Saturday 4 April / 21 Days Lock Down Reflection
Over the years I have been involved in numerous humanitarian projects within our informal settlements, otherwise known as townships. These photos, taken some years back, are from Dunoon Township, outside of Cape Town. I did two consecutive projects here, each lasting over a month.
Spending time each day in this setting, the plight of the poor becomes that much more acute. Lack of adequate sewerage, water and sanitation was a daily reality for this community. I’m pretty sure this scenario plays out within most of our countries’ townships, making up more than a quarter of the 58 million estimated population. There were days that I walked past open sewerage, flowing through the streets. The complacency of the situation, like it was some kind of normal, brought home how little our government was doing to address these disturbing realities.
The year was 2010. So much hype was in the air with the upcoming Soccer World Cup, that we were to host. Budgets were being blown on building state of the art stadiums and covering up graffiti on the predominant tourists routes into the city. The poor as always, got the cold shoulder. Nobody seemed to care.
There are so many complicated challenges these townships already face. Lack of adequate education, violence – domestic and otherwise, flooding, fires, gangs, the list goes on. Now we are in lock down. Everyone trying to hide from the dreaded virus. How exactly does this scenario play out in townships? Confined to a shack, lack of income, lack of food. “Remember to wash your hands with soapy water for at least 20 seconds” … many of our population don’t have access to clean running water, let alone a flushing toilet. I’m pretty certain that the biggest threat to these communities currently is not covid-19, it is lack of food and hunger.