"Their shyness, their unobtrusive gait as they shuffle along the narrow lanes… gives the centre of the town the atmosphere of a ghetto."

I have been trying for sometime to understand the mannerism of the colored people in the community here. While many of the students are quite outgoing and not unlike any other campus, a majority of the rest of the "minority" are quite and reserved. They will avoid eye contact before I even get a chance to give the "hello" smile. And when they are spoken to they respond at an octave that you have to strain to hear. Even the children speak so quietly in the after school program (at the local township) that I have to get an inch away to make out what it is they are attempting to say. Even when asked to speak up their voice doesn't go much higher than a whisper suggesting that it's not even possible to be loud.

How is it that these people can't even speak when asked? Why do they avoid eye contact? Years have trained them; have knocked them down to a level of complete submission. After finding the above quote I now relate them to what it might be like to walk in a concentration camp or to come into contact with a slave. They are not bound here, don't get me wrong. There is no one forcing them to work without wage or beating them into obedience. However, they remain to be under educated, in constant question if their family will eat, and looking for a job in a place where employers don't want them. There are some who have made their way up… but what about the millions living in townships?

The world has been hard to these people.