Thursday 7 June 2007- Day Six

Being in South Africa is helping me work on some of my OCD tendencies. Things here run on their own schedule and there are often delays. Back in the states I would have gotten upset (my motto is: to be on time is to be late). But now I find it easier to be patient. I wonder if this will last.

We took a mini-taxi to Diepsloot this afternoon. I like the mini-taxi. It is a cozy ride but is nowhere near as uncomfortable as one would expect that a small car with thirteen people to be. Actually, I love the mini-taxi.

The trip to Diepsloot was very interesting. There seems to be less of a community than in Alex. There were children hanging out in the yards but few of the adults were together. Everyone was so friendly and open to us being there. I didn’t feel unsafe at all (although the layout of the neighborhoods is confusing. Our guide told us that there have never been any visitors to Diepsloot. This surprised me because everyone was so open to us being there.

The number of permanent structure houses was considerably less than in Alex and by far the minority of the housing structures in the community. Those that did have a permanent structure often had a yard. The landscaping in these yards rivals the landscaping in the wealthy areas around the world. Another difference between Alex and Diepsloot is that there was much more livestock and pets. It seems that if they have a sense that this will be their house for a while there is the automatic instinct of pride. I believe that if the government could provide adequate services to this township that it would be not only maintained but also improved.

On our tour we saw the school that is being built. The structure was amazing and the classrooms are nicer than any school that I have ever seen. I think this will be a great asset to Diepsloot and will also create a greater sense of community. I got to meet some of the children in the area and they were so open and friendly to us. The two older boys showed us some dance moves and then one of them began singing and beat boxing for us. There is such talent in these areas that the government could really tap into if they would only go out to these areas.

This reminded me of the article that we read about Brazil (I can’t remember the name or the author) and the environmental groups that exist in the informal settlements. The Brazilian groups would often petition the government for better services or form groups that would work to prevent environmental degradation. There seems to be no organizing structure similar to this in Diepsloot (or Alex, but I am not sure). Our guide seemed aware of the dangers of the garbage getting into the drinking water but did not seem compelled to act. Perhaps some of our group work will inspire these community groups to form and work to clean up the garbage sites (aside from the lack of health facilities, I find the lack of garbage pickup the most egregious denial of service in the townships).