Colorful Complexities

There is something about the beautiful hues that pepper a morning sunrise, a field of flowers, and a row of houses that inspire a range of emotions in many people. This past week I had the opportunity to visit Cape Town, South Africa with colleagues from the organization I work with tasked with the job of supporting and encouraging people who serve in ministry. Most of the people who went on this trip live and work near Newark, New Jersey. For some, this was their first visit to the continent of Africa. For others, they had been on multiple visits, with each visit a little different than the last. I had been to Johannesburg and briefly to Cape Town for work, so getting a full week + in Cape Town would be a gift.

This trip was considered a pilgrimage. Our idea of a pilgrimage is a journey, both physically, mentally, and spiritually to a place that disrupts whatever “normal” is for you. Some call it a journey to a sacred place, but in my mind, it is not just the place, but it is also about the community who travels with you. This particular journey took us to sites like Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela had spent 18 years of his 27-year imprisonment, and Langa Township, one of the oldest intentionally segregated neighborhoods in their country.

In both Robben Island, the buildings, the landscape, and the general energy in that place were bland, depressed, and desert-like. It exuded the kind of oppression that had been experienced in this remote space for many years. But, even in his captivity, Mandela found ways to bring color and life into this grey and sad prison. He planted a garden, where he also hid the manuscript, which later became his book, “A Long Walk to Freedom” It reminded me about how people try to control and take away other people’s abilities to find creativity and hope when they are imprisoned.

And even though there is a dark and disturbing history in the Langa township, colors of hope were finding their way through the next generations. One of the biggest challenges they have faced in these communities is jobs for young adults. We met a couple of young, creative, and innovative men who started “Cloudy Deliveries” during the pandemic and put to work young people in their neighborhood. Their colorful bikes and renovated shipping container offices were illustrating the beauty of their hopefulness!

Langa Township also had other public art pieces that gave us a glimpse of the resiliency of the people in this neighborhood. These images are just a few that we captured from our brief visit. I share these as a glimpse of the start of the journey that our group experienced. Over the next few blogs, I want to share more from this experience of where I saw creativity and wonder emerge through the multi-layered, and colorful cultures that have found their way into Cape Town. It isn't just one culture or one group that has shaped this rich environment, but a historically rich blending, transforming collaboration of people that has re-emerged as a mix of cultures that have formed this country.

I invite you to learn more with me as I chronicle my experience through this Creative Space over the next series of posts! Invite others to join us as we learn together!