On Wednesday we went out on a guided tour of several of the areas to the greatest extent have been affected by apartheid years. This was the trip I was most excited about from before because I had really no idea what we would experience, or what to expect.
Bo-Kaap
Vi startet ut i et meget fargerikt område som kalles Bo-kaap.
We started out in a very colorful area called the Bo-Kaap.
Dutch East India Trading Company brakte på 1600 og 1700 tallet med seg mange slaver fra blant annet Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka og India. Mange av disse slavene fikk bosette seg i dette området som i dag kalles Bo-Kaap (tidligere Malay Quarter pga. de mange slavene som kom fra Malaysia). Bo-Kaap var en av områdene som ikke ble tvangsutflyttet, men på grunn av de mange konfliktene byggde de husene så tett at de kunne varsle hverandre gjennom veggene for å advare eller få hjelp til å flykte. I dag bor mange av etterkommerne av slavene i disse nydelige bygningene, men desverre har det blitt ett problem at tomtene er så ettertraktet av utlendinger som kjøper opp å renoverer disse gamle kulturskattene.
Dutch East India Trading Company brought in 1600 and 1700's with many slaves from among others Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and India. Many of these slaves settled in this area which today is called Bo-Kaap (previously Malay Quarter because of the numerous slaves who came from Malaysia). Bo-Kaap was one of the areas that were not forcible removed, but because of the many conflicts they built the houses so close together that they could notify each other through the walls to warn or to get help to escape. Currently many of the descendants of the slaves live in these beautiful buildings, but unfortunately there has been a problem that the lots are so sought after by foreigners who buy out to renovating these old cultural treasures.
Slavene og deres religiøse ledere i Bo-Kaap spillte en viktig rolle i utviklingen av språket Afrikaans og kulturen i kolonien. Afrikaans ble utviklet som språk gjennom å forenkle det gamle nederlandske språket slik at slavene kunne kommunisere mellom hverandre og med nedelenderne siden de alle kom fra ulike land og kulturer.
The slaves and their religious leaders in Bo-Kaap played an important role in the development of the Afrikaans language and the culture of the colony. Afrikaans was developed as a language by simplifying the old Dutch language so that slaves could communicate between each other and with the Dutchmen since they all came from different countries and cultures.
Hvorfor husene bærer så sterke farger er jeg faktisk ikke sikker på, fordi vi fikk to vidt forskjellige forklaringer på to ulike guidede turer. En forklaring var at slavene ikke fikk bruke mye farger, så da slaveriet ble forbudt malte de husene sine i knallfarger for å gjøre opprør mot all den uretten de hadde blitt utsatt for. Den andre forklaringen var at Cape Towns eldste Liquor shop lå like ved, og for at mennene som gikk full hjem skulle slutte å gå til feile hus så malte de husene i sterke farger. Guiden vår fortellte at det var blitt en slags uoffisiell konkuranse i området "If you go bright, I go BRIGHT".
Why the houses wear vibrant colours I'm not certain, because we had two very different explanations from two different guided tours. One explanation was that the slaves were not allowed to use much colours, so when slavery was banned they painted their houses in bright colours to rebel against all the injustice they had been exposed to. The second explanation was that Cape Town's oldest Liquor shop was close by, and so that the men who went home drunk would stop going to the wrong house on their way back, they painted the houses in vibrant colours. Our guide explained that there is rumours of a still ongoing sort of unofficial competition "If you go bright, I go BRIGHT!".
District six
I dette området ble over 60 000 av i hovedsak byens Coloured befolkning tvunget til å flytte fra hjemmene sine mellom 1960 og 1980 tallet. Grunnen til dette var at de hvite ønsket tomtene og deklarerte District six som et "whites only" område i 1966. Da befolkningen nektet å flytte møtte møtte den rådende regjeringen opp med militærstyrker og buldosere og gjevnet hjemmene deres med jorden. De eneste bygningene som fikk stå i fred var religiøse bygg. Menneskene der hadde derfor ikke noe annet valg enn å flytte i townshippene utenfor CT sentrum.
In this area over 60 000 in the primarily Coloured population were forced to leave their homes between the 1960's and 1980's. The reason for this was that the whites wanted the lots and declared District Six a "whites only" area in 1966. When the inhabitants refused to move they were met by the current government with military forces and buldozers and leveled their homes with the earth. The only buildings that were left standing were religious buildings. The people therefore had no choice but to move in the township outside CT city center.
Store deler av området man kan se her tilhører District Six. Large parts of the area one can see here belongs to District Six. |
Since 2003, when they started the reconstruction of District Six, the aim is for all those who were forced out of their homes during the apartheid years to get back to their homes. But this process has proven to be difficult in terms of population growth and determining who the rightful heirs.
Langa and Khayelitsha Cape Town townships
Videre gikk turen til Langa, byens eldste townships som har ca 50 000 innbyggere. Disse townshipene ble opprettet som leveområder for "ikke hvite" mennesker slik at de hvite kunne holde dem vekk fra byen. Også her kunne man se enorme kontraster i leveforholdene blandt de ulike "kategoriene" av mennesker. Igjen var det også her de som ble kategorisert som blacks som trakk det korteste strået. Med disse townshipene har det også fulgt mange problemer. Veldig mange av husene har verken vann, kloakk eller elektronikk.
Furthermore, the tour of Langa, the oldest townships which has about 50 000 inhabitants. The township was created as habitat for "non white" people so that the whites could keep them away from the city. Also here you could see the enormous contrast in living conditions among the various "categories" of people. Once again it was those who were categorized as blacks who drew the shortest straw. With the townships followed many issues. Many of the homes have no water, sewer or electronics.
Men heldigvis har det vært gjort utrolig mye for å forbedre levekårene i de ulike townshipene, og Langa er det townshipet som har kommet lengst i denne utviklingen.
But fortunately, it has been done so much to improve living conditions in the various townships, Langa is the the township that has made most progress in this development.
Khayelitsha, det største townshipet i nærheten av CT. I 2005 var det ca 500 000 som bodde i Khayelitsha dette har nok økt betydelig siden den gang.
Furthermore, the trip went to Khayelitsha, the largest township near CT. In 2005 there were about 500 000 living in Khayelitsha has probably increased considerably since then.
En matte som denne kunne ta over 2 uker å lage. A mat like this could take over 2 weeks to create. |
T-skjorte rester. T-shirt leftovers. |
På senteret solgte de masse ulike produkter som de hadde lagd selv. At the center they sold a lot of different products that they had made themselves. |
Vi stakk også hodet inn i en barnehage som var en del av dette senteret. Her sang barna for full hals, dette var helt fantastisk å se. Tror ikke det kan sammenlignes med noen andre barnehager eller skoler jeg har sett. Men så skjedde det noe som i hvertfall gjorde meg litt paff og visste ikke helt hvor jeg skulle gjøre av meg. Læreren klappet i hendene og sa "nå kan dere gi gavene" og de mange folkene som var på tur der overøste med mange poser med gaver til barnehagen. Selvfølgelig har disse områdene dårlig råd, og jeg skulle mer enn gjerne hatt med noe til disse barna jeg også. Men jeg klarer ikke å unngå å tenke på at denne måten å gjøre det på er i stor grad er med på å forsterke stereotypien vi har hørt mye om der de "hvite" er millionærer og kan bare overpøse med gaver og at de ikke trenger å utvikle egne ferdigheter for så lenge de synes synd på oss får vi gaver. Dette snakket guiden vår også mye om. Han fortalte oss om hvordan missforstått "nødhjelp" hadde påvirket landet. "Do not give us fish, give us fishingrods so that we can learn to provide for ourselves."
We also poked our heads into a day care center that was part of this center. Here the children sang at full volume, this was fantastic to see. I don't think it can be compared with any other kindergartens or schools I have seen. But then something happened that certainly made me a little taken aback and I did not know quite where to go. The teacher clapped her hands and said "now you can give the gifts" and the many people who were on tour lavished with many bags of gifts for the day care. Of course, these poor areas, and I would be more than happy to have had something for these kids, too. But I can not help but think that this way of doing it, to a large extent, contributes to reinforce the stereotype we have heard a lot about the "whites" are millionaires and can just throw money and gifts around" which could lead to that they will not need to develop their skills for as long as they feel sorry for us, we get gifts. Our guide talked also much about this. He told us about how misunderstood "aid" had affected the country. "Do not give us fish, give us fishingrods so that we can learn to provide for ourselves."
Etter en stund kom vi til et lite hus som viste seg å være guidens hjem. Han inviterte oss inn slik at vi kunne få se hvordan han og mange andre prøvde å gjøre det beste ut av forholdene og skape et hjem.
After a while we came to a house which turned out to be the guide's home. He invited us in so that we could see how he and many others tried to make the best of circumstances and create a home.
Overalt hvor vi gikk ble vi møtt av kjempe hyggelige mennesker som hilste og sang. Rett utenfor guidens hjem møtte vi noen ekstremt sjarmerende barn:) De ville gjerne stille opp på bilde og synes også det var veldig morsomt å få se på bildene av seg selv. Det var så fint å se hvordan de viste omsorg for hverandre å passet på at også den aller minste av dem fikk se like mye:)
Everywhere we went we were greeted by very friendly people who greeted and sang. Just outside the guide's home we met some very charming kids:) They were happy to be taken pictures of and also thought it was really fun to look at the pictures of themselves. It was so nice to see how they cared for each other to make sure that even the smallest of them saw just as much:)
Our guide was very good and was always clear about that these trips is not for us to feel sorry for people who live there, but to show the strength in all that they as a nation have achieved and what the people with such poor living conditions have been able to accomplish with so little at hand. It was strange to leave because it was with very conflicting emotions. For although it is amazing how much they have accomplished with so little resources, it is difficult not to feel sorry for them and feel guilty about how good we have it back home..
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