Closing thoughts...

Today, Matt and I were in the office and had a pretty productive day. Over the past few weeks, we have been finding GPS coordinates for each of the sites we’ve visited, and today we started to locate the sites using Google Maps. By using the GPS coordinates, we can locate the sites really easily.

Once we located all 102 sites that we visited, we started comparing the Google Maps data with the plot maps that Sipho got for us, and began to find some of the sites’ ERF numbers. After some trial and error, we started to become pretty good at finding the sites and their ERF numbers without much trouble. We did notice, however, that we don’t have all of the plot maps that we need, so we’ll need to figure out which ones we’re missing quickly so that Sipho can get them for us.

Getting these erf numbers is what is at the heart of our project. With the erf numbers, Ikamva and Greg (or a local lawyer) can go about protecting the citizens who are currently using the sites for their crèches and orphanages. By having the erf number, a lawyer can track down the chain of title deed and, if the current tenant doesn’t actually own, can go about procuring the title deed for them. Our work here, once completed, will help ensure that none of these mamas are removed from their homes and that their hard work will be able to continue. It’s a really humbling, yet fulfilling job.

I’d also like to take this time to mention something I saw in the township of Khayelitsha on Friday, July 3rd. As Matt and I were driving through Khayelitsha with Xoliswa, we noticed that there was a large amount of garbage on the road. Xoliswa told us that there had been a riot the night before. Some of the township residents haven’t had electricity, despite being promised it over 15 years ago. Many of them have taken to stealing electricity from their neighbors. Obviously, the neighbors don’t appreciate this, and reported it to the police. The police told them to stop stealing. The citizens became upset about this, and began to riot.

I’ll post the pictures soon, so that you can all see what the riot looked like. There had to have been a great number of rioters, as some of the acts they did required a large number of people. Large boulders and containers were drug out into the road. These containers, like the containers you see on ships and trains, are massive and heavy, so you would need quite a few men to move them, especially the distance that they were able to move them. One container was even set on fire. All down the road, for probably 10 or so kilometers, there was trash and debris everywhere.

Seeing the aftermath of this riot, especially on the eve of July 4th, really sends home how lucky we are to be Americans, how lucky we are that we don’t have to riot like this to obtain something as “common place” as electricity. It really makes you question how we live and what is really important in life. Well, that’s all for my thoughts, hopefully this will raise some questions for everyone else who reads it. Good night, my friends.