The Grahamstown divide

Since my first few weeks in Grahamstown I was struck by the enormous and blatantly obvious divide between rich and poor in our town. It feels to me like Somerset Street is some kind of a railway track. On the hill-side of the railway track is the University with its affluent students and as soon as you cross this railway track you are bombarded by street children and beggars. Only yesterday I was “harassed” for the goodness-knows how many-eth time by a beggar in town. His calls of “mamma, mamma, please, some bread, please mamma, some bread” not only had me feeling uncomfortable, but also extremely guilty. Most of us don’t think twice how lucky we are when we sit down for meals, or climb into a warm bed at night. I’m again filled with guilt as I realize how often I say “I’m starving!” in a week, when in fact I can’t even begin to describe what starvation feels like. I don’t sleep in a box in a cold doorway at night, I don’t have to scratch food out of bins and if I really want to I can ignore that these things happen at all. I don’t know what I can do to ever change this situation. I know that whatever I am doing now and still plan to do to try and help will only be a tiny drop in a massive ocean. I know I can make a start by appreciating all the privileges in my own life and continuing to do what I can, even if it is only on a small scale. Every bit helps and as students we should aim to make the gap between our University and our town smaller so that we can be a true Grahamstown community and not one divided by wealth and a lack of wealth.
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