If you have any difficulty picturing what a squatter camp looks like or where they are located- you need to watch this video I took on the second day of our VBS. It really makes it quite clear I think.
Julie, why is there such a difference in the living conditions? What do the people in the houses do/work...? Is there a story behind this? Thanks for sharing!
I probably don't know the best answer to this Leah, but from what I understood, the people in the squatter camps have moved here from the country outside of the city of Durban. They move here so that they can get jobs. They don't always get jobs, but even those that do, continue to be in such poverty that they can't afford to live anywhere but in these squatter camps. The country is doing all it can to make jobs available, but most just don't pay enough for the people to really survive. Most of the kids we saw, their parents were working, so the kids were left to fend for themselves before and after school until an adult came home. Younger children would be left in "shack creches" where the parent would pay 10 rand for an adult to watch their children all day while they worked. The shack would have around 20 or more kids in it. They would be forced to sit on the dirt floor for 10 hours with nothing to do, in the dark, in silence. Babies are laid on the floor on their backs for the entire day. They don't have toys, they aren't allowed outside at all because it isn't safe. The horrifying fact is that the Zulu culture believes that in order for an adult man to get rid of HIV he needs to have s-x with a Zulu vir-in or a white woman. So r-pe is an everyday occurance and children as young as 5 have been attacked repeatedly. This is why the children are kept inside the shack and not allowed outside, not to mention the live electrical wires that are laying on the ground everywhere, where people are stealing electricity. I believe that the people that live in the real houses have the higher paying jobs, or they are white. We don't really know what racisim is here in America anymore. Overthere it is life. The white people rule over the zulu people. It is sickening the way they are treated. I hope that helps you understand a little better.
Julie, why is there such a difference in the living conditions? What do the people in the houses do/work...? Is there a story behind this? Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI probably don't know the best answer to this Leah, but from what I understood, the people in the squatter camps have moved here from the country outside of the city of Durban. They move here so that they can get jobs. They don't always get jobs, but even those that do, continue to be in such poverty that they can't afford to live anywhere but in these squatter camps. The country is doing all it can to make jobs available, but most just don't pay enough for the people to really survive. Most of the kids we saw, their parents were working, so the kids were left to fend for themselves before and after school until an adult came home. Younger children would be left in "shack creches" where the parent would pay 10 rand for an adult to watch their children all day while they worked. The shack would have around 20 or more kids in it. They would be forced to sit on the dirt floor for 10 hours with nothing to do, in the dark, in silence. Babies are laid on the floor on their backs for the entire day. They don't have toys, they aren't allowed outside at all because it isn't safe. The horrifying fact is that the Zulu culture believes that in order for an adult man to get rid of HIV he needs to have s-x with a Zulu vir-in or a white woman. So r-pe is an everyday occurance and children as young as 5 have been attacked repeatedly. This is why the children are kept inside the shack and not allowed outside, not to mention the live electrical wires that are laying on the ground everywhere, where people are stealing electricity. I believe that the people that live in the real houses have the higher paying jobs, or they are white. We don't really know what racisim is here in America anymore. Overthere it is life. The white people rule over the zulu people. It is sickening the way they are treated. I hope that helps you understand a little better.
ReplyDelete