This story is from a week ago, when Clayton took us to Soweto. We stopped in Kliptown to visit SKY's (Soweto Kliptown Youth) community center. This is one of the poorest sections of Joburg, the housing is all informal. The people live in tin shacks (sheets propped up against each other), there's no running water, the "shops" are part of a room in the houses where you can buy one matchbox at a time (because the average person in the community cannot afford to buy a dozen of them). There is no sewage system, of course - so there are open drains everywhere. There are banks of broken down toilets distributed in the community that are emptied once a week.
As he walked us through the community, showing us around and introducing us to people occasionally, our young guide told us: "Yes, we're a poor community. Thank you for coming to visit us instead of stopping at the bridge, taking pictures and driving away. I do want to tell you one thing: please visit us as friends, because that gives the community hope. We love having visitors. But don't feel sorry for us because we're poor, we're rich in love. We feel sorry for you because you have George Bush as president".
The world is a very small place.
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