My Langa Experience

Langa is one of the oldest townships in Cape Town South Africa. Before we arrived I had many preconceived notions about the people I would meet there and the community I would be interacting with. However, when we got there, we were greeted by two members of what we were soon to find out was one of the most beautifully happy families we had ever seen. Mike along with his brother, took us around the township and discussed with us the history of Langa. They also let us visit with an herbalist after we tried a very special drink that is famous to their town. It was not until after we got back to this families home though that I truly saw them for what they were. They started a restaurant in their home a few years back as a way to welcome tourist to see the township. Their son mike was showed us around and then after we went to their family restaurant where their mother, mama would feed us a traditional meal. It was at this dinner that I truly understood something very important. Mama shared with us, “to be well off doesn’t mean being rich but it means being happy”. She explained to us that she has everything she wants in her life living in a township where as some people life in fancy homes and are unhappy with their lives.