Reflections on Soweto—Andrea Mohr Student CMU
The first time I saw Kliptown was from a distance; I was perched on top of a bridge crossing the train tracks. An informal community in the heart of Soweto, Kliptown is home to about 40,000 people. From the bridge, I could look down and see thousands of colourful scrap metal shacks, so many they are almost on top of each other. I saw muddy roads winding through the town. Grey clouds held rain, which could only mean more mud. I thought I knew this place. I’d seen places like it on TV. There is brokenness, suffering, and so much need. I thought I knew what to expect; my heart would be filled with pity and sadness for the people of Kliptown. I thought I would leave there feeling overwhelmed and incapable of effecting any change or hope in such an impoverished community. I only Kliptown from one distant glance. It took climbing down from that bridge, entering into Kliptown, and entering into a relationship with the people who lived there for me to comprehend how little I really knew.
I was not expecting the joy I found in Kliptown. The people really loved each other and loved us! We were welcomed with laughter and waves and complicated handshakes. This was a real community. There was dependence on one another and on God; something we have lost in our culture.
Working at SKY (Soweto Kliptown Youth) for three days showed me how the people who are making a difference in this community aren’t from far-off countries or big-budget organizations. They are residents of Kliptown themselves, born and raised, with a desire to serve their community.
I wans’t expecting the generosity. At SKY, my group sorted and washed clothing donations that were going to be handed out in the community. But when SKY heard about the overwhelming need in Haiti, they decided to send the clothes there. I was blown away. These are just ordinary people who recognized another country’s need was greater than their own and they were willing to give whatever they had to help, no matter how little. What a wake-up call for me. Even as someone with so much, I am often hard-pressed to give even half of what they did.
Kliptown is a place full of need and suffering but it is also full of hope, faith, generosity, and joy. God is working in this community and His light and beauty can be seen through the brokenness. Kliptown has instilled in me this hope that I can make change, however small, through Christ who strengthens, provides, and gives purpose. How often do we observe things from the outside, thinking we’ve got it all figured out, only to find it looks much different from the inside? Just like Kliptown showed me, it’s not enough to look from a distance. Everything changes once you climb down from the bridge.
