Elise on the diversity of Cape Town

Tekowa & Elise at Kirstenbosch Summer Concert

As we draw close to the end of orientation, I can confidently say that my feeling about South Africa has changed since the first few days of being here. A lot of this may have to do with being more settled in, but it’s mainly because I have had exposure to so many facets of this city. I’ve seen Cape Town from a bird’s eye view on Signal Hill, been to its beaches, its shops, its jazz clubs, its townships, its museums, and NGOs. Even though there’s so much left to discover, I finally have some bearing on what this place is about. If I had to sum up Cape Town in one word I would say diversity: diversity of things to do, of wealth, of races, of lifestyles, and of character. Even though you could say that about any city, Cape Town is exceptional in that way. The point of the last two weeks was to expose us to the many faces and places we should expect to see over the next three months, and I’ve very eager to discover how that plays out.

Even though I was excited from the get go, I only just started to fall in love with Cape Town after we visited the internship sites. To me something felt right about taking the time to learn about the variety of issues in South Africa and about the approaches different organizations are taking to address them. Naturally, visiting Operation Hope was the most exciting for me since I’ve been dying for a taste of what I’ll be doing here. But what really struck me over those past few days was something a few of the NGOs mentioned. Especially in regard to crime, we tend to only sympathize with the victim and condemn the criminal. However, several places—and particularly the home for battered women—mentioned the possibility of therapy centers for perpetrators of crime and sexual violence. It reminds me of a conversation I had with Keith Rose, Vernon’s brother, about the exact same issue. He works with criminals to reintegrate them into their communities and get them rehabilitation services. He had such an incredible attitude about treating gangsters as his brothers and recognizing that they are just as much a victim of social injustice as their victims. Throwing ‘bad’ people in jail doesn’t change the driving circumstances behind their actions or heal a community. This isn’t an easy mindset to have especially when confronted with so many sad stories. But nearly every issue addressed by our internships shares the root problem of poverty and discrimination, and remembering that as we move forward will be vital to understanding Cape Town.