First stop: Zwelethemba, South Africa

Zwelethamba is a township located an hour and a half away from Cape Town. But first off, let me give a bit of history about Zwelethemba and townships. During apartheid, the people of South Africa were divided into three groups: black, colored and white people. Townships were created during apartheid and were where many of the black and colored people were relocated to. Often, these townships were created in areas that had poor land and poor natural resources, such as gold or diamond mines. Even though apartheid was abolished in 1994, townships are still mostly inhabited by black and colored people and perhaps only time will tell if this demographic distribution will change.

My immediate impression of Zwelethemba was that it was nice cozy little town that reminded me a little bit of the US due to the English on all the signs and also of India with the dirt roads and trash on the side of the road. However, the people are incredibly welcoming and hospitable. My host family in Zwelethemba consisted of Mama Eunice, her daughters Thully and Annelin/Phelesa (English/Xhosa name) and Thully's daughter Cecil. Mama Eunice's mission was to make us feel at home and I have to say, she definitely succeeded and completed exceeded my expectations, but I will share more about that in my next post.