa. The Freedom Charter then became the core principles of the African National Congress (ANC). (For the full text of the Freedom Charter click here: Freedom Charter) After seeing this we felt positive about the stance that the ANC had taken and the direction that South Africa was moving in as a nation.

Then we were taken over to the other side of the railroad tracks where it became evident that the promises of the Freedom Charter had not been carried into fruition. Before us stood the poverty stricken Kliptown; which is referred to as an informal settlement. As we walked further in, we experienced a severe contradiction to the principles that the Freedom Charter had promised. Streams of sewage and litter ran through the dirt streets, and women and children carried water jugs from the local spigot to their shanty houses made of tin scraps. Immediately, it was obvious that shared wealth, land, accessible employment and housing were not a reality for the residents of Kliptown. Many people that we talked to expressed their frustration with their living conditions, placing blame on the government. Their disappointment with Nelson Mandela and the ANC shocked us, however, we quickly found ourselves placing blame as well. As easy as it was to justify the disparity by pointing fingers, we slowly began to realize the many parallels between South Africa’s disappointing history and our own.

After being struck by several negative contradictions during our first week in South Africa, one glaring positive aspect followed us at every place we went. Despite the lack of sanitation in areas like Kliptown, trash and filth in every neighborhood, and an unprecedented and rising unemployment rate, the people of Soweto continuously greeted us with smiles, handshakes, warm conversations and an interest in what had brought us to their community. Although our group experienced things that angered us and challenged our feelings towards the injustices facing Southern Africa, the overwhelming joy and positivity from the people of Soweto has set the tone for the rest of our semester.