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Breaching the divide

A MUCH smaller group of urban explorers went to Cape Town’s Khayelitsha on Saturday than our maiden voyage there at the end of 2012. But the local enthusiasm that welcomed us has grown rapidly since then, both in size and variety.

Now a monthly event, #coffeemob is a spontaneous social media citizen initiative that invites participants into what is usually an unexplored neighbourhood for most.

Once there, we sip on barista-made coffee, banter about the week gone by and expand our boundaries for a morning.

In return, excited fellow citizens welcome us with song, dance, merchandise and curiosity.

Think of it as a world trade fair within city bounds.

I go there for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, I romanticise about the idea of loading my bicycle onto a train to an unknown destination. Even though I'm not on holiday, it makes me feel like I am. My mind recharges this way.

I find my own reset button. In digital terms, I erase all cookies in my cache and enter a new field of uncompleted data.

The obvious combination of my love for a good cup of coffee, Cape Town and supporting new ideas to stimulate the economy add to my urge to explore my own boundaries.

In doing so, I bump into likeminded countrymen who would otherwise remain outside my sphere by centuries of bad spatial decisions, fortified by an embarrassing political history.

When I’m there, I feel welcomed because of my interest in interacting, and for making the effort to go outside my circle of comfort.

What remains unsaid to the curious crowd is that I'm humbled to be part of a process that stretches my boundaries. To see what hovers secretly on the fringe of the world I grew up in. By choice, circumstance or convenience.

Arriving by train, car, bicycle or on foot, we come from all walks of life and from different stages of our journey.

It shows in our initial reactions to each other, but soon vanishes over a sip of coffee – or a bite of a "100% beef" boerewors roll. Easily recognisable and uniting factors.

By the time I settle down with a newspaper and drift off to the thump of a local beat, I start wondering: why in 2013 is it still so important for me to engage in something that takes me out of my suburban comfort zone?

Why don't I just settle for a comfortable sip at the local tearoom, and a cycle around the block?

Maybe because it was never more important, or more possible. I was not raised in a chapter of history that rewarded the discovery of sharing common interests across the divide. Rather, it thrived on the fear of the unknown.

Coming from the same soil, we share a stage with talented cast members and all tap into the same urge to offer the best of ourselves for the approval of those around us.

What encourages me to be there, and redirect my Saturday schedule, is that it is one way of acknowledging my own efforts to be a member of a society that keeps busy at what it does best.

Once we are able to see each other as players in the same economic and societal board game that pairs us off against rising and falling oil prices, bean production in Colombia and other economic indicators, the differences between us actually become insignificant. Almost hilarious.

 - Fin24

Join Adriaan on Twitter as @aiBester for updates on #coffeemob and other ways to express his urge for involved cizizenship. Views expressed in this column are his own.

 
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