Ainsley sharing her love of Cape Town with her mom

This week my mom came to visit. A lot of us talked about how difficult it will be to try and explain Cape Town to our friends and families when we get back so I am very grateful to have had someone here to see what I’m seeing and feel what I’m feeling. With that being said I feel like it’s a fine line between not showing enough of the city and showing too much. I wanted her to see the beauty that exists here but also the hardships. I wanted her to see how far these people have come but understand how much further there is to go. But most importantly I wanted her to see these dichotomies and still understand why we’ve fallen so in love with this city and it’s people already.

Out of the week she was here my favorite experience was bringing my mom to the Khayelitsha Township to donate the soccer cleats my hometown collected. Because it was her first day I really wanted the experience to be important and for her to see first off some of the issues we’re dealing with. I think riding a mini bus and seeing the informal settlements can be shocking at first but meeting the coaches, Powers and Bongi and players spoke more about the area than anything else. My mom got to hear about the team’s formation, about why it’s necessary to give the kids some kind of outlet, and about where they come from. I wouldn’t have asked for a better time for my mom because it made the realities of the city a lot more present but allowed her to meet some of the most incredible people along the way.

 I’m so happy to understand the things I do about Cape Town and to know all the amazing people I’ve met so far but I love that I got to introduce at least some of these things to my mom as well. I think it acts as the beginning of me bringing the knowledge from this trip home with me, of continuing to use my experiences and what I’ve learned back home.