Cape Town is a Cosmopolitan city featuring wi-fi cafes, museums, restaurants, shopping centers and open markets in a multicultural atmosphere. Its beautiful mountains, beaches, and golf courses however, contrast starkly with the poverty stricken townships that are still home to millions of “non-white” South Africans.
The townships remain as remnants of apartheid-era policy, which relocated entire communities based on race. These racial divides still exist today as economic redistribution has not happened overnight. The result is separated communities with a wide gap in access to health care and education.
Our objective during the trip is to introduce students to both of these worlds and to encourage understanding about how they affect one another, to see what steps are being taken to improve the well-being of children and their communities, to interact with these communities, and to reflect on what they have learned about children and families at the University of Illinois and what they have experienced in South Africa.
Jan Brooks, 2009
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