I was humbled to meet the people of The Kraal slum in Cape Town, South Africa.
Once again, African culture at its best! The cohesive community that they have created is something rare, something of great value, something to be applauded.
The reputations of slums and those who reside therein often precedes-in other words, residents may not have a chance to “prove themselves,” instead, they face judgement and are lumped together as one.
I should not be taken to mean that any human being has to prove their value as we all inherently have value! No matter our circumstance. No matter our status as housed or unhoused, mansion or shack. Human beings have value simply because they exist. And, I saw great value in the folks that I was blessed to meet in The Kraal.
Of course, The Kraal, like any other community, has its share of folks who run afoul of the law. But it’s worth considering, “what would you do if you had no prospects, no opportunities, and were always regarded as “lesser than?”
“It’s all right to tell a man to lift himself by his own bootstraps, but it is a cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself by his own bootstraps.” (Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)
21 май 2024
