The Beginning

Arriving in South Africa didn't seem any different than arriving in any other foreign country.  I had assumptions, but no expectations.  Johannesburg is definitely an industrial city, built up from years and years of gold mining.  My driver, Isaac and the Program Manager of the trip, Chris, who were both very welcoming, brought me to Lebo's Soweto Backpacker's.  Isaac knows the streets of Soweto like the back of his hand; he knows all the back roads and each time he's able to take a new route back to Lebo's.  Lebo's is situated the Soweto township of Orlando West.  Orlando West is famous for being the birthplace and home of Nelson Mandela.  It is also currently home to Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Winnie Mandela.  Orlando West is a middle class, predominantly black African, township.  The only white person around other than the 8 students on the trip was Lebo's wife, Maria, who is from Sweden.

I arrived in Soweto in the morning of the 11th and I had all day to adjust and settle in.  It seems I had adjusted pretty well because I was able to stay awake the entire day, purely due to my excitement of being, not only in South Africa, but being in Africa, as it is my first time ever on the continent of Africa.  At Lebo's, a visitor can enjoy the park across the street, or the shebeen in the backyard.  A shebeen is basically a makeshift bar.  There are tables to eat at, a pool table, foosball, a dart board and a bon fire (which is lit every night).  The park across the street didn't used to be there though.  Lebo, or Lebohang Maleba, built the Backpacker's from the bottom up.  Soweto is thought by most foreigners to be dangerous and poor, but I have a different view of it.  

When I arrived at Lebo's I walked into the park.  There was a slight breeze going and it made me feel at home and welcome; it felt like paradise.  Before the park was a park, it was a trash dump.  The community would bring their trash to this large plot of land and dump their trash.  Lebo took the initiative and with help from his community, cleaned up the plot of land to benefit, not only himself but also his community.  He gave children in the neighborhood a place to go after school to play soccer or do other fun activities.  Lebo's is the only hostel in Soweto.  He created it to be able to tell the story of Soweto and its people from the perspective of the people that live there and not from the outsider's perspective.  Tourists used to come into Soweto in buses, but never step out of the bus to interact with the people of Soweto.  This didn't anger or frustrate Lebo, but instead it gave him the idea to bring foreigners to Soweto so they could live with its people and experience everyday life in Soweto.  He created bike tours of Soweto so that people would get out of their buses and onto the streets of Soweto to hear the stories these South Africans had to tell.  Now I am writing to convey Lebo's message to the rest of the world.  Get out there and see it for yourself, experience it, because whatever people tell you about a certain place, it may not be true, and that especially goes for Soweto.  Soweto houses some of the friendliest people I have ever met in my life.  I had the chance to talk to employees of Lebo's, one of which will remain a good friend for as long as I live.  His name is Shepherd, otherwise known as Rastaman.  Yes, he is a Rastafarian, but he welcomed me with an open heart and mind, every morning he would greet me and we had some very interesting conversations around the bon fire.  

A day after my arrival and the arrival of a few other students, the children were playing in the park.  I had the chance to interact with them as well.  At first Heidi and I would observe and take pictures, but at one point, out of no where, a little girl wrapped her arms around my legs and pretty much did not let go the rest of the day.  If I wasn't holding her, either on my back or in front, I had to be holding her hand, or she would be sitting on me.  At one point, I did have a child on my back, I was holding another in front and I had several children hugging my legs.  I think that was one of the best days of my life.  I love that even though the standard of living in Soweto is pretty low, these children are still smiling and enjoying life.  Because they were happy, I was happy.  This little girl, whose name I never found out, seemed to me, to be the face of South Africa.  She was smiling on the outside, and I am sure on the inside, but it was quite obvious by the surroundings that her lifestyle was due to not only the Apartheid, but events dating back to colonialism.  Spending the rest of the evening with this little girl really put things in perspective for me and gave me some ideas.  

First, it has always been my goal in life to help people.  I used to want to be a doctor, but I chose International Relations and even with that major I have so many opportunities to help people.  I hope to focus on conflict resolution, human rights and development.  Lebo's has given me a way to help people.  I hope to one day be able to help Lebo expand his hostel to other townships in Soweto, so as not only to give foreigners the opportunity to experience the everyday lives of black South Africans in Soweto, but to also give members of the community opportunities to work close to home.  Many people in Soweto have to commute by train to far away workplace locations.  The 15 employees of Lebo's are lucky to be able to work in an environment so close to home.  The employees benefit from working in their neighborhood, but the entire community of Orlando West also benefits because the money earned by those employees is circulated within the community.

My other ideas will come in later blogs, so for now I am signing off!

M