SOWETO 1

On Saturday we went to SOWETO, one of the biggest townships in South Africa.

A township is a place, well... a place where most people live in small shacks or "matchbox" houses. Walls and roof are made out of old metal sheets , the "houses" are packed next to each other without much space in between. They are not waterproof at all, and it must get very cold at night without any isolation.

In South Africa the word township originally meant a segregated town. Under Apartheid the term township came to mean a residential development which confined non-whites (Blacks, "coloureds" and Indians) who lived near or worked in white-only communities. Soweto ("SOuth-WEstern TOwnships") furnishes a well-known example.

We didn't get to see the shacks up close this time, but I hope to get inside one, or at least walk in the streets there before I go home.

But in SOWETO they also have real houses, some built by the government, and some are also built by charity organizations. Lately people who live there have also built houses that are more similar in stature with those in more affluent suburbs, and many of the people who live in "matchbox" houses have also improved and expanded their homes. So really, you have everything from "matchbox" houses to houses you can find in the estate I live in!

After SOWETO we went to the Apartheid Museum. That was really, really heavy. It's appalling that something like that could happen in our time! I just don't understand it... How could the rest of the world just sit back and watch it happen?!? It's disgusting.

I took some pictures, but I'll get back to that later.

For more information on SOWETO, you can always google it, but this link is also a good way to go. And I really think you should read more about the history of SOWETO, because it is a huge part of South Africa's history, and people from our part of the world usually knows way to little about Apartheid, and the struggles and the reality of people less fortunate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soweto