Cape Town - South Africa

One sentence could never do it justice...you'll just have to keep reading

This is my fourth time trying to write about Cape Town. I fully intended on getting this done sooner, but this experience has been hard to sum up. Each time I try, I end up typing and delete sentences because each one sounds more cliche than the last.

Really though, I've tried out all the classics. Cape Town was, "life changing, "an amazing experience," "inspiring" ect.. And even though all of that's true they just sound like empty compliments typed out.

I still haven't settled on a word that describes it. Maybe there isn't one. But what I can say is that Cape Town taught me more than I could ever imagine. The views were pretty cool too. 

One day during the project our leader said, "If anything, I hope this trip inspires you to give a fuck about something when you're home. Anything." I went to Cape Town through an organization at my school called GO (short for global outreach), which sends groups of 10 students all around the world to do service projects. The funny thing about GO Cape Town is that it's not very service based. At least not on our end. We spent 10 days touring the city and learning from inspiring people and organizations. We went to historical museums and landmarks, learned about apartheid from people who experienced it first hand, and were welcomed every day by the people we met. At one point we traveled to the Cederberg Mountains and volunteered at a school as teachers assistants. But even then, I wouldn't say we provided some honorable service. Don't get me wrong I don't think our presence was useless by any means, but the "service" was provided to us by everyone we met. Not the other way around. 

Something I'll never forget is our tour guide Colleen's emphasis on the "stories." Literally everyone had something to share, and because of that my favorite part of Cape Town quickly became the community's passion and candor. Most days we would talk about serious issues, like the lasting effects of apartheid, wealth inequality, HIV, and sexual violence with various organizations. Nothing seemed to be off limits or taboo. If you had a stance you'd state it to start a conversation, or at the very least spark a thought. 

I'm not going to get in to the details of everything we heard, because frankly they aren't my stories to tell. But their stories are what lead groups of people to take a stand and make a difference in their own communities. We met a team of grandmothers who created a childcare program for kids affected by HIV. A group of high school girls that started a film club to share their experiences with sexual assault. After school programs that provide sex ed and female empowerment courses...The list literally goes on and on, but in the end they all go back to the idea of a conversation. 

To sum things up. I miss Cape Town and the people I met there. I miss how absolutely stunning everything is and I miss being somewhere that teaches resilience. One of my favorite memories is the day we spent with a group of little kids that didn't know much english. Despite the language barrier they instantly warmed up to us and found ways to communicate. They were only 5 so the things they cared about were coloring, laughing, and recess. But they were still determined to share that part of their life with us. Even if it was only for a couple of hours.

Nothing stops anyone in CapeTown, and that's a quality I really want to work on. To actually find something, "anything," to truly care about and see it through. 

Until next time 

xx - B