Soccer fever in Tembisa

I met a guy called Victor at a function. We are both involved in a initiative called beautiful people where we attempt to build friendship across racial and other lines of division. So it came to pass that Victor invited me to watch the Bafana vs France game at one of the Fan Parks in Tembisa. I was quite excited about the opportunity but at the same time a little bit apprehensive. I am a child of my time. I grew up with stories about how dangerous townships are and how much the people there hate whites and plot to kill them. I was therefore kind of grateful when Victor met me at the local police station.

We then drove to his home. Driving with so many taxi's all around you is quite stressful. I imagine it will feel much the same as driving in New York in rush hour. Apart form the taxi's there are a lot of people and some dogs on the street one should also look out for. Victor took us to his room, a small sink shack in the backyard of his parents home. Maybe it was because Victor knew we would visit but I was immediately struck by how clean and neat this room is. On the one side there was a book rack with books on many different subjects. Victor is a third year student at UNISA, a local university. On the other side of the room stood his desk. Pinned on a notice board in front of the desk are a variety of poems Victor has written. One poem that stood out was "Choice" It starts be telling what things in life we have no choice over, things like your upbringing and background and then goes on to make an important statement that every person can take responsibility for the many choices he or she are able to make. What make this poem special is that Victor's life is a living testament of the truth this poem expresses. While sitting there I reminded myself how just a few hours before I complained how cold our home is, our five bedroom three bathroom home that is! We sat with a few of his friends and discussed everything from sex to cars.

Suddenly we got interrupted by a very well known vuevuzela sound trumpeting next to us. This was promptly followed by a deep roar that shot through the whole township. This reminded us that the game has already started and that we have probably missed a goal. So we walked to the nearby fan park. There is a vibe on these streets that is difficult to describe. It is like everybody knows one another well. I haven't seen one drunk person and were surprised at how well almost everybody were dressed. We entered the fan park where 3000 young people gathered to watch the game on the big screen provided. Vuevuzela's were blown all around and the people danced and partied like I've rarely seen. In a radius of at least 20k's we were the only whites yet I strangely felt very save and at home. The vibe is indescribable!

After the game we went to the home of one of Victor's friends. In their small yard, this friend made a lovely garden, complete with lighting which he switched on to welcome us. We made a fire in a worse for wear car rim and talked and talked. What amazed me was that unlike the people in my white community nobody spoke much about themselves but on issues effecting the country and how it can be solved.

I drove home humbled by what I experienced and inspired to built more such friendships across racial lines. I'll be forever grateful for this exposure! (see pictures I took on the next blogpost I wrote in Afrikaans)