Cape Town - He was born in Boston in the US, but this young American man now calls a one-roomed shack in Khayelitsha home.
Jason Woolf, 21, moved to the Cape Town township in January 2014 to learn more about “his roots”.
The tall friendly guy with long curly hair can now speak isiXhosa fluently, and even kasi lingo.
“Ndinentombaza yomXhosa futhi ndithanda umngqusho (I am dating a Xhosa woman and I love eating samp mielies),” he boasts.
The third-year student at New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualised Study founded the Umbiyozo Foundation as part of his major.
His foundation promotes traditional song and dance among youngsters in the townships.
Woolf has already registered 18 troupes at his foundation.
“Umbiyozo is my self-designed major subject focusing on social entrepreneurship and cultural revitalisation. I chose it myself so I can come and live in my country,” he explained.
Woolf was born in Boston, Massachusetts, but his mother is from the affluent suburb of Clifton and his father is from Johannesburg. They are separated.
He visited South Africa regularly as a tourist but longed to make a permanent move here.
His family moved to the US in 1991 because of the political instability at the time.
Woolf said he has adjusted to township life in Makhaza.
He lives in a green one-room corrugated shack with one window, a table and a single bed.
“I can now do washing with my hands. I can cook now because I have to. And they (neighbours) teach me everything there is to know about township life,” he said.
He said his neighbours are very hospitable people with unrealised potential.
“There is not enough understanding between the rich and poor,” he said.
“If they can interact, all the existing stereotypes can be shattered. Then the rich can realise the poor have potential and start to organise funding.
“Then there will be no more unnecessary protests. And thereafter crime will be reduced.
“We need collaboration between (the) two sides of Cape Town. People in the townships are under-resourced and live in abject poverty while the rich have it all.”
Neighbour Lonwabo Baleni says they treat the “umlungu” (white man) as one of their own because Woolf speaks their language.
Woolf plans to finish his studies in June and then settle permanently in Khayelitsha next year.
Daily Voice