The Friendliest People in the World

A few posts ago I talked about the experiences I was having in regards to being a light skinned person in areas of predominantly classified colored and black people. That post focused on how uncomfortable it made me feel, but recently my experiences have been the exact opposite.

Before coming to South Africa a few of my friends pointed out to me on facebook that South Africa was rated as having some of the friendliest people in the world. Upon arrival here I quickly noticed that. Since we stand out as being Americans (EVERYONE can tell), people look out for us. A perfect example of this is a few weekends ago when a group of us decided to hike Table Mountain. We called cabs in the morning and when they got here one of the drivers was shocked to hear our plans. He claimed it wasn’t safe to do it alone (I guess a group of a 16 people is still considered alone…) and tried to have his dispatch coordinate a last minute guide for us. Though I appreciated his concern and offer, there was no way I was being led up the mountain by a guide and quickly told him we knew what we were doing. It took us saying that we had a South African with us, our friend MK, for him to drop his case. Regardless, it was cool to see a random man going out of his way to try and make sure we were all safe.

The past two Thursdays this genuine concern for others has become increasingly apparent while I have traveled to Khayelitsha, one of the largest townships in South Africa, where I have been working with a local soccer club (I’ll dive into that much deeper in future blog postings). Last week I traveled to Mandela Park, where the team practices, with Alex and Nellie. It was my second time going to the park but the first by bus. Therefore, while I knew where I needed to be, I wasn’t too familiar with the area and the bus route. The three of us started talking and trying to figure out where we needed to get off and suddenly numerous people sitting around us noticed and joined in. The woman sitting across from me found a lady sitting behind us who was familiar with the area and would help. The lady, a university student herself, was so happy to help us that she even got up to press the button to signal we wanted a stop. Without their help I honestly don’t know if we would have found the park, it was trickier than I expected. Yesterday, I traveled back to Mandela Park, this time on my own. Once again, as the bus drew closer to the park and I started trying to figure out my bearings, once again a middle-aged woman sitting near me noticed and asked where I was headed, and once again this woman found a younger passenger who knew the park to help me along the way. This time my help came from a sixth grader who was a member of the soccer team I work with. As with the university student, he insisted on going so far as to press the signal button for me and point me in the right direction as I got off the bus, even though the park was clearly visible.

The friendliness doesn’t stop there. As I walked around the township with my friend Bongi (who helps coach the team), people from across the field and from passing cars waved and said hello to me. More than once Bongi had to say “Dan, say something, they’re talking to you,” as if I’m supposed to know what “Hello white man” means in Xhosa! Bongi explained this to me: people love when a white person comes into the community and gives them and the situations in which they live attention.

Khayelitsha is a classified black township that faces extreme poverty and experiences a lot of crime. It’s funny though, while I’ve been there I feel as comfortable as I would anywhere else because I know I have a whole bunch of some of the world’s friendliest strangers looking out for me.