We drove to Baragwanath, Soweto to meet with our host families. My host family was a solid matriarchal family, led by a lovely Grandmother who ran the household of 10 people. 8 Woman and 2 boys under 10.
Rebecca and I walked with two teenage girls 1 mile to their home as they didn’t have a car. The whole walk to their home the girls were insisting on carrying our bags and taking our hands as we crossed streets. In retrospect it is kind of funny, never in my life have I been greeted by so many people I didn’t know with a hug, a kiss and an “I love you”. This was so common that I thought that everyone was friendly by nature but that was not the case. Fortuniate, our 16-year old hostess had her hands full defending our “honor” as she yelled at the men in Sooto. She was both nervous and excited by having 2 tall american women staying with her. She said that she would be a celebrity on Monday because according to her everyone was watching and they don’t get white visitors often. :-)
We got to the family’s home and found out that neighbors and extended family were waiting to meet us--everyone wanted to meet the “Americans”. We ran some errands with the girls via cab. It’s a make-shift system as there is no public transportation. Taxi’s are white mini-vans that run loops on certain streets. When they point a finger in the air vertically, they are going to “town” when they point a finger horizontally they are going to the “hospital”. That should give you an idea of the current state of affairs. For 5 Rand, or about $0.70 you can ride anywhere on that loop. People often jump in a taxi take it to a certain point on their journey and then walk for a mile to get to the next taxi. We took a cab with the girls who had to run some errands and eventually we had a home cooked meal together. The family gave Rebecca and I the master bedroom which made us both a bit uneasy. They obviously purchased new linens and supplied us with toiletries. I was tempted to leave money as I know this visit had a financial implication on the family, but I understood how much it meant to the family to “do” for us and to “go out of their way for us”.
I think the most notable things about the visit was the lack of men and the profound mixture of both joy and sadness these people have in their lives. As we looked through family photo albums we heard “that’s my auntie...she died”...that’s my dad...no he’s dead”. Many of the fathers of these children are MIA or they are causing more drama than good but the family allows them to stay in hopes of some financial support. It also made sense why so many of the women were doting on the men who I came with as it according to them it is rare to find a solid man in their community. Even so, they say they have received many blessings and are very joyous.
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