Windsor Resident Travels To South Africa With CREC School

By Mikaela Lombard

Windsor

CREC Metropolitan Learning Center for Global and International Studies

I spent two weeks in South Africa. Two weeks was all it took for a trip to have such a large impact on how I view the world.

As a high school student at CREC’s Metropolitan Learning Center for Global and International Studies in Bloomfield, I was accepted into the South African field study course after a rigorous application process. We learned extensive information about the history of the country and how it compares with the United States during the course, and I felt I had a widespread knowledge before I left for South Africa with my seven classmates and eight students from the Ethel Walker School.

Of course, I heard how “life changing” this trip would be from everyone I conversed with, but did I truly believe it? Was I honestly prepared for the wholesome people I would have the pleasure of meeting and the very real stories I would hear on the trip? No, I was not.

What struck me in South Africa was the extreme inequality. For the first time, I personally witnessed and interacted with people living in poverty that I could never have imagined. As cliché as it may sound, South Africa truly changed the way I view the world and made me realize how sheltered many of us are from life’s harsh realities. Wealthy people, living in beautiful multi-million dollar mansions and driving BMWs and Mercedes, lived down the road from people living in tin shacks with no running water or electricity. The injustice of this extreme wealth gap, the third largest in the world, left me shell-shocked.

In the heart of Johannesburg, our group visited Central Methodist Church, which served as housing for Zimbabwean refugees. When I stepped inside what looked like a large apartment building, I had to walk through a broken glass door. In rushed an explosion of scents such as dust, smoke, and mold. The stairs were chipped and cracked, revealing the concrete foundation underneath. The walls were stained. People had laid out blankets and scraps to provide some sleeping comfort. Flies swarmed the ceilings, creating a steady buzzing sound, but the people that lived there did not notice. Children, who were just beginning to walk, wandered off on their own, touching and crawling on the unsanitary floors. This was the life these people lived due to the extreme poverty gap in South Africa.

In contrast, when we went to Cape Town, many of the teachers and students said it was the most beautiful city that they had ever seen. The stunning houses along the beach made us feel like we were in the wealthy part of Miami. Downtown, the elegant restaurants reminded us of New Orleans. We climbed Table Mountain, designated one of the Seven Wonders of Nature, and saw the exquisite natural beauty. We visited the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. However, we could not ignore the stark reality of poverty in other sections of Cape Town.

We heard many times that there is enough money and jobs for everyone in South Africa. It is only the question of making them more accessible to the lower class. South Africa has a high unemployment rate, but there are actually jobs vacant in the areas that require highly-skilled people like doctors. The problem is that South Africa does not have enough people prepared to do those jobs.

South Africa has no legitimate reason for such a wealth gap. With access to better education for everyone, and an investment in infrastructure, impoverished people can move into the middle class. It is inexcusable to sit by and ignore the life that many of these South Africans endure. More steps must be taken to significantly reduce this wealth gap and give everyone the opportunity to have the lives they deserve.