Face to the ocean, back to Africa

Tuesday, May 22

Me, Katie, Amanda, Nick and Katie on a tour of Ocean View with Treswell

The beach

Waking up to a view of the ocean, getting wifi at the local coffee shop with the local Kommetjie surfers and climbing on boulders on sandy beaches against mountain backgrounds—sometimes it’s too easy to be comfortable here. Even most of the Ocean View residents we’ve met have been so inspirational. Though they talk about the hurt and pain in this place, all we see is the incredible things they are doing and their inspiring faith. There’s Treswell, who was a professional football player, but when he became injured moved back to his hometown slum to train boys in bad situations to become Africa’s next great leaders. There’s Chantel, our Cape Town tour guide who traveled the world before she felt God calling her back to Ocean View to start her own business. There’s Cindy, who grew up in Ocean View and decided to come back and teach at its primary school, even though she had opportunities to teach at nicer schools. There’s her sister Stacey, one of the high school students we’re working with, who has dreams of going to college and studying psychology so she can help others. And Chevon, who traveled through Europe as an Au Pair before coming back to Ocean View to live with her mother so she could lead the Ocean View Methodist youth group.

But the truth is these people are the exceptions. These last two days I have been severely reminded of that. Actually, the overwhelming sentiment in coloured townships is that there is no hope at all. Few children think about what they’re going to be when they grow up. People are still struggling with the aftermath of apartheid, and it’s seeped into their communities in terrible ways.

I can’t talk about the problems of Ocean View without giving some background. Basically, during apartheid coloured people were forced out of their homes to go live in townships (and again, it’s not derogatory at all to call them “coloured,” it’s part of their identity.)

Many are still so bitter about it, which is understandable—it was traumatic. And it was devastating to all aspects of their lives. Some had to wait years before they even received a house in a township, and obviously there was a severe lack of jobs within the townships.

One effect we’ve witnessed is the damage to the family dynamic. Fathers who were supposed to protect their families had no power against the forced removal. They were helpless. And once they were in the townships, they had no opportunities to get jobs and provide for their families. While the mothers took care of the children (parental roles are still very traditional here) fathers ended up drinking and doing drugs to keep the pain away. Many sadly took their frustration out on their families—abuse became very common in the townships, another part of their normal life.

The amount of families that lack a fatherly figure and the number of kids who come from broken homes is astounding. Every single person I’ve talked to has had a parent or spouse that is either alcoholic or abuses drugs.

Which leads me to another huge problem in this community—alcoholism and drug abuse is rampant, and it starts at an early age. There are certain homes in Ocean View that are “drug houses.”

Other problems:
-Ocean View has a 70 percent unemployment rate. Most of the families are seriously struggling to put food on the table every night.
-Teenage pregnancy
-Prostitution and rape
-Many families live in very small homes. Some even live in sheds meant for backyards, sheds that aren’t meant to be lived in.
-Vandalism and other small crimes

But the biggest problem is a lack of hope for change. Once apartheid ended, blacks took control of the government, so when governments or other organizations look to do good they only invest in the black communities. --- percent of every business has to be black, meaning blacks form the working class and whites are the executives. Where does that leave coloureds?

Basically, under apartheid coloured people were too black, now they are too white.

And as a result, they think that no matter what they do, they won’t be able to rise above poverty. According to Treswell, few people vote because they think it doesn’t matter. Few initiatives for change are happening in the community, and people have very low expectations for lives.

For me, it’s shocking that such rich communities live side by side to the townships. You can see Ocean View from Kommetjie—it’s literally across a field. How can these people live this close to poverty and not help them out?

The answer is fear. Black communities fear coloured communities. Coloured communities fear black communities. And white communities fear black and coloured communities. They have their faces to their ocean and their backs to Africa.

It’s apparent it in the barbed wire fences and huge concrete walls around nearly every house. The other day we were driving through one of the most expensive communities in Cape Town, and Casey pointed out that we couldn’t see a single home from the street because of the fences. “There is incredible fear in this place,” he said. “And look at us—we’re living in the hood and we’re not scared.”

Of course there are some groups that come into the community, paint buildings, hand out food and then leave. But the problems and the solutions are much more complicated than any of us originally thought. Even Casey and Sarah, who have lived here for three years, realized that they can’t change this place. Instead, Sarah urges us to instead build relationships with the people: to love them, to have conversations with them and encourage them. That’s what we’ve already been trying to do with the Ocean View Methodist youth group and the women’s group. Because the only way the community will change is if people care.

I hope that through these blogs and the documentary I’m making I’ll at least make people aware of the dynamics of the place.

-Mary Withers