Today was a new day. It was a day for me to calm down, figure things out and to learn. After an extremely stressful day yesterday, I realized that I need to step outside of myself and assess both the situation at hand, and what I can feasibly accomplish in about 8 afternoons.
My group went to visit two cooperatives today in Khayelitcha and Manenburg. We got picked up at TSiBA in a white van with: no seats, no windows, many boxes, and fabric. This was the delivery truck for Township Patterns when they go to the cooperatives. Township was generous enough to provide us this transportation for our two visits. It was definitely an eventful visit in that our driver made lots of U-turns, abrupt stops and some Xhosa jokes that I wish I could have understood.
The first cooperative we visited was Somulele in Khayelitcha. I don’t know what I expected, but this was not it. The cooperative was literally just a room with about 10 sewing stations, a MOUNTAIN of Pick ‘n’ Pay green bags, and boxes of fabrics. The women were very quiet when we visited. The leader, Patricia, was busy when we visited at 2:00 PM but agreed to speak to us more at their break time at 3 PM so the students that spoke Afrikaans stayed behind while we went to the next cooperative. I learned a lot about the black culture today in that when they work, no disruptions whatsoever. We were intruding on their work time, which is their income. It felt uncomfortable for me, but something I wouldn’t fully understand without the visit, without seeing the sense of fear in their eyes.
While Nolwazi, Cindy and Jenn stayed behind to speak to Patricia at 3, I got a ride to Manenburg from an employee of Township Patterns with the other members of our group. The Manenburg Township is a colored community, and I was told that it would be much friendlier and laid back. The second I walked in, the team leader – Jennifer, greeted us with open arms, introduced herself to everyone and encouraged us to sit around with the women and talk about their personal savings, finance and educational goals. It’s very awkward to sit down with someone (especially a stranger) and ask them such personal questions. However, we were encouraged to just be ourselves and chat. I wasn’t prepared to do so as we had already decided that the South African students would do the interviewing. But, when I sat down with one of the women, the conversation just flowed. We spoke about everything from her family to her education to her relationships at Township Patterns. She was incredibly honest with me which I respect immensely. She was 57 years old, had been working for 30 years, and was having trouble saving because she both supported her family so much and had a soft spot for her grandchildren. We discussed a preliminary monthly budget, computer training, and her goal of a trip to Mecca, which would cost her about 40,000 rand. I left the cooperative feeling so much more connected to this project because I wanted to help her save and to help her understand the power of her earnings. For a woman who works as hard as she does, she deserves so much more, and she even admitted that.
On the opposite spectrum, I spoke to Jennifer (the team leader) who does indeed save her money, and made sacrifices to have an emergency fund. Working in the same room together, making the same exact salary every month, there was a woman who is in complete chaos with her well-earned finances with a woman who diligently saves and is able to reward herself at the end of the day with whatever she chooses. The two interviews couldn’t have been more different.
After two very successful visits, we headed back to TSiBA and met up with the other groups. The consensus among us is that we need to set some attainable objectives. We can’t promise a full out business plan, a high-tech website, an investment plan… it’s simply not logical. However, Jen put it perfectly when she said – We need to promote pathways to opportunity. That is what we will deliver at the end of this. That is something to be proud of. As long as we give them the resources, tools, and inspiration, I will feel that this project is a success.
Cheers,
Hills
Tomorrow: an hour of class followed by a visit to Khayelitcha for a “cultural experience.”
My group went to visit two cooperatives today in Khayelitcha and Manenburg. We got picked up at TSiBA in a white van with: no seats, no windows, many boxes, and fabric. This was the delivery truck for Township Patterns when they go to the cooperatives. Township was generous enough to provide us this transportation for our two visits. It was definitely an eventful visit in that our driver made lots of U-turns, abrupt stops and some Xhosa jokes that I wish I could have understood.
The first cooperative we visited was Somulele in Khayelitcha. I don’t know what I expected, but this was not it. The cooperative was literally just a room with about 10 sewing stations, a MOUNTAIN of Pick ‘n’ Pay green bags, and boxes of fabrics. The women were very quiet when we visited. The leader, Patricia, was busy when we visited at 2:00 PM but agreed to speak to us more at their break time at 3 PM so the students that spoke Afrikaans stayed behind while we went to the next cooperative. I learned a lot about the black culture today in that when they work, no disruptions whatsoever. We were intruding on their work time, which is their income. It felt uncomfortable for me, but something I wouldn’t fully understand without the visit, without seeing the sense of fear in their eyes.
While Nolwazi, Cindy and Jenn stayed behind to speak to Patricia at 3, I got a ride to Manenburg from an employee of Township Patterns with the other members of our group. The Manenburg Township is a colored community, and I was told that it would be much friendlier and laid back. The second I walked in, the team leader – Jennifer, greeted us with open arms, introduced herself to everyone and encouraged us to sit around with the women and talk about their personal savings, finance and educational goals. It’s very awkward to sit down with someone (especially a stranger) and ask them such personal questions. However, we were encouraged to just be ourselves and chat. I wasn’t prepared to do so as we had already decided that the South African students would do the interviewing. But, when I sat down with one of the women, the conversation just flowed. We spoke about everything from her family to her education to her relationships at Township Patterns. She was incredibly honest with me which I respect immensely. She was 57 years old, had been working for 30 years, and was having trouble saving because she both supported her family so much and had a soft spot for her grandchildren. We discussed a preliminary monthly budget, computer training, and her goal of a trip to Mecca, which would cost her about 40,000 rand. I left the cooperative feeling so much more connected to this project because I wanted to help her save and to help her understand the power of her earnings. For a woman who works as hard as she does, she deserves so much more, and she even admitted that.
On the opposite spectrum, I spoke to Jennifer (the team leader) who does indeed save her money, and made sacrifices to have an emergency fund. Working in the same room together, making the same exact salary every month, there was a woman who is in complete chaos with her well-earned finances with a woman who diligently saves and is able to reward herself at the end of the day with whatever she chooses. The two interviews couldn’t have been more different.
After two very successful visits, we headed back to TSiBA and met up with the other groups. The consensus among us is that we need to set some attainable objectives. We can’t promise a full out business plan, a high-tech website, an investment plan… it’s simply not logical. However, Jen put it perfectly when she said – We need to promote pathways to opportunity. That is what we will deliver at the end of this. That is something to be proud of. As long as we give them the resources, tools, and inspiration, I will feel that this project is a success.
Cheers,
Hills
Tomorrow: an hour of class followed by a visit to Khayelitcha for a “cultural experience.”
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