Today we had the honour of visiting Kliptown, and as soon as we got there we were greeted by Bob, the founder of the Kliptown youth services available to them all. We were then introduced to our tour guide, unloaded the bags of clothes we have all brought and then set off to start the journey around the town. As soon as we turned onto one of the main streets, it was obvious that the poverty had a huge effect visually and on the environment itself, however had the absolute opposite effect on the people from the outset and throughout the whole town. All of the children were smiling, playing, and happy, as young as 4 or 5 wondering around the streets on their own. This however did not change anything as the spirits and character of these young children was absolutely amazing! They all said hello to every one of us, waved and high fives us and loved to just speak to us all; and vice versa!! To me, I feel that the people had such a positive outlook on something that we would see as something so negative and limiting to a persons quality of life and their smiles, mentality and friendliness absolutely radiated. After a tour around
Kliptown, we all gathered back for a performance just for us, put together by adults and children that lasted about 25 minutes - consisting of cultural and historical songs, and lively dances by the children, each and every one of them eager to showcase all of their talent. The day ended with us meeting some of the children when they saw the clothes that we had brought over, all incredibly excited and seemingly shocked at what was infront of them. They were all so happy and appreciative, and it truly showed that these children even from such a young age are hugely impacted by their conditions and living capabilities, yet not in the way that I thought. My opinion and outlook has been totally changed, that I can say only has happened through this first hand experience and meeting of the residents of this incredible environment.
Amelia W
Kliptown, we all gathered back for a performance just for us, put together by adults and children that lasted about 25 minutes - consisting of cultural and historical songs, and lively dances by the children, each and every one of them eager to showcase all of their talent. The day ended with us meeting some of the children when they saw the clothes that we had brought over, all incredibly excited and seemingly shocked at what was infront of them. They were all so happy and appreciative, and it truly showed that these children even from such a young age are hugely impacted by their conditions and living capabilities, yet not in the way that I thought. My opinion and outlook has been totally changed, that I can say only has happened through this first hand experience and meeting of the residents of this incredible environment.
Amelia W
Today we visited, the highly anticipated, Kliptown after our visit to Matseliso High School and the Nike Centre. We piled into our mini buses and set off, preparing ourselves for what we were about to experience. As we were driving, you could see a clear decline in the surrounding area and landscape; from cars, to people/horses pulling carts; from paved roads, to dirt tracks; from the beautifully built houses, to scraps of metal thrown together. We pulled into a train station car park and to our right was a wall with "KLIPTOWN" written in huge decorative graffiti and then we turned right and entered Kliptown. Driving down this long dirt road, it finally hit me that I was about to witness the scene of something I have only ever seen on tv or in textbooks.
We arrived at S.K.Y. (Soweto Kliptown Youth) a charity based in Kliptown, for Kliptown, where we were greeted by Brother Bob - he founded this charity when he was just 16! It is 30 years old this year. He explained to us what was going to happen then introduced us to our tour guide Zimi, someone who was born here and Brother Bob has practically raised him since he was a child. The welcoming we received and the feelings we felt are indescribable, but we were overcome with so much emotion as they addressed us as brothers and sisters. Thus we began our tour of the informal settlement.
At first, I was overwhelmed by the contrast between the developed urban area on one side of the railway - including the heritage centre - and the sheer poverty of the shanty town on the other. We continued with our tour and we encountered lots of young children, very fascinated and intrigued by us. Many children no older than 5 were following us around and showing us their homes and different areas; they were so full of life and energy, it was absolutely heartwarming. A gentleman even converts his home into a tuck shop during the day and changes back to his family home for the night.
Every single resident of Kliptown has built a home for themselves. The scraps of metal that had be thrown together, to me, felt like much more of a home than the some of the beautifully built stone houses. Their personalities struck me, as they were so confident and comfortable, giving such a community feel. The whole thing was honestly very overwhelming because we were witnessing things that many people don't ever get the chance to. It's going to be impossible to describe to anyone back at home.
After our tour finished, the S.K.Y community greeted us with singing, dancing, storytelling, art exhibitions, etc. This part of the day was incredible, the amount of talent and confidence from all of the children and members of the community was implausible and something that you would never witness back at home, in England. Once the greetings were finished, we gathered outdoors to distribute our agglomeration of donations to the children of Kliptown. The happiness radiating from them and the way you feel after gifting them is something that I cannot describe with words. It was an eye opening experience and something that I and everyone else here will never forget.
Emily D
We arrived at S.K.Y. (Soweto Kliptown Youth) a charity based in Kliptown, for Kliptown, where we were greeted by Brother Bob - he founded this charity when he was just 16! It is 30 years old this year. He explained to us what was going to happen then introduced us to our tour guide Zimi, someone who was born here and Brother Bob has practically raised him since he was a child. The welcoming we received and the feelings we felt are indescribable, but we were overcome with so much emotion as they addressed us as brothers and sisters. Thus we began our tour of the informal settlement.
At first, I was overwhelmed by the contrast between the developed urban area on one side of the railway - including the heritage centre - and the sheer poverty of the shanty town on the other. We continued with our tour and we encountered lots of young children, very fascinated and intrigued by us. Many children no older than 5 were following us around and showing us their homes and different areas; they were so full of life and energy, it was absolutely heartwarming. A gentleman even converts his home into a tuck shop during the day and changes back to his family home for the night.
Every single resident of Kliptown has built a home for themselves. The scraps of metal that had be thrown together, to me, felt like much more of a home than the some of the beautifully built stone houses. Their personalities struck me, as they were so confident and comfortable, giving such a community feel. The whole thing was honestly very overwhelming because we were witnessing things that many people don't ever get the chance to. It's going to be impossible to describe to anyone back at home.
After our tour finished, the S.K.Y community greeted us with singing, dancing, storytelling, art exhibitions, etc. This part of the day was incredible, the amount of talent and confidence from all of the children and members of the community was implausible and something that you would never witness back at home, in England. Once the greetings were finished, we gathered outdoors to distribute our agglomeration of donations to the children of Kliptown. The happiness radiating from them and the way you feel after gifting them is something that I cannot describe with words. It was an eye opening experience and something that I and everyone else here will never forget.
Emily D