I have to say that today was one of those days that I couldn’t really believe I was living. I had a chance to go back to the REALISTIC rehabilitation camp. Just as a reminder, REALISTIC is a substance abuse rehabilitation program for young adults. The program starts with a 20-day camp in the mountains, followed by two months of 9-5 daily sessions in a township center. The Realists (those undergoing the program) are just at the end of their 20-day camp. We visited this camp on my first day in Cape Town.
I was a bit bummed because I had bonded with a particular Realist. When I showed up this time I was looking forward to hanging out with him again and possibly interviewing him. When I could not find him amongst the group, one of the facilitators told me, “He had to leave because he started promoting gang boss behavior. He was going to ruin the whole thing for everyone here.” I was sad to hear that and hope that he is not going back to his old way of life in the township. Without support from the program, who knows though.
I was going back this time to hang out with the Realists and to work on a digital story telling project. A group of us have decided to create a project that documents stories of the people we meet while we are here. Since we were so inspired by the stories of the Realists, we thought it would be valuable to formally interview them on camera and hear their stories, thoughts and perspectives. Going into this I felt really nervous. I guess because I was never a professional journalist, I doubted how well I would do interviewing someone on camera.
When we arrived we were able to sit in on a group therapy session held in their local language, Xhosa. Then we broke for lunch, where I could speak with the realists over some tuna casserole and beans (the food here in Cape Town is so not REAL African!!), I sat next to a Realist who asked me what I thought I’d be getting into by coming to “a center for druggies and gangsters”. The question seemed bizarre to me because I had only seen these guys at the camp and they just seemed like normal guys. I told them that and that I was very happy to be there and hoped that I could capture some of their stories on camera so students in America who are facing similar difficulties could learn and be inspired by the steps they are taking to improve their lives. One Realist expressed gratitude that “someone would come from so far and want to visit them.”
After lunch the Realists play soccer and have an hour and a half of free time. One of the facilitators pulled two boys away from the game to be interviewed. Unfortunately, many of the Realists were not fluent in English, so I think he chose two who spoke English the best. We interviewed the two young men together because we thought they would feel more comfortable that way. I was working with a woman named Karen, who is not a fellow, but was hired by Teach with Africa to document our work for the first few weeks of our time here. She is completely awesome and has a long history of working in the music industry, but is now a media teacher at a private high school in the Bay Area. She was behind the camera while I interviewed.
I started by interviewing the Realists separately. Our first interviewee shared how he started using drugs because they were so readily available in the townships and he was curious about experimenting with drugs, just like many teenagers. Someone in his family referred him to REALISTIC after he had gone on a drug binge that was so bad that he had no memory of how many drugs he actually used throughout the week prior to the program. He said, “If I didn’t end up at REALISTIC I would be dead right now. I still had money in my pocket, which means that I would have kept buying drugs until the money was gone. I was already so high that anymore drugs would have killed me.” He was thankful to be alive.
The second young man felt apprehensive about being interviewed because he had never actually touched drugs in his life. He was at REALISTIC because his younger brother has a drug problem. He wanted to learn more so he could help his younger brother. He explained that he has been able to stay off drugs because of a paraplegic elderly woman he looks after in his township. She is a friend’s grandmother and is helps inspire him everyday. He is hoping to become a lawyer when he is older.
Towards the end of the interview the two young men addressed many questions together. I asked them if they think the government should do more to stop drug use in the townships. To my surprise they both replied that it is not the government’s responsibility. One Realist said, “the government is already giving so many people free money every month to live off of. It is more than enough to survive. Instead of using this money to feed their children, many parents are going to the park and buying drugs. It is the responsibility of each person to start making better decisions. If a person makes the right decisions, they have the power to change their life.” I found this perspective completely refreshing. So often in our lives we like to blame others for our problems. While others may be partially to blame, spending time blaming them is just wasting time. These young men have stopped wasting time and are taking active steps to make their lives better, even though the reality they seem around them everyday is so royally screwed up in so many ways. Their ability to look beyond that and look to themselves for the answers was very inspiring.
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