Nobody Likes Inequality

 These past few days things have been getting better. There is another group here from Arkansas, and they have been really fun to hang around with. It's been so nice having company that understands! I would say that my time in South Africa goes up and down, but most days are looking up. SA is a really awesome country but it also faces many problems. Sometime I feel like I’ve gone back in time. Many of the issues that we have fought to change in America are still strong here today. Racism  still runs rampant here, the Apartheid only ended 21 years ago.  I was surprised to find out how recent this was, as racism laws in the Unites States ended way before I was born. Many of the white South Africans still view themselves as superior to the black Africans and don't always treat them with respect,( nobody at Refilwe of course).  It’s still very uncommon for whites and blacks to do things together, it’s an unspoken stigma. I remember on my first night here I was with Leah and Piet and the car tire went flat. We pulled over to fix it, when a lady came by and asked if Leah and I were okay because we were with a 'black boy'. Imagine her surprise when leah said "he's my husband!"

Another Issue here that I’ve noticed is the lack of respect for women. Although I do believe now that women have all the same rights as men,  they are still sometimes viewed as second class citizens, especially among the black South Africans, and especially in Johanneburg where sexual violence is ranked the highest in the world. Some of the men feel entitled. Even if it’s not to that extreme many of the African men still feel  they deserve to be treated a certain way, with no regard for how the women feels about it.

Despite the problems this country has. The people here are friendly and always ready to welcome you and accept you in. They have such a strong since of community and family.  People in America just pass by without even noticing the people around them. It's still sometimes a culture shock being in a place with massive poverty, when people in America deal with having too much, the more stuff they get the less happy they become. Every place has it's problems and issues and no country is perfect. Sometimes I do get upset with the way things are here and my heart does break for the people. It's really easy to complain about this or that when I've grown up with so much, never having to go without. Being here is about coming outside myself and really seeing what it's like for the people that live here. Even though it's not easy, I wouldn't have it any other way, this really is the best experience I could ever ask for.