I'm glad to be back in Cape Town; but it saddens me to hear about the terrible xenophobic violence that's going on in other parts of the country. People who have fled disintegrating economies or war in their country of origin and seek refuge in the wealthiest corner of this troubled continent and are now chased away.
Wealthy parts of Cape Town is an oasis of peace, but also I am in a position of privelege - the people being targeted are not (relatively) wealthy academics but the poorest of the poor. Just down the street is plenty of violence, just not targeted against foreigners.
It seems to my uneducated eye that this ties back again to the difficult history of this region and Africa in general.
Its front page news here ... but i wonder how (or even if?) its covered elsewhere in the world.
In August 2006, I moved to Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso to help scale up HIV / AIDS treatment for children. Now, I'm working in Cape Town & Vancouver, still focused on global health. This is the story of the journey, the adventures and the lessons learned along the way.
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