Cape Town: Haut Bay and a HOT Night!

Another day to love in Capetown! We finished the education on HIV with a stiff from the Department of Education. It was interesting to see how contradictory the policies were. Even with a full blown pandemic sweeping through the country, condoms are not given in schools because of the traditional values that still exist within the country. I will have to offer some credit, however, as the Western Cape province is the least infected within the country, at around 15% overall.

An issue brought up during this talk was PEDFAR, which is the fund established by George Bush specifically for the fight against HIV within Africa. An extremely large portion of this $48 billion went to South Africa and allows the country to offer free anti-retrovirals to its citizens. The US reports that only 0.3% of the money was dedicated towards Abstinence programs, whereas the SA government states that 10% of the funds were required to be dedicated to this. This conflict struck me, but I have the tendency to distrust both sources and how the data was gathered. But, enough on the speakers as the focus on this day was more local entrepreneurs.

fWe took the buses over to Haut Bay, about a 40 minute drive from where we were staying. This was the farthest we had ventured outside of the city all week and I was quite excited to see what was in store. The area was unique in the fact that there are a plethora of luxury waterfront houses and an informal township side by side. It helps put a perspective on the gap between the rich and the poor, but also offers some hope with the work that is being done in the area.

One of my major convictions and theories on lifting an area out of poverty, and this can apply both in South Africa and in the United States, is empowerment. There is a very significant welfare program in place here that sustains hundreds of thousands of people from day to day. I typically don't believe in such programs, but it may be necessary in the short term. However, if the country is to make any real progress, its people need to be empowered and pushed to do better for themselves. There is no better way to do this than entrepreneurship.

The first business we saw was quite informal and still in the initial stages. It was a series of four small sheds that made luxury paper, beaded jewelry, and small cards. It operated as a non profit organization, and therefore received certain government handouts, which goes against my core belief on the issue, but was able to employ fifteen women from the local township. The work was not always steady, though, and they are still struggling to maintain a significant backlog. Also, the products they made, excluding maybe the paper, did not have any real market appeal and would likely fail, sustaining in the meantime on charity related orders. This was not the best example of how to do things, but I could see the effort was there and there were individuals that were being helped by the project.
We had a little time to kill before our next business visit, so we took a tour of the local township. It was mostly informal housing, not as Langa had been, and gave me my first look at the lowest poverty levels within the Western Cape. No plumbing, electricity, or safe shelter. Here we received mixed signals from the locals. Some greeted us warmly and asked us to take their picture while others seemed to speed their cars up and get uncomfortably close to the sidewalk. I learned a few more greetings in Xhosa which helped break the ice, and continued to find how happy saying Angozi, the word for thank you, made people. They don't expect the whitest kid in the town to know the local handshake or be able to speak with the clicks, so that little effort really does take you a long way. Some of the Northeastern kids make the same effort while others laugh at me. Either way I am still enjoying the people and doing my best to make connections and really feel the culture.

As part of our tour, we went into a nursery of sorts, which was just a one bedroom house with leaking ceilings, and met a lady doing some remarkable things within her community. For only 20 rand a month, she is watching over sick womens' children when they go to work or to the clinic. She currently has 17 kids to take care of. This is her only source of income, and she does it alone nearly every day of the year. To put some perspective on this, 20 rand is a little over $2.00. The fact that she survives on a total monthly income of under $40 demonstrates a severe difference in the cost of living from the U.S., but also and indication of how little we need and how much we seem determined to waste.

As out tour was over, we went to the next business called Tea Bag Originals. It is a real interesting business that uses old recycled tea bags to make various forms of art. The artists will paint relatively simple designs onto tea bags and then sell then put them into coasters, key rings, and bags. The business provides a steady source of income, much more so than the previous business, and brings money into the community rather than exporting the country's wealth, which tends to be the norm within Africa. The recession has hurt demand, but their products had actually been featured in a lot of articles, selling as luxury pieces in the V&A Waterfront.

As if we hadn't done enough in the day, we then got the surprise of a quick boat trip out to Seal Island. It is less of an island and more of a large rock formation just off shore that is literally covered from edge to edge with seals. Historically this is also a very active area for great white sharks, as seals are their favorite meal. We did not see any sharks, but got some fantastic up close shots of seals. During the boat ride, I also had the opportunity to get myself an African name. Pura decided that Themba (Tem-ba), translates to Hope, was most appropriate name for me. Scott Themba Smith, has a nice ring to it. At this moment, it seemed our luck with the weather was about to run out.

As we got ashore and to the restaurant on the dock the clouds started to roll in, quickly. We got into the restaurant and were greeted by a mellow live guitar melody. Unusual for the trip, this place had a crowd of white people only. I decided to be adventurous and order the calamari steak, which in retrospect was a poor decision. However, as the theme on this trip has been, it is not the food you eat but rather the people that you eat with. The view was spectacular as well, as I sat by the window that looked out at the water. Eventually, those clouds that rolled in let out a boom, and our first storm was upon us. We had the absolute best luck in terms of weather up to this point. Before our arrival, we were told to expect many cold and wet days, but all we had gotten up until tonight was clear skies and highs reaching 70s. So, even if it rains the rest of the weekend I really can't complain with seven days of perfection.

Typically speaking, weather can have a rather noticeable impact on one's mood. However, I was riding high and the rest of the group seemed to respond in the same way. Because of this, the extended bus ride home brought something I had been waiting for, a sing along! If you are reading this, you most likely already understand my love for mo-town music. Our group had been moving towards this moment slowly once it was discovered that not only do I love all of these songs, but I know all the words as well. We sang, we laughed, and we once again became closer. The only tension in the air for this group is sexual, which has both its benefits and drawbacks.

 Miss You Gwen! Happy Belated Birthday!

With smiles on our faces, we headed home and planned a lower-key evening in anticipation of Saturday's birthday blowout for Gwen. Bravo's is a small Italian restaurant down the street that had relatively cheap drinks, so we decided to go there and enjoy each other's company. We only had six with us, the birthday girl being one, so it was a good chance to have some actual conversation. We each started with something different until we saw the special on buckets of Corona. Right after discussing my bartending experience, I opened the first bottle to see a fourth of it spray onto my shirt. The spilling of liquids on myself and other people seems to have become a trend on the trip, even though I am not usually a clumsy person.

While at Bravo's, Hillary did a mighty fine job of getting the attention of our waiter, who called himself Johnny and the Son of Jesus but was actually Trevor, winning us a round of complimentary shots in honor of the looming birthday. Tequila with a chaser of a pineapple wedge with drops of Tabasco on them... it was an interesting combination but everyone had a wonderful time, so there were no real complaints. I got the chance to actually talk to some of the girls that I wasn't too close with as well, which was enjoyable to the utmost. The night ended with some more laughs, fewer spills, and a piggy back ride just down the street to our apartments. In this moment I feel alive and happy.

Peace and Love from Africa,
Scotty