Bonne Esperance

We drove through Musenberg, on the way to Philipe.  Our driver, Dickey, told us that Musenberg is one of the worst black townships, when it comes to gangs and violence.  The time was 3:00 in the afternoon.  There were so many people out on the streets.  Children walking home from the township school, adults just out walking, people, people, people.  At all of the street corners, where the "robots" are (we call them traffic lights), were fruit and vegetable vendors.  These vendors run out into the streets between the cars to sell large bags of oranges and avocados, mostly.

When we got to Philipe, we had been told to look for the Police Station, and the Women's Center was directly across the street from that.  But we didn't need to look far.  As we turned on the street where we thought the center was, we saw the biggest electrical tower that I have ever seen.  It was enormous.  Directly underneath, as in one of the feet was next to the swing set, was Bonne Esperance Women's Center.

In preparation for the Entreprenerial (oh, that spelling doesn't look correct ....) and Leadership Workshops that Subina and I are giving later this month .... errr ... week, we have been meeting with different agencies that deal with Foreign Nationals (ie, refugees), to get an idea as to the process behind the paperwork to becoming a national.  Today's meeting was with Jane, the Program Director at Bonne Esperance Women's Center.

Under the auspices of the Catholic Welfare and Development agency, BE opened its doors in 1995.  The idea of the agency is to serve women and families that have just arrived in South Africa. The statistics show that the majority of women come from Congo, then Zimbabwe, Brumda, Uganda, with other African countries following.

In order to get a bed in the facility, you must be a political refugee, seeking aslyum, having no paperwork as of yet. You can stay a maximum of six months.

This is not my photo, this photo is from the website.  When I asked if I could take photographs, I was told no because women are worried that they will be identified and returned to their countries of origins.  But this little family is indicitive of the families that I saw there.

As is ever present in Cape Town, and maybe South Africa in general, trash was everywhere.  Sand was everywhere.  Because it was raining, mud was everywhere.  Yet, look at how clean and white those clothes are on the woman and the baby.  While this photo was not taken yesterday, the clothes would be the same.

We talked with Jane who explained how difficult it is for the Foreign Nationals to get jobs here.  Xenophobia is rising again, now that the World Cup tourists have gone home and the jobs have ended.  Violence is already starting to break out.  There was a tension amongst the women of the shelter about leaving the shelter and going out into the world, and perhaps not coming home.

We toured the "facilities", which included 47 beds (often holding one mom and a variety of children).  Current capacity was 53 adults and 27 children. 

Keep in mind that the 1/4 of an acre that holds the center, there were five buildings, all staggered under the large electric tower.  The four feet of that thing were everywhere, plus the buzzing those things make ....  add in the concertina wire around the perimiter .... not exactly a safe and warm environment in which to live.

As I looked at the women of the shelter, I had to keep reminding myself that these were medical doctors, psychologists, accountants.  These had been highly-educated professional women until they had to pick up their children and flee whatever country they had been living in, and head to South Africa, who has a liberal refugee acceptance policy.  These women, who were sitting in tattered yet clean clothing, were very much like me. 

While I don't really believe in a "God" of sorts, I couldn't help but think of the phrase:

"There but for the grace of God go I"