uMlazi

This picture above is a bunch of shacks built along the street of uMlazi. These were built to function as the stores of the area. There was even a working dry cleaners in one of them!


We toured the township of uMlazi on Sunday. It was a very eye-opening experience. It is the biggest township in Durban and it is separated into different areas which are named with the letters of the alphabet. It is so big that they had to start using aa, bb, cc, etc. There are about 750,000 people living in this "small" area (small for the population). Everyone is very poor but certain areas are worse than others. There is an area called 17 section which was nicknamed "Uganda". People on one side of the land support the ANC (African National Congress) and the other side supports the IFP (Inkatha Freedom Party). Those that support the ANC live in this area:
They are extremely poor and have built shacks out of dirt, wood, and metal to live in. Most have no electricity or running water. The people on the IFP side of Uganda will literally shoot anyone in their area that comes through wearing or saying anything that supports the other parties and vice versa for the other side of Uganda. That is why it acquired that nickname. Very, very dangerous.




These pictures are of a home that we were able to go in to see what the living conditions were like. This family had electricity but it was very dangerous because they have a very leaky roof so when it rains the electrical cords get wet. Often the people have to cover themselves with plastic when they sleep to keep dry.
Here is their kitchen. You may notice the chicken in the blue tub. That is their dinner for that night.
Here is their kitchen sink. When the bucket gets full the drop a tablet into the water to purify it and they use that water for other things so that they don't just waste it.
This is the toilet were everyone from the home goes to the bathroom. They use magazines as toilet paper.