District Six Name Cloth

Despite sunburn cream and hats, Keith and I look like we're in the pink. I think it's more wind burn than anything, but it's not a pretty sight.

We've just had a wonderful dinner and we were musing on our great day when we were approached by a lady with a baby..She needed money to get home so we gave her the $3… even if she was conning us. I feel we could do more.

Last time I was here I bought food for a young man…. cereal and milk….hopefully he ate it rather than sold it.

Sobering, and we have so much. I just spent a small fortune on clothes for my Grandies who have never known what it is to do without and I hope and pray they never do.

Today we visited the District Six museum and it has a connection to all of us who use a needle, thread and sewing machine.

District Six was once the vibrant, cosmopolitan heart of Cape Town, a largely coloured inner city suburb renowned for its jazz scene. In February 1966, P W Botha, then Minister of Community Development, formally proclaimed District Six a ‘white’ group area. Over the next 15 years, an estimated 60,000 people were given notice to leave their homes and were moved to the new townships on the Cape Flats. The area was razed, and to this day remains largely un- developed. Over the years there has been much talk about relocating some of those who were originally displaced to new housing in the area, but as yet there has been no progress.

I was taken by a km long name-cloth. It began as a discarded curtain from a theater and was placed where people could write comments… 1.5 meters wide it has had numerous calico additions and the words embroidered are the voices of the residents.

The fears and emotion are sewn into this huge cloth… both back and front.