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On Friday, I accompanied my friend Rob into Grahamstown to do various errands (you know, buy communion wine, votive candles, tp, snacks for Stacey, all the things you need to run a school and a monastery!) After dropping several of the students off and doing our shopping, we headed to the Location, known to whites as the township. This is where most of the population lives, up on the vast hillside, away from the 19th century English buildings and churches.

The people live either in small two room government provided houses, all in long rows, or in shacks, mostly made out of sheet metal and an occasional wall. There is of course no running water, and the lucky families have an outhouse near them.

We were there on a school afternoon, so there were children all over the place, wearing uniforms of the various schools in the town. We saw lots of donkeys, some roaming loose, some pulling carts. Rob pointed out a street where the government had planted some trees, but all that was left were the small trunks, standing like sticks poked into the ground; people had cut them down for firewood.

HIV/AIDS is present among over half the population, and tuberculosis is also a major health problem. Unemployment is very high. The main occupations are education and tourism, so no work or opportunities for most people.

I must say that I had few words as we drove all around to witness the conditions of this town. It reminded me immediately of the years I spent in Hong Kong as a child. Shanty towns, people living on top of each other without access to the most basic human needs, water, security, a roof over one's head, adequate food. There is really no word to describe it. No picture will explain. I now understand why people talk about the contrasts of South Africa...incredible beauty, devastating gaps between classes and races and genders. Praying for justice and peace today.