Dine with Khayelitsha

After a few days in Cape Town I still am always surprised when I wake up every day and see how beautiful this city is. I am still shocked at how different it is from Johannesburg, after only flying two hours to get here. We have also mostly only stayed downtown and in our neighborhood of Sea Point so we haven’t gotten to see as much of the city as we did in Johannesburg. Our first time venturing much further out was when we were going to have dinner in the township of Khayelitsha.

I was excited to get to see Khayelitsha and have dinner with a family. I wasn’t sure what to expect after seeing townships in Johannesburg. I knew it would not be as big as Soweto and I was curious to see how nice the houses would be in comparison. I was also really excited to observe the culture and see how locals interact. I also knew that it would be a different experience getting to see a township at night. I think that the media puts a perception out there that a scene like what we walked through that you should feel danger. But I did not feel in danger at all. The people were just as welcoming as they were in Johannesburg. It felt a little more hectic and lively than Soweto but that might just be because we went at night. People were out and about, dancing in the streets, music blasting, and some people barbecuing outside their houses. The people were not shy at all and went out of their way to say hello and welcome us. I could not believe how many people were outside their houses on a Sunday night.

The whole concept of “Dine with Khayelitsha” is for people to come into the township and see what its actually like. There is so many misconceptions around townships that they are dangerous and that you should stay away. I could not have felt more welcome to come to dinner there and I have never met people so kind. It would be a good thing for South Africans from the center of Cape Town to see what it is like. However, after talking to people from the township, most people who take part in “Dine with Khayelitsha” are tourists or people from other parts of Africa. White South Africans from Cape Town do not often come into the township.

In our lecture with Claire du Trevou she mentioned how people like living there because of the sense of community. She said that even if they had the money to move out they would instead use their extra money to buy a car and be able to commute into the city and be able to save money on rent. I thought those words said a lot about the township. It reminded me of the “Ubuntu,” or togetherness that takes place in Soweto back in Johannesburg.

We were walking through the streets together, but we were such a large group that we split up into different houses. It was a truly amazing experience of being welcomed into a stranger’s home with a family who did not know us at all, giving us dinner, and being able to chat about the issues we learn about everyday. I felt so welcome in a place where I think a lot of people feel like they would not be. It is just another example of the kindness that is showed in South Africa, and is something that I will miss the most. The family that we got to talk with was so insightful, the knowledge that I gained that night was extremely valuable.

Dine with Khayelitsha has been my favorite thing that we have done in Cape Town so far. I enjoyed it because a lot of the things we do are tours or lectures and we learn by looking at things and learning about them. But now, it was sitting down in a casual setting and learning what someone’s life is like in a township in Cape Town. I liked hearing about what he thought of the current issues that we have learned a little bit about. I was able to learn what mattered to him the most and getting a local’s perspective was really valuable. A lot of the things we talked about I found I could relate back to the United States. We talked about things like patriarchy, racism, wealth, and the high cost of education. A lot of our views were the same on issues that take place here in South Africa, and back home in the United States. He talked a lot about the “Fee’s must Fall” movement which is fighting against the high cost of education and a lot of people cannot afford to get a good education here. We have the same issues back home, however, people still have the options of community colleges that have much cheaper tuition whereas it did not sound like that was an option here. And if you do not get a good education then you will not get a good job. The people here believe that there should be a free education option which I agree with. I do not believe that money should stand in the way of getting educated. I loved hearing a different perspective on a similar issue from a whole other country. It was a very valuable experience that we are all thankful to have gotten. Being able to get a new perspective on issues that we talk about everyday from a local who is going through them was very informative. It was just a very eye opening experience getting to talk with someone who lives a very different life then all of us.

Chloe DiMare