It has officially been my first week in Cape Town. My experiences thus far have been extremely touristy. We have seen everything imaginable that most Americans would see if they were to visit Cape Town. (I will have to keep this blog short as we are getting ready for our 5 day stay in the township of Gugulethu)
From pirate ships to Safaris, to seal watching boat rides; the group has seen the beauty of the Cape Town region of South Africa. "This is a 3rd world country with aspects of a 1st world country."
This has been apparent during our first week. We have dined like kings at local restaurants paying the equivalent of $20 American, at most, for every meal. We go half way across the city with 10 people paying (a total of 6 miles round trip) $20 for transportation. Aside from the amazing exchange rate of the Dollar to the Rand, I have had mixed emotions about how I should feel about this. At one of our meals for instance, we spent a total of 1,500 rand, which I was told that many families in the townships live off of less than 100 rand a week. It was here that I began to feel guilty, that the group is spending more money in a week than most people living in the Townships spend in a year. Should I be feeling guilty? or should I be fortunate for the life I live, that I have been given the opportunity to do so many things ranging from my educational experiences to my ability to take off of work for three weeks and travel to South Africa? Although I do not have the answers yet, since I have only seen the outside of the townships from the car and have only experienced the aspects of this country that some could classify as being a 1st world country, I am open to those that have experienced this before, and to those that haven't, to answer some of these questions or to pose some questions for me. This will help me better understand what I am observing and experiencing.
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Good thoughts Pryor. Its amazing to see how many opportunities we have and are given, and think about how many we turn down.
ReplyDeleteHi Matt! I worked with your dad in New Ulm (we all miss him). I am so excited to read about your trip and that you are asking yourself those questions about guilt, etc. I have done several mission trips to Guatemala and have asked myself those same questions. The great thing is to keep asking yourself those same questions after you get home. If you have a heart you are going to feel guilty when you witness poverty first hand. But you need to realize you can't change the world, you have to take what you experience and make a difference. The priest at the mission in Guatemala addressed these same questions you're facing and said people can't return home and sell off all they own and make drastic changes to their lives. We obviously live a different life in the States and that's okay. But you have to think about what you can bring back to your own life? Can you volunteer back home? Do you need to purchase that ridiculously expensive pair of shoes while others can't afford any? Can you share what you've experienced with others to bring added awareness to the problems other people in the world face? Can you truly appreciate all those luxuries you may take for granted and maybe pass up a few you don't need? What he wanted us to take back from the mission is that we live a good life, appreciate what we have, help others in need (we have them here in the States), and don't forget what you've seen. I will tell you first hand you can't forget what you've seen. I look forward to reading about your trip and I will tell you what I was told before my first trip to a 3rd world country: the experience will forever change your life.
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