The very last thing that we really wanted to do in South Africa was to visit an informal settlement, which we refer to as a shantytown. These areas are home to thousands of people, and are the the most poverty stricken places that we have ever seen. We have heard stories of rapes, murders, baby killings, etcetera that occur in these areas, and so we knew that if we were going there in our relative ignorance, we would need to go with someone who was in the know.
At one of the primary schools that we visited, we met a teacher who was willing to take us around. He knew people and had a good rapport with the community, and so we were excited to go with him. The first thing that we did was to go straight to a ladies house close to the entrance. From what we could tell, she was in charge in the community, and our friend was asking her if it was ok for us to enter and take pictures. She was friendly to us and allowed us to go in!
The houses were amazing. They were built from scraps of corrugated metal, wood, and whatever else the people could get their hands on. We entered one house made from metal, with bamboo holding up the roof, with can labels and magazine pages pasted on the walls as wallpaper. In terms of what we are used to, it was by far the smallest and worst home that we had entered. It was boiling hot inside, didn't smell great, and it was so small that you would go crazy. There was no running water or electricity.
What really amazed and humbled us was the pride with which the people took care of their things. The people that we saw had almost nothing, but the random shack that we entered was immaculate. Even though it was hot, off the grid, and little smelly, things were neat and very clean. A woman showed us her possessions with such a big smile on her face, so proud. We could have bought all of her things from her one hundred times, but she was so happy with what she had. It was humbling.
We ended up sitting with the women outside their shack, and just chatted and laughed with them. One showed us her medical collection, since she was licensed as some sort of medical practitioner. It was just a collection of random glass bottles. It was quite funny, but also eye opening. We complain about the standards of our healthcare all the time, but this woman was oddly content and confident in her materials! We wouldn't trust them to fix even a headache, but that is ok.
As we wound our way through the settlement, we saw loads of different shacks. Some were decorated quite nicely, and they were really picturesque. Almost at the end of our visit, we ran into a group of guys who were standing around a type of bar place. We went and chatted to them for a few minutes, and noticed a pool table inside the shack. This must have been some kind of gathering place. The informal settlement had its own little economy going on, small shops, bars, etcetera showing some entrepreneurial spirit. The guys we chatted to were really friendly. We laughed and took pictures with them before heading out of the shantytown, stopping to say goodbye and thank you to the boss lady before we drove off.
It was a great experience to be in a shantytown in Soweto, South Africa. We enjoyed our visit, and were happy that the people were so friendly to us. We would love to go back one day and experience it again!