South Africa Update 13th Jan

Hello again from Cape Town SA!



Well it is almost time for me to move on now. Early Friday (14th) morning I fly to Port Elizabeth. I will fly East along the coast pretty much.


Once there I will meet with the organisers in the evening and finalise the training plan for the weekend, although I am pretty sure what I am doing as I have the same group of people for the two days, which is good as I can work through everything with them.

On Monday (17th) I will move on to Johannesburg.


The pictures I have uploaded this time are from the Cape Town Aquarium and from the Township Tour I went on Thursday.


Townships are a massive part of SA culture. At first I was looking at them from the motor way just trying to really come to terms with what it is, who and how do they live there(?) etc.


Kath who has been my host recommended I did the tour to learn about why they exist, and that people are actually being productive in trying to achieve a better life.


The tour started with a Museum stop which cited the history about ‘District 6’ in Cape Town. I think this paragraph will help sum up taken from http://www.districtsix.co.za/frames.htm


“District Six was named the Sixth Municipal District of Cape Town in 1867. Originally established as a mixed community of freed slaves, merchants, artisans, labourers and immigrants, District Six was a vibrant centre with close links to the city and the port. By the beginning of the twentieth century, however, the history of removals and marginalisation had begun.


The first to be 'resettled' were black South Africans, forcibly displaced from the District in 1901. As the more prosperous moved away to the suburbs, the area became the neglected ward of Cape Town.

In 1966, it was declared a white area under the Group areas Act of 1950, and by 1982, the life of the community was over. 60 000 people were forcibly removed to barren outlying areas aptly known as the Cape Flats, and their houses in District Six were flattened by bulldozers.


The District Six Museum, established in December 1994, works with the memories of these experiences and with the history of forced removals more generally”


This words were from: http://www.districtsix.co.za/frames.htm and not my own.

The Township people who welcomed us into their homes and showed us how they live their daily life were lovely. The picture where the group is drinking from a big silver bowl, was the township pub. Where locals come to interact and socialise, and the beer is home brewed.


Also in the pictures are the streets and houses, which are crowded. One bed in a room represents a family, and there can be up to 3 beds in a small room, meaning 3 family’s live in that one room although they do have shared toilet and kitchen.


The kids were also great and interacted with us, and we supported the people buy buying crafts from the little market they had set up. It is important not to give money directly to anyone, as a begging culture is not what SA wants to encourage, but to support those who are building/working/using their skills to produce something.


The tour was excellent. I felt much more educated and comfortable being in the townships than I had before.


For now, I have 3 more sessions of agility training Thursday afternoon before leaving Friday morning. Thanks to my great hosts Kath & James.. Cape Town has been stunning. Lets see what the rest of SA has too offer...


‘See you now’ as the locals say here!


(Enjoy the pics in the post below.. all this was too big to fit all this into one post!)

Lee


Anyone wants to order my Workshop Training DVD please visit http://www.leegibsontraining.com/ and order online, I can post when I return home.