Reality Check!: First World or Third World Country??

I am currently in Cape Town, South Africa, one of the most developed areas in Africa as a whole. Cape Town is a very modern/industrialized place. Just like many cities in the US, the financial district/down town area is filed with sky scrappers and beautiful site seeing areas. There are shopping malls in Cape Town that are mirror reflections of American malls; there are people driving the latest BMW’s and Ferraris. Cape Town, at its most, is a reflection of our western culture. At an instant, adjusting becomes natural.

So far, I have had the pleasure to converse with many local South Africans of all backgrounds: Blacks, Colourds, Indians, and Whites. From conversations and trips into local Townships I knew that Cape Town was not the true mirror image of the lives that inhabits the whole of South Africa. South Africa still faces developing world problems.

The word township describes the movement of Africans from the city into rural areas. Many Townships lack access to clean water, Internet, food, and electricity. Chronic poverty highlights many of the local problems of South Africa: hunger, lack of shelter, lack of education, illiteracy, lack of health care and powerlessness. 20 % of the people in South Africa earn 80% of the wealth. On average South African people earn $2.50 a day. There are 4 million people in South Africa and 2.1 million has access to Internet.

While I’d prefer to have access to such basic amenities, I have fully realize the perversity of a place like South Africa where you have the rich, who has everything, the growing middle class, who have limited access to goods and services, and the very poor, whom do not have access to clean water, electricity, or adequate bathing facilities. This experience allows me to understand a global phenomenon that exist around the world, the gap between the haves and have nots. Sounds like American issues, but trust me, it is on a much LARGER scale. Living here allows me to reflect on what my role, and others role, should be in the global community. Is it right and/or fair for some to have access to certain basic necessities while others do not have the same access? Lastly, in a place like South Africa where so much wrong has been committed to South Africans who's responsibility is it to right the wrongs of others? There is constant quest to level the playing field for Blacks globally!