khayelitsha

so, i'm trying to post a photo or two but it's not working. which is really too bad because i have some amazing pictures to show you. i'll try to work this out somehow. keep your eyes on the flickr photos along the right side of my blog, just in case i figure it out that way.
this blog is dedicated to khayelitsha. that's a township in south africa. the fastest growing one, actually. i googled "khayelitsha" and a bunch of sites and photos came up. it's basically miles upon miles of shanties. over 1 million people now live in khayelitsha (pronounced ky-uh-lee-cha). they speak xhosa, like masiphumelele. xhosa is a language with clicks and such, sounds you make with your tongue smacking against the inside of your cheek or the roof of your mouth, depending on the letter you want to pronounce. i know that "molo" is hello and "wu jah nee" or something like that is "how are you?" beyond that, i'm confused.
i've wanted to go to khayelitsha for a while now. i started hearing about it long before i even thought of moving to south africa. it's well known b/c it's so big and so in need. most of the street kids living in downtown cape town came from khayelitsha.
my friend ryan, who has lived in SA for 6 years now, is greatly involved in this township. he worked on the streets of cape town for 3 years, learned afrikaans fluently, got kids back in their homes, back in school. he's testififed for kids, signed as their legal guardian, housed them when times were really bad, and you cannot go to ryan's house even today without seeing a kid there hanging out, watching tv, climbing on ryan or his roommate "worm" (a native SAfrican), or getting talked to by ryan about some problem or other. because he speaks afrikaans, he has met them where they are--spending up to 18 hours a day on the streets with them. he is truly one of them.
like all good organizations working with street children, ryan realized that prevention was more realistic as a long-term mission. sure, it'd be great to get the kids already on the street back home, but it'd be equally ideal to curb the trend by inserting oneself into the townships they are leaving, find out what the deal is, and try to repair broken families and homes before kids run away from them.
ryan helps run a nonprofit organization in khayelitsha called Town Two Sports Academy. kids learn basketball, boxing, soccer, etc. but they also get to know ryan, who is quick to address the root of the problem and speak to it.
ryan is learning xhosa. today as i walked the streets of khayelitsha with him, russie and ricky hanging on my arms, little xhosa children chasing us and giggling, i realized what an amazing difference it can make when you are willing to meet people where they are. learn THEIR language, spend hours in THEIR community. show yourself. ryan cannot drive through cape town or khayelitsha without people yelling out his name.

i wanna be like that. i wanna be willing to look foolish or whatever for the sake of the call. people like ryan really inspire me. i hope you have someone like that in your life, someone whose life challenges you to something more.