Travelling by the Townships in South Africa

With the lush green wine lands, the Franschhoek orange grapevines, the bluish-pink mountain tops, and the fragrant white rose gardens looming ahead, the 45-minute drive outside Cape Town was a colorful rainbow of beauty; ironically, though, the colors which flagged my attention the most, which drove me – no, commanded me -- to pay attention weren’t from the grandeur before us, but from the squalor to our right.

Colors of red and blue and green and yellow and pink sporadically dropped in an ocean of dreary-grey tin and dirty-brown cardboard, poverty-stricken homes whose overall squalor stretched on for infinity. Not colors of decoration or beauty or light, but colors of the only materials that were apparently available for shelter. Coca-cola signs and red barn tin and tan plywood sprayed with orange graffiti paint and propped up next to a lean-to shanty with a green roof and drops of purple hanging from a clothesline even though there was obviously no water or plumbing.  Sudden, sporadic bursts of color peaking from behind a neatly-constructed fence which attempted to block the deprivation from the highway we traveled; but it didn’t. Block my view, that is. And thank you, God, that it didn’t. Otherwise I would have gone home with a skewed sense of reality, an obscured vision from a near-perfect vacation, an unrealistic impression of a part of the world whose beauty is more than surface deep.

South Africa is rich in more than luxury. Rich in history and beauty and tradition and animals, but also rich in people who cannot be kept out of sight merely because a barrier tries to hide their painful poverty. In an era where we lock doors and windows and safes and use dead bolts and pad locks and security systems, keeping others out is an important part of our lives. But the fence along this particular highway did not keep my heart out of the townships of South Africa.

Ian’s repetitive phrase, words he chanted so often it was driving us crazy --  “drive left, drive left, drive left” – made me wonder if the real reason we drove on the left side of the road was so that we wouldn’t look to the right. Yet that would have been a mistake. For looking to the right, even though my senses were assaulted by an embodiment of dashed dreams, the picture I saw still breathed life, life that fights to flourish in the most beautiful of countryside, yet the most impoverished of circumstances. Life where mud huts and thatched roofs and villagers cooking on open stoves look like the Hyatt Regency compared to the poverty-stricken townships that stretched for miles on our right before we turned left, leaving them behind.      

In a luxury-travel business, however, Ker and Downey is doing it right. Aware of what is on the other side of the fence, this company isn’t straddling the fence, but climbing over it, determined to help people who are suffering in many African countries. And seeing the townships outside Cape Town made me appreciate their efforts and their commitment even more.   

On the Ker and Downey philanthropy page, you can see for yourself their dedicated vision. Whether it’s Mosquito Nets for Uganda (providing blood tests,  doctors’ visits, supplies, and clothing in addition to the desperately needed mosquito nets that exponentially reduce diseases), their involvement in the philanthropic outreach of Dresses for Africa, or the Manna of God movement in Botswana and other impoverished nations,  Ker and Downey has climbed the fence and is facing what needs to be done.

I was traveling on a Ker & Downey trip to a luscious land of white roses and orange autumn vines and golf course green mountains, to a country where the path was as exciting and as enriching as the experiences I had, and the townships of South Africa, however brief the moment we shared, were an equally important part of the time we spent in this rainbow country.

For more information on the philanthropic ventures of Ker and Downey, contact: kerdowney.com.

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For the 7^th year, Manna of God presents

A Summer Bible Study for Women of All Denominations.

This year, we’ll explore the lives of three New Testament women whose lives answer the question: “Is Jesus Enough?”

Wednesday, July 11 at 9:00 AM;

Wednesday, July 18 at 9:00 AM;

and Wednesday evening, July 25 at 6:30 PM.

Bellville United Methodist Church in Room 204.

There is no charge for this study, but a love offering to support Mosquito Nets for Uganda and Dresses for Africa will be appreciated. More information on these programs will be presented.

Help us spread the word, and we hope to see you there!

Gana Marek, Donna Riefkohl, Vicki Porter, Becky Bader

Contact Gana at gmarek@kerdowney.com or call Becky at 979-885-9526 if you need more information.