South Africa
Content
South Africa: A Brief Description
Before reading about the first event in South Africa it may be helpful for me to paint a
picture of what it is like in the area we were serving. Here are some facts and stats about
South Africa and it’s black townships…
A typical black community in South Africa is called a township or
squatter camp. It is made up of shacks that usually house 10 to 20
people.
Townships developed as a result of the “Group Areas Act” of the
1950’s, where the different races were forced to segregate their
living situations. This was the beginning of what we know as the
Apartheid, the black S. Africans refer to it as “The Struggle.”
Though the “Group Areas Act” has been abolished most
communities still remain segregated and there is a large gap
between the rich and the poor (the majority of the population).
On April 27 1994, only 10 years ago, for the first time in South African
history the black majority was allowed to elect their own leaders. After
being a political prisoner for 27 years Nelson Mandela was elected as the
first black S. African President.
The township we worked with was Philippi, which is made up of
about 100,000, and close to 90% of the working class is
unemployed.
The clinic in Philippi serves over 300,000 people and has one
doctor.
The life expectancy in all of South Africa is 31 and is even lower in the townships.
Over 25% of the adult population is infected with HIV/AIDS.
More then 600 people in South Africa die a day from AIDS related
complications.
50% of children under the age of 15 will die of AIDS related
causes by the age of 25.
A recent report from the Medical Research Council estimated that
AIDS will account for 45% if adult deaths this year and 78.6% if
deaths by 2010.
It is predicted that South Africa will have 5 million orphans by
2008.
Each year over 150,000 children are orphaned by AIDS.
Before reading about the first event in South Africa it may be helpful for me to paint a
picture of what it is like in the area we were serving. Here are some facts and stats about
South Africa and it’s black townships…
A typical black community in South Africa is called a township or
squatter camp. It is made up of shacks that usually house 10 to 20
people.
Townships developed as a result of the “Group Areas Act” of the
1950’s, where the different races were forced to segregate their
living situations. This was the beginning of what we know as the
Apartheid, the black S. Africans refer to it as “The Struggle.”
Though the “Group Areas Act” has been abolished most
communities still remain segregated and there is a large gap
between the rich and the poor (the majority of the population).
On April 27 1994, only 10 years ago, for the first time in South African
history the black majority was allowed to elect their own leaders. After
being a political prisoner for 27 years Nelson Mandela was elected as the
first black S. African President.
The township we worked with was Philippi, which is made up of
about 100,000, and close to 90% of the working class is
unemployed.
The clinic in Philippi serves over 300,000 people and has one
doctor.
The life expectancy in all of South Africa is 31 and is even lower in the townships.
Over 25% of the adult population is infected with HIV/AIDS.
More then 600 people in South Africa die a day from AIDS related
complications.
50% of children under the age of 15 will die of AIDS related
causes by the age of 25.
A recent report from the Medical Research Council estimated that
AIDS will account for 45% if adult deaths this year and 78.6% if
deaths by 2010.
It is predicted that South Africa will have 5 million orphans by
2008.
Each year over 150,000 children are orphaned by AIDS.
