In the Township

Notes from earlier this week........

We're up in the township today. Dian is teaching an institute class at one of our member's home, while I sit in the car nursing a bad cold and not wanting to expose others. The township is somewhat like our Indian Reservations back home in the USA. They were set up by the South African government to house the black populations during the apartide years. Today the township is made up of a variety of very basic one-room block structures and corrugated metal shacks with no plumbing or sanitary facilities. Outhouses of various shapes and structure are scattered about. They estimate the population here in the Port Alfred township is about 50,000. By contrast, the population of the Soweto township in Johannesburg is about 5 million.

It's sunny and warm today, a welcome relief from the cold and rainy weather we've had over the past couple of weeks. As I sit here in the car with the windows down enjoying a nice warm breeze, the air is filled with a cacophony of sounds. Off in the distance, a large group are singing traditional African chants or songs, probably at a wedding or funeral. Somewhere closer by, someone is actually playing a little Kenny G. The sound of children playing is everywhere.
It's a good day!