Savitri looking beyond outward appearances

What’s in a look?

One of the many, many informal settlements

Stepping out of the airport, the first thing I saw was Table Mountain. I hadn’t expected it to be so close, but there it was, looming like a grand clock. Over the next few days it became almost comforting, keeping time and acting like a landmark even if I had no idea which side of the mountain I was on. But on our first ride through Cape Town from the airport to Rondebosch, the immediacy of the townships provided a different feeling. Informal settlements extending from one another and from formal complexes alike sobered me from my awe. Unlike the jarring sensation of a splash of cold water, this feeling was more like a darkness that crept in where the sun didn’t touch. I was realizing how this place where two oceans meet is also a place, like many others, where beauty and horror meet.

The beauty of flowers peaking over the sharp spikes of  fear.

There are beautiful species of flower here like frangipani and hibiscus and bougainvillea that provide a wealth of color and never fail to make me smile. Yet while these beauties loom over fences and along walkways in more privileged areas of town, there is constant presence of barbed wire. The variety of sharp metal juxtaposed with natural beauty make up an interesting complexity. Speaking of which, what is “natural” anyway? During our day trip to Cape Point, we passed through a pleasant arch of eucalyptus trees. Vernon explained that they are not indigenous and that there are currently efforts to remove them because they drain the water that other plants and human communities need to survive. Again, as we viewed the sea from various cliff points, I felt at peace with the gentle rocking of seaweed in the waves. But during our tour around Robben Island, our bus guide, Sobantu, informed us that prisoners had been required to perform the hard physical labor of collecting said sea weed in addition to other tasks like mining the limestone quarry.

So much to "see" beyond the outward beauty of the wall

Another sobering realization was that the beautiful blue infrastructure on Robben Island was crafted by the prisoners – from lime stone that was also mined by the prisoners. The conditions of their labor, working in the blindingly bright quarry or in the ice cold water, are not portrayed in these stone walls. That’s why anecdotal evidence and storytelling are so important, because otherwise we will only see what is in front of us, which is most of the time beauty. But it works the other way around too: I think we are often uncomfortable with people and places we know little about. We may get stuck on how physically horrible a place looks, or by the presentation or mannerisms of some people. But there is also another side to their look, another complexity which challenges our initial perception of them.

Savitri delving below the surface 

 When we were touring the Red Cross Children’s Hospital we asked the doctor what happened to children who had been burned but did not have any parents to take care of them in that moment. Despite the in horror of burn prevalence among children in townships, she smiled and replied that there is such a sense of community among many in South Africa that people jump in to take care of those children when the need arises. Another time, I had a wonderful dialogue with a cab driver from the Cape Flats who has a passion for psychology and a knack for reading people. He said that if we rely too much on the media to inform ourselves – which can very often ignore the complexity of perspective and human experience – then we are not fully educated. And if we do not seek to fully educate, then how can we hope to participate actively and positively in human rights?