While on the Buck-I-SERV trip to Cape Town, South Africa, I was able to serve the Philippi township and learn about the history and culture of South Africa. In Philippi, my team and I worked with a program called EduCares, which runs preschools in the area. We helped the children with their daily activities and played with them. We also worked with an organization called Sakhulwazi, which provides fresh vegetables to the community. We weeded and planted in the garden alongside the South African volunteers. Additionally, we had lessons on HIV-AIDS, apartheid, and Afrikaans among others in order to broaden our knowledge of the culture, history, and current crises in South Africa.

During my time in Cape Town, my assumptions about South Africa as a country and Africa as a whole where challenged. Before participating in this service trip, and having never been to Africa before, I regret to say that I envisioned a dirty, rather helpless place. I imagined Cape Town to be a crowded and outdated city; what I actually experienced surprised me. The city center of Cape Town itself was not unlike any modern American city, with gleaming skyscrapers, highways, and enormous, luxurious shopping malls. Cape Town had restaurants with cuisines from all over the world, colorful houses, and clean streets. It was a thriving metropolis with an African flair.

Although the city center of Cape Town was modern, the outskirts of the city were impoverished. The unequal distribution of wealth shocked me. Inside the city, people lived comfortably, and their lives were filled with all the modern amenities a wealthy lifestyle can afford. Shopping malls, coffee shops, and nice restaurants surrounded their sturdy brick houses. A ten minute drive outside the luxurious city, and poverty reigned. People lived in tin shacks on dirt roads. Only ten minutes away! I was surprised to see the effects of apartheid still so visible in the city, even though it was eradicated 25 years ago. For the most part, wealth is still distributed by the color of your skin. Even though this is still the case, the people living in the poorer townships are not helpless. They live their lives well by having families, buying and selling goods, and most importantly, caring for one another. What I will always remember from this experience is how willing the people of Philippi were to help their own people.

Sakhulwazi is an organization that provides meaningful work for women and supplies fresh vegetables to its community. Their mantra is, “Empowering people in Phillipi to solve the problems they face through teaching innovative, sustainable skills and practices”. The organization teaches sewing and beading to the women of the community and sells the goods they create in order to fund the garden as well as create an income for the women. As a bit of history, it was founded in 2006 by a woman named Rose Makosa, known to us and everyone who knows her as Mama Rose. Mama Rose is a black South African who grew up in Philippi, and instead of leave in search of a better life when she grew of age, chose to help her community. She saw a problem right where she was and chose to do something about it. The organization is 100% owned by black South Africans and 60% owned by women.

Nikki and I planting kale seeds at Sakhulwazi

Larissa, Mama Rose, Julia and I at Sakhulwazi

Kaiha is Mama Rose’s right hand man. He has helped make her dream come true by working out the details and logistics of the project. When we first met him, I remember him thanking us for being so willing to do whatever he needed us to do. Our labor was at his command, whether he wanted cleaning, weeding, planting, or any number of odd jobs to be done, we would do it. He was so thankful for that, he said it was refreshing. He said, “Lots of people want to volunteer at this place. So often they don’t listen to us, they tell us what they are going to do rather than the other way around. Who knows the needs of this community better than us who live here?” What he said stuck out to me. What he said was true! Throughout history we can see examples of how people of higher standing, greater wealth, or more advanced technology automatically assumed that their greater wealth meant that they had a greater knowledge of the area as well. Although money and improved technology can help a community in a very meaningful way, it must be implemented correctly. Sometimes charity can be toxic for a community if it is not delivered correctly.

Kaiha was so relieved when we came to help Sakhulwazi because he knew our help would be delivered correctly. We always listened to him because he knew the area and the needs of his community better than anyone. Kaiha knew our service would be completed with a good deal of humility and respect. In conclusion, we must not assume that those of a lower position than us are lazy or ignorant. Philippi can benefit from outside help, but its people have always been ambitious and generous in generating new solutions to the problems they see in their community. Africa, although some areas may be poor, is not helpless.

This shift in my thinking was a humbling and very welcome experience. When coming on this trip, I was eager to learn more about service and experience life in an impoverished area, as with my mechanical engineering degree I hope to do a good deal of humanitarian work. I learned from Kaiha on this trip that sometimes charity or volunteerism intended to help can actually harm a community. I will carry my experience working at Sakhulwazi forward with me as I pursue mechanical engineering and using it to help others. I’ll remember that sometimes a project that looks good on paper may not be the best for community when implemented, that help must be delivered with a good dose of humility, and that volunteering is the most rewarding for both the helper and the helped when they work alongside each other, sharing their knowledge pools rather than declaring one dominant. Altogether, I know I am better equipped to serve others in the future and look forward to doing so.

Planting Spekboom at Sakhulwazi