BAMBI LASHES

“I was completely bowled over by Khayelitsha. Khayelitsha’s poverty is a harsh smack across the face – it’s the largest township in South Africa and it’s predominantly shanty villages made of scrap metal and pieces of decaying timber. Gang wars rage unchecked – almost everything is riddled with bullet holes – and crimes against women have reached epidemic levels. Kids wearing clothes that don’t fit them entertain themselves by playing in the dust. 60% of the adult population is unemployed, so some men and women whittle away their days by wandering streets drunk or high off ‘Tik’ – a substance much like Crystal Meth that literally eats away at your brain. Despite the ever-present South African resilience and determination, there is discontent directed towards an incompetent government and an overwhelming sense of helplessness; simmering just beneath the surface of the township. It is both devastating and utterly fascinating. I was terrified that we were going to get car-jacked every time we stopped at a red light – and yet I can’t wait to go back there. I’m a moth lured to flame; completely intrigued by the one place that I’m guaranteed to die if I wander around it alone.”

- except from my daily journal on 4th April 2012.