This past weekend, Ethan and I had the pleasure of
visiting Ocean View, a township in the Cape Peninsula, and were graciously
hosted by Pastor Freddy and Auntie Ann Abrahams along with their three children
and extended family.
Ocean View, as the name suggests, overlooks a
beautiful beach that can be seen from the Twelve Apostles mountain range. During the Group Areas Act during apartheid,
Ocean View was designated as a classified colored community. People were removed from their original
homelands and brought to Ocean View.
Many people, including our host father, never knew who his neighbors
were before he was forced to live there.
Pastor Freddy told Ethan and I about some of the
challenges facing the community, which include Tic (crystal meth). Tic is a highly addictive and toxic drug
which, in his words, destroyed the community.
The Tic problem began in Mitchell’s Plain and was brought to Ocean
View. It cannot be smelled and the only
way to find out if people are on it is to observe the symptoms, which include
being awake for days at a time followed by days of sleep and aggressive
outbursts. Because it is so addictive,
many teens even steal their parents’ belongings and sell them for Tic. This causes many challenges for families as
they are torn apart. Pastor Freddy tries
to help them, but he can only do so much.
Compared to other townships I’ve been to, Ocean View
is probably a lot smaller than Guguletu or Khayelitsha. It is also a classified colored township as
opposed to a black township. There are
also hardly any shacks in Ocean View compared to the other two townships.
I learned that I should be grateful for everything I
have and always challenge myself to see if it’s ok living with only the
necessary items.
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| Andrew (in green) with some of his co-educators in Ocean View |
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