Bradley

From looking at his pigmentation alone, my “naked eye” would call Bradley a white man.  But, having at least one black ancestor, under apartheid, he was officially classified as black – grew up in the townships, went to a separate school, and self-identifies as a black man.  Bradley will be our guide for touring the Port Elizabeth area when the students come.

Friday night, we went out to dinner with Bradley, and sat together long after dark, drinking wine and talking about his hopes and dreams for South Africa.  Much has been accomplished in the area of housing, with many, many township shacks replaced with brick, basic, small houses.  But, the housing is not accompanied with any infrastructure.  Schools, education, streets, and jobs have not followed as of yet (so the home dwellers have no work with which to purchase food, water, or electricity.)  People are getting impatient.   

He dreams of many more small entrepreneurs - with education reform leading the way.  His eyes shine with his passion.  I get caught up in the moment - and the dream.

One thing bothers me, though.  Bradley – and several people we have met - use the phrase that South Africa is where the 1^st world meets the 3^rd.  What they mean is that many aspects of South Africa are absolutely first rate – great roads, fast Internet speeds, beautiful tourist areas, plentiful food in the markets, vibrant industries.  At the same time, there are few opportunities for the poor to help better themselves– from the absence of good schools, to the absence of loans of any size.  Each time I hear the phrase, though, I cringe.  Knowing that I'm about to make a rash and premature comment, 1^st and 3^rd world descriptors lack meaning to me.  If the US is considered first world, we need only to look around us to find similar issues.  My dream is that all of us, in this one world, face them.