One of the stereotypes about Africa I heard before I came, was how the people had nothing. People asked about indoor plumbing, where I would be living etc. Even once I arrived, locals would expectantly ask us "is this what you pictured when you thought of Africa?"
What I've come to find is that wild animals don't roam the streets or all people live in the poor conditions some people expect, it varies. A large issue in Africa are the inequalities. In South Africa, Apartheid was only outlawed 23 years ago. For perspective, that's my sister's entire lifetime. Much of the segregation still remains. Areas are referred to as "former white areas," "former black areas," etc. However, most of the time, these areas are still mainly split like that. It ends up that some people have nice houses that remind me of my own in a US suburb. This is while some communities are shacks with a few shared outdoor portapotties, and others live in large mansions. It's not an overall "they have nothing" but that some people have it all, while others lack resources. The disparities are glaring and the racial undertones are not deep below the surface. People will calmly state others races as white, black, colored, which are people who are mixed race, or Indian. It is quite shocking coming from the US where race is supposed to a topic avoided. They also define racial areas quite clearly. Townships were where the blacks lived and suburbs were for whites. As a US suburb girl, it seems strange that the term doesn't simply mean near a bigger city. Although given the disparities and racial separation in the US, maybe it's more similar than we would like to admit. In South Africa, these housing areas are still split almost the same due to cost and societal expectations. There have been different government funded programs such as solar panels or housing units built. Unfortunately, informal areas will spring up and the government cannot enforce their policies since if they forced people off the land, then they would have nowhere to live. South Africa still has a long way to go for racial integration, but to be fair the country is young and trying to figure it out.
*no pictures included because I don't think I have a right to come and take pictures of people's homes
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