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LAURA JANE KENNY | foreign correspondant
APU loves community. Well, of course you know that. Who can go to class or meetings without hearing about the importance (or APU’s desire and love for) community? If you need a refresher, just grab a few RAs and I’m sure they can fill you in. I was pretty sure I had this community thing down. The last thing I expected was to be blown away by the community in South Africa, but that is exactly what happened.
During our first weekend in South Africa, 33 students piled into a bus and drove through Soweto, the urban area of Johannesburg. Our first stop was at an informal settlement. Informal settlements are usually a series of man-made houses—and we’re talking houses made out of metal scrap. I mean, the kind of thing you see in movies or read about in books.
When I first looked around, I only saw poverty. I saw little girls with holes in their shirts and houses smaller than the mods fitting eight people. However, as the guide led us through the informal settlement, I also saw what the South African culture is brimming with: community.
I learned that each street elects a resident to keep the peace for its street and its residents. If someone is in extreme need in the settlement, other members in the community will supply that member with food for as long as is needed. And get this—they don’t expect to be thanked. They don’t expect to be seen as philanthropic. They are not expecting any praise, because this sort of thing is common. It’s expected.
Our little APU student body went to church today, and again the sense of community and family was so heavy in the air that one could not breathe without taking it in. We were personally welcomed and greeted by multiple members of the congregation, and some even invited us to have lunch with them later in the semester. These weren’t the kinds of invitations that are lofty and ambiguous and aren’t meant to be taken up on. They invited us with the intent of having us over and feeding us and talking to us until our stomachs and hearts were filled.
I expect that with only 33 students and four months of quality time, this study abroad bunch is going to be in pretty darn close community. I would love to be an RA next year and I have what I think are great plans to build community.
However, being in South Africa for just over one week has already opened my mind to what love for one’s neighbor can look like. It is more than giving when asked, or secretly hoping to get recognized in Kaleo for doing something awesome for someone else. In this country, it is a way of life.
Man, what a way to live.
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