So today was really awesome, yet again. Matt and I are actually continually getting out into the field to see the locations and getting the information we need to compile our data and help create our analysis. We visited Enkululekweni, a garden site located in the township of Khayelitsha. The gardens they had were quite large. They grow crops ranging from cabbage and lettuce, to beetroot, to even peppers of varying colors. The gardeners were really hard workers, but also very happy people. Given the climate they find themselves in (it’s winter and high 60’s), working outside doesn’t seem as grueling as landscaping in the 100 degree, 100% humidity Arkansas heat. I hope no one reading this takes this as my making light of their work, I know that they are very hard workers and are providing a great service to their community. And also, they were really nice men who were very welcoming to us and open to answering any questions we had, be they related to our work or more generally about the farming practices.
The next site we visited was the Monwabisi Senior Centre. Matt and I visited this senior center on our first day into the field way back when (June 5, to be exact). The seniors at this site were very welcoming and kind. They loved seeing us, and I got many hugs and hand kisses from the seniors. It is such a great feeling knowing that despite the racial atrocities that took place in the past, that these men and women suffered for most of their lives in, they hold know grudges and welcome us openly. It really makes me sad when I think about racial tensions in the US, and how we don’t seem to have come as far as they have despite the much longer passage of time. I know that not all of the native Africans feel this way, but the overall majority have been very excited to meet us and welcome us into their homes and private lives, telling us their stories. When we left Monwabisi, the seniors came out to send us off and sang us a song in Cosa. We asked Ntsika what it meant, and he told us it was a song about Nelson Mandela and hope for the people of South Africa. I feel honored that they would share this piece of their own private history with us, we outsiders who know next to nothing of the strife and injustice they suffered in the past, and still suffer today.
All day, Matt and I rode around in a van, to and from each site, with our guide, Ntsika Maleni. Ntsika is the program manager for Ikamva’s garden centers, which are located at the majority of Ikamva’s properties. We got some insight into the life of someone who lives in the townships. Ntsika loves rap music, and hearing him analyze and discuss their music was very interesting. We learned that he really likes it when rappers will blend in a real worldview with a gospel tone. He informed us that he doesn’t enjoy rappers who only talk about drug deals and focus more telling a story about real life. We taught him that, in America, farming is a much larger scale operation, and that generally we have hectares upon hectares (acres upon acres) of fields that grow only one crop at a time. We also told him that due to the climate of the U.S., it makes it hard to be self-sustainable off of a garden for all of your vegetables, because it is hard to grow crops in certain climates in the winter (see: South Bend, or Antarctica-U.S.).
As an anthropology geek, this trip is fascinating. Cape Town is such a strange amalgamation of Western- and traditional African cultures. V&A Waterfront is perhaps the best example of this. What appears, at first, to be any pier you could expect to see in the states (such as Navy Pier in Chicago, for example), is at the same time very African, with various street performers performing traditional African songs and dances, to the food you find, to the gift shops. It is such a weird blending of cultures (one that was unfortunately lopsided, as most are) but it works perfectly here. I hope that these thoughts and viewpoints are coming through in my pictures. I promise that I will create comments and tags on my pictures when I get home, where internet is cheaper/more effective, but for now, maybe just viewing them as outsiders is the best thing for everyone. Be an anthropologist for God’s sake and figure them out for yourselves! At least until I get home to detail them all for you. Totsien!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment