Abhalali

The meaning of the title is the "shack dwellers movement."  I'm going to make this entry really short-for real this time.  I just wanted to say a quick few words about yesterday.  I got the opportunity to go to a place called Kennedy Road, a community of shacks where 7,000 people live under worse conditions than you can possibly imagine.  People die of disease, a baby was eaten to death by a rat a year ago there, there are 6 toilets for 7,000 people, and a major garbage dump full of feces and other refuse that the municipality in South Africa refuses to pick up.  

The government does not see these people as human beings, they don't care about the way these people live.  Seeing this place made me think about so many things.  When I asked what it was that we could do to help these people out, a comment was made that the best thing that we could do is spread knowledge that places like these do exist, and human beings live in them.  So I'm telling you about it now.  For those of you from ASAP and Amnesty International back at Gustavus who are reading this, now is the time for me to let you all know how important our work truly is.  It starts with compassion, knowledge, and then finally action.  I'm excited to come back next year and work with you guys again and I know you're doing amazing work while I'm away and I can't wait to hear about it.  Keep up the good work guys.  

To end this entry with a sense of hopefulness, after we toured the shack settlement, a group of singers who live in the community performed for us-they were songs of traditional South African origin, and they had a strong emotional and political message.  Hearing them almost brought tears to my eyes, knowing that this is how these people keep themselves together day after day under such deplorable conditions.  The power of music.  I'll leave you with a quote from the leader of "Abhalali" who we met last night:

"There can be no peace without justice, and no justice without peace.  Although South Africa has no war it is still not a peaceful country when human beings are living under conditions such as these."  This quote can be applied to the U.S. as well as many other places.  Bye for now.