Drinking From The Ganges

T.C. was his his name, he was tall and lankly, with a dark complexion (he would be considered black, by South Africa’s standards) and he spoke in a low voice with a stutter. T.C. grew up in Soweto, the largest township in South Africa, home to over three million poor Africans. T.C. led tours through a small section of Soweto. When we arrived for our tour T.C was waiting outside the entrance to the township. Upon exiting the mini-van T.C. walked up to us and introduced himself and then extended his hand to greet us. T.C. explained what the tour would consist of and reassured us that we would be safe while touring Soweto.

The first stop on our tour was the battery shop. I was a bit confused at first as to why we would be visiting a battery shop, but, I figured there had to be a good reason, which of course later I found out there was. Basically, there is no electricity in the township, as a result the residents rent and charge their car batteries at the battery shop, so they can use them for electricity. However, prior to renting the batteries the rentee must comply with all posted rules at the battery shop or a fine may be imposed. The batteries cost about $2.00 to rent (about 13 Rand). Once we finished our tour of the battery shop T.C. lead us through the front gates of the township.

We walked through the dirt roads, through the maze of ’shack’ size houses. In the U.S. we would use these ‘houses’ to store our lawnmowers, garden tools or car parts….but never use them for a house. During the tour T.C. explained a bit about himself and about the local community center that provides programs and support to the children of Soweto, called Sky (Soweto Kliptown Youth). This organization helped him in his youth and continues to support him in his young adult life. T.C. said ‘that if it had not been for SKY, he would not be standing before us doing this tour”. He said ‘he may have dropped out of school like many, many children in Soweto and may have followed a troubled path. T.C. emphasized over and over that ‘education is key’. If the children in Soweto drop out of school, they basically, get bored, go to the local bars, drink have sex and steal. Which could have ultimately been his given path if it had not been for SKY. Unfortunately, during my tour I did not have the opportunity to visit SKY, but if anyone should visit Soweto and take a tour, I highly recommend visiting the community center.

During the tour we had an opportunity to enter one of the houses to truly see how small they were. The basic make up of one of the thousands of ‘houses’ is one room, converted by day as a kitchen and dining room and by night into a bedroom. Just outside the ‘house’ is one of the few communal water faucet, which the 45,000 resident use to wash their clothes, use to bathe, cook and drink. According to T.C. each of the faucets were installed by outside people (government or volunteers) for the community, but upon installation the installers failed to educate the residents of Soweto on proper drainage. As a result, there is constant flooding of the surrounding grounds. As T.C. put it, ‘a perfect example of lack of education’.

We continued our tour throughout the township listening to T.C. about everyday life of Soweto residents, about how it seems virtually impossible to improve or totally close down and relocate the residents of Soweto into ‘proper’ housing, because every time the government does, more people from poorer neighbouring African countries come to South Africa hoping to find work, but have no money and no place to stay and as a result they move into the newly vacante ‘houses’ in Soweto….and again, the cycle continues.

Also, during my visit I saw many older women carring around babies on their backs. I inquired about where the mothers of these babies were and T.C. said ‘many of the mothers passed away from AIDS, as a result the grandmothers take on the responsibility of raising the babies”. South Africa has one of the highest HIV infected people in the world and with this number increasing many of the younger generation is being wiped out and as a result, the grandmothers of these infected parents take on the responsibility.

My tour ended by shaking T.C.s hand and wishing him luck on reaching his dream of owning a B&B or becoming a ‘proper’ tour guide (as he put it-apparently he has to take a test). And his response to this was ‘if god allows’.

My last sight of Soweto as the mini-van left ‘Kliptown’ was of two young children playing on top of a pile of barbwire.

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