ABOVE: Nelson Mandela's current home. He was the former president of SA.
Right before Christmas Pat and I went on a township tour. (Randy and Cody - Pat's parents- went on the same tour the day before us. We traded off watching the girls at home and going on the tour.) The Township we saw was called "Soweto."
Soweto stands for "South Western Township." So-We- To...get it!!
Soweto ranges from "VERY poor" all the way to "not so bad"...These are pictures of a squatter camp - The poorest of the poor. These kids are offered schooling from the government, but the school systems are poor.
The little boy with the orange shirt was sooo cute. I wanted to adopt him right then and there. He LOVED that hat that someone gave him and kept putting it on and taking it off.
Above: A garden. They eat mainly veggies that they grow and pap ("a traditional
porridge made from
mielie-meal (ground
maize or other grain)" They also eat rice, but only when they can afford it.
Below: A Grandma and her grandson. She watches him during the day while the parents work. This is where they all live. Everyone sleeps in the same bed...babies, kids, adults...everyone.
Sad to say, this picture actually makes the room look even bigger than it was.
Here is the other side of the 1 room hut...the kitchen. There is no running water in each little hut. The have one outside faucet for like 100 or more people (can't remember the exact number the guy said.) They have a few outhouses for the toilet for EVERYONE to share.
I think the pictures say it all here.
Next we went to the "nicer" part of Soweto. This is called a Shebeen. A shebeen is "Shebeens are the previously illegal drinking houses particular to South Africa. This version of ‘the local’ is the vibrant heart of social life and where there's a township there’s a Shebeen!"
This one was legal and called "Wandie's Place" We met Wandie the owner. He was cool.
Pat and I both had a beer here. Pat also had lunch here, but I opted out of eating here. I know, I'm a chicken.
Above: The front of Wandie's Place. Pretty nice huh. It was so much nicer then I had expected it to be.
Below: Soccer Stadium...where the 2010 World Cup was held.
Here are a few pictures of Mavis, the maid, with Lillie. All the women with babies wrap them onto their backs like you see here. Lillie loved it and walked all around with Mavis!
On Christmas Eve we had a party at our house for all the Black and Veatch families. We had all the kids make cookies for Santa. The kids also did sparklers outside. For adult fun we had a gift exchange. We served fruit and cheese and cracker trays and plenty of desserts. Oh and plenty of alcohol as well. (It was an after dinner type party).
We attempted to take pictures of Isabel and Lillian, but if one wasn't running away, the other was. So we just did a family pic instead.
Below: All the kids making cookies for Santa. Can you see Randy in there running this show??
Christmas Morning!!!
Tons and tons of little kids presents. Where will we put it all??!!? Our house was a total mess.
Below: The power kept going out so I bought Pat some head lights - we had Lil try them all on. Randy and Cody also bought us a lantern as a gift. haha
On Christmas day we all went in the pool while Pat smoked ribs! Yum Yum!
MERRY CHRISTMAS from Africa...
