From the minute we arrived in Port Elizabeth, Glenn and I were bombarded with all sorts of questions, from pet leprechauns and pots of gold to car bombs, the troubles and whether we had broadband internet. It quickly became clear to us that people were fascinated with Ireland, yet didn’t know a lot about it. With this weekend being St Patrick’s day, it was made clear to us that ‘the two Irish students’ were responsible for the day’s celebrations.
Ironically it was our four American flat mates that were more excited than we were, and so the shopping for green clothes, face-paint, balloons, and decorations began at the beginning of the week. It was amazing to see how many people knew of St Patrick’s day, despite never having been to Ireland, and with almost everyone claiming to have ‘some Irish blood in them’, everyone was keen to celebrate. It was so interesting speaking to people from the many countries represented in Annie’s Cove about their experiences of St Patrick’s day at home, and what they do to celebrate the day and it’s surprising to find that most of these countries acknowledge our public holiday. It has definitely given me a better understanding of how people view Ireland, and having been impressed with how much people knew about the day, I have been challenged to look into other countries beliefs more. We have already received several invites to St Patrick’s Day celebrations in different European countries next year!
Saturday was a fantastic day, and being the only Irish girl in Annie’s Cove, it was the perfect opportunity to meet and speak to those I haven’t had the chance to yet ad it seemed that almost everyone wanted a photo with the ‘real Irish’. The day began with the Irish and Americans blowing up endless amounts of balloons, decorating the pool and braii area, and going around making sure everyone was aware that it was essential for them to wear green if they wanted to join us for the day. The small gathering at the pool at lunch time soon grew into a mass of green by the afternoon, and the day was full of Irish music, green food, green drinks, plenty of ‘social dances’ which Glenn and I taught the crowds to songs like ‘cotton eyed joe’ and ‘I’ll tell me Ma’ and countless questions about ‘who actually was St Patrick?!’. The green party at Annie’s Cove later moved to an Irish pub in Summerstran where they serve green beer and played Irish music all evening. It was nice to do both, as the party at Annie’s Cove allowed us to celebrate with other international students, whereas going to ‘Barneys’ was the perfect opportunity to meet local South Africans and experience a South African St Patrick’s Day. It seemed that the South Africans were more low key in their celebrations, many don’t celebrate it, and they seemed to know a lot less about the holiday than the Europeans and Americans. It was a great day though, and I enjoyed the chance to talk to people about our home an how different it was to their own culture.
On Sunday, I joined a group of international students to run a soup kitchen in a local township called Kwazakhele. This was my first opportunity to properly interact with the children from any township and it was such a challenging day for me. We went together to a local super market within the township to buy the ingredients (shopping in the townships supermarket supported them financially) and then travelled by kombi to the home of a man who organises these soup kitchens. Together we cut up and prepared the vegetables and cooked the biggest pot of stew I have ever seen that we served with rice. As the food was cooking we played with the children and they were an absolute joy to spend time with. They were all so curious about our skin and hair, and would spend their time stroking our arms and plaiting out hair. They amazed me with the endless supplies of hand games and rhymes they knew, and they took great joy in trying (and failing) to teach me some of them. The children were so happy and content at just playing with each other and making their own fun and it struck me how some of them seemed more content and happy than many of the children you may see at home when stripped of their electronic game consoles and other games. What bothered me the most was the number of expensive cars that drove at high speeds up the streets of these townships and beeped their horn, not slowing and just expecting the children to run out of the way, which they did. It was an image that reminded me of how some people may treat stray animals as they drive up a street, and it bothers me that these people can live so close to this poverty and feel no need to acknowledge these children or do anything to help.
As soon as we arrived, the children began to gather with their own plastic containers in hand to fetch the food, simply associating white people with wealth and food. When I returned, a friend asked me how I reacted to the poverty and I just responded with “It’s not real.”, to experience such poverty so close to the wealthy areas is so surreal, and I feel it’s such a tragedy that these children, despite their potential, will more than likely receive very little support or encouragement to continue in their education. I was surprised to hear that there are few support teams sent from the richer areas of Port Elizabeth into the poorer areas, despite the difference in wealth. This is something I feel is in great contrast In Ireland. Although it’s on a completely different scale, there are also areas of Ireland that require (and normally receive from charities or church organisations) support, both financially and educationally. It has made me more aware of the need for support from other countries into these areas of poverty in South Africa, and I would like to try to set this up when I return.
The rest of the week was spent doing University work (believe it or not) and planning our travels next week. As we have a public holiday next week we plan to travel from Wednesday to Sunday next week, and so we need to get our work done before we leave.
To think I wasn’t sure I even wanted to leave home for four months, it is amazing to think of the opportunities I have had to meet people from all over the world and experience the contrasted culture within South Africa which has changed my ways of thinking and my attitude about so many things. The longer I am here, the surer I am that it is an essential to travel at some stage of your life, to get out of Northern Ireland and see the world outside of our tiny perspective. So far , being here has been the experience of a life time.
That’s all for now
Lynsey
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