Let’s talk about the words “township” and “ghetto” for a second. The other night at the bar, a few of the guys welcomed us to the “township.” A few weeks back in Bloemfontein when we were driving coaches home we were welcomed to the “ghetto.” When I was on the radio with Malik, he asked me how I find the “townships” to compare to the “ghettos” at home. Keep in mind I had been here for about 3 days when I met Malik. At that point in time I was sort of caught off guard and unsure of the right answer to that question, so I quickly made up an answer (since I was on AIR!). Now after thinking about it more, I have reached a conclusion. I find the townships utterly fascinating. There are children running around playing in the dirt and the trash wearing tattered clothing, there are adults and teens stumbling along the streets drunk, then there are people dressed immaculately well driving Audis and BMWs. There are kids who spend all of their time with the video games and there are others that you can’t get away from the books. There are homes made from tin and cardboard, there are beautifully large homes with large gates and green lawns that cold fit nicely in one of the gated communities of Palm Beach County, and there are your basic concrete Habitat for Humanity style homes that provide solely the necessary shelter. All of the school age children swarm the streets around 2 p.m. in the school uniforms, some fitting perfectly, while others not so much. Some girls have bows in their hair; some boys have matching belts and shoes, while other children don’t even have a pair of socks and walk around with large tears in their pants. I am sure there are plenty of people involved in gang violence, but there are also tons of people that volunteer/work for NGOs and non-profits, like our very own coaches. There are paved roads and dirt roads. Are you confused yet? How exactly were you picturing the townships?
Back home I am afraid to even drive down Tamarind because I was told that it was dangerous. Do I know that to be true? Yes, maybe if you look at the statistics, but no I cannot really fully make that generalization because I have never spent anytime there. I don’t even think I have driven down the road; I just cross it when I am driving down Palm Beach Lakes Blvd. Here’s the thing: danger looms everywhere. It would be impossible to deny that. Every time you get in your car, danger is just around the corner. Every time you eat that cupcake (the non-healthy kind of course), danger looms in the form of high blood sugar, cholesterol, etc. So here is my conclusion. I cannot make this comparison because I have never experienced the “ghetto.” I just accepted what was told to me to be true and left it at that. It’s almost sad that I have spent way more time in the “township” in a country I have spent 5 weeks in than I have ever spent in the “ghetto” in a country I’ve lived in for 22 years. And why is it that I feel safer in the township here than the ghetto at home? Is it that it is just the unknown for me or is it truly more dangerous?
After doing some research, I found that in South Africa “township” originally meant segregated town. Under apartheid it referred to the residential development that confined the non-whites that lived near or worked in white-only communities. This would probably explain why Albert and I are always the only white people to be found whenever we are there. It would also explain the diversity because everyone who was not white, regardless of their socioeconomic status, had to live there.
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