Quinton, (our surrogate father here on CIEE) has been telling us for weeks about the homestay that was coming up. He always said that he wanted to show us how “a marginalized community of disadvantaged people live”. When being told we were going to be staying in a township, I expected tin shacks, little to no plumbing and electricity, and a family taking in students just to use the extra money they were being paid. I was very far from the truth with that assumption. I have seen many townships in South Africa, and Ocean View was unlike any of the others. We stayed in a cozy house, with 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, one bathroom, and a bungalow made by Cedric (my host father) for his daughter. There was electricity and even a T.V (something I haven’t seen in awhile since being here). In Ocean View, none of the families have sinks in their bathrooms; rather they use the bathtub they have for everything. When flushing the toilets I had to learn to flush multiple times, pumping the handle until the water started flowing.
Lauren, a fellow CIEE student, and I stayed with the Corker family: Veronica and Cedric, their three children Elreza (age 24), Elrenzo (age 19), and Elretha (age 12), and their granddaughter, Schyler (age 4). From the moment I met Veronica and Cedric, I knew this was a place I was meant to be. One of the first things Veronica said to me was “You’re family now, our house is your house, and if you ever need a family in South Africa, you’ve got one.” Veronica, Cedric, and their children welcomed us humbly and graciously into their home. Lauren and I had a bedroom to ourselves and came to learn that we were sleeping in Elrenzo’s room who ended up sleeping in the bungalow outside.
The first night in the Ocean View we watched a dance and theatre performance put on by some of the younger community members in the local high school. All of the families and the CIEE students were packed into the high schools cafeteria to have dinner together and get to know our families before heading to their homes. As the evening started to wind down, we got into the family car and headed to the flats to pick up their granddaughter Schyler. Schyler was very shy at first but she spoke more in actions giving me a huge hug and motioning for me to pick her up. We got back into the car and drove to their home situated right near an overlook of the entire township. We put our stuff into our weekend room and were told that Elrenzo and his friends were in the bungalow and we were welcome to join them.
We were told before arriving that alcoholism and drug abuse has become a very large issue in Ocean View and each one of the CIEE students witnessed at least some form of this. Upon walking into the bungalow I first noticed the numerous bottles of alcohol some full and some empty scattered around the table. Veronica and I discussed this issue later on and she told me that on weekends Elrenzo can make his own decisions but he knows the outcome of each decision. He is allowed to drink and party during the weekends, but not during the week when he needs to go to his job at Pick N’ Pay, a common grocery store in South Africa. Elrenzo’s sister Elreza has gotten in her fair share of trouble and I know Elrenzo has learned a lot from her. Elreza became addicted to Tik (crystal meth) and used all of the money she had to further her drug addiction. The bungalow in the backyard was originally built for her so she could feel that she had her own place as it was difficult to find or afford housing nearby. Her parents still charged her rent but Elreza couldn’t afford to pay the rent anymore as she had spent all of her money on Tik. Schyler, who lives with Veronica and Cedric now, is Elreza’s daughter. After being unable to break her drug habit, her parents had no choice but to tell her to move out as she was become a hazard for the other children . Schyler was left with Veronica and Cedric and Elreza may be living with one of her friends but her parents are unsure. The little baggies used to hold spare buttons when you buy a new article of clothing, are what meth addicts use to store their meth. These baggies were scattered along many of the streets we walked on.
One of my favorite memories from this home stay was getting to know Elrenzo and his friends, getting to hear their perspective on apartheid, drugs and alcohol, music, life in general. I got to compare his perspective to that of his parents which was very interesting. The Corker’s are a very close knit, Christian family, and Veronica’s faith in Jesus, and her beautiful testimony was so inspiring. There are so many things I still have to mention about this homestay because so many beautiful and interesting things occurred, but I don’t want to bore anyone with tiny details. Here were a few highlights
-Going to a ‘recording studio’ and listening to Elrenzo and his friends rap in Afrikaans.
-Traveling around all day with all of the females in the family, shopping, laughing, bonding.
-Walking around with Schyler, hearing so much interest in knowing why the colors of our skin are different.
-Karaoke after the braii
-Walking up the hill that overlooks the entirety of Ocean View and listening to Veronica open up about her past.
-Missing the busses and getting to spend more time with the family.
I do know that I have a second family in Ocean View, and I cannot wait for my next visit to the Corker family. If anyone wants to know more of the details of my experience feel free to send me an e-mail!
No comments:
Post a Comment