During the homestay
weekend, I only got a taste of how important the word community is here in Cape
Town. But it isn’t just in Ocean View
where I have seen this huge sense of community in so many other facets while
living here in Cape Town. At the clinic, there have been a couple of patients
who have died, not because they were sick or anything, but just due to the
violence that is very present in the townships here. There was this one patient
that was very kind to all the staff at Tafelsig and even made food for the
staff every once in a while and unfortunately she was murdered. Most of the
staff was so upset when they found out that she died, even a couple of the
nurses that I personally work with were crying. It surprises me that even
though there is so much violence in the townships instead of people just
protecting themselves separating themselves from people, they come together.
They offer each other support and kindness during the ups and the downs in
everyone’s life, really showing what a true community is.
I guess I didn’t
fully realize this until I returned to Ocean View again. It was really nice
returning there and just being able to hang out and play with all the kids.
They were just so willing to come up to me, so eager to either play with me or
have them read them a story. It seems
whether I am working in the clinic or helping out in Ocean View, everyone is so
open to welcoming me in their community and I know that has not always been the
case when it comes to people in the United States. Back home, it comes to some
of the groups that I have interacted with in the past, I have to act a
particular way, but I was never able to fully be myself because I knew that I
was going to be judged. But here, I can totally be myself without any fear of
being judge too harshly for just being me. It is a really nice change to
actually feel accepted.
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| Ashlyn, Jillian, Julia, Becca, Chantel, Taylor L, Taylor P, Caitlin and kids from Ocean View |
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