I agree that it is a kind of bubble we live in, but do I want my children to live in the real world with a chance of being hurt, killed, or even raped?
NO!
So YES, we decided to live in this secured estate that not everybody can afford. But don't we all want to live in a safe place, wherever you are? And if that means that you need to move to a secured estate with gates to enter and electric fences around and on top of the walls.... like a prison almost, YES then I will make that choice.
This is the choice we had to make in order to come to South Africa and live here safe with our children. I lived in 5 other countries before, and I never lived in a secured estate in those countries. I didn't need to, it was safe to live in a normal street in a normal house. Open for everybody to enter, but nobody did unless you were invited.
Here in South Africa that is not the case! If you would live in a single house in a normal street the chances that visitors come un-invited is very high. So people secure their 'normal' house with a wall and a gate around it. They put bars in front of their windows to make sure nobody can climb through it. So the situation is also not 'normal' anymore.
If you live within the secured walls of an estate like Dainfern, at least you don't need bars in front of your windows, you don't need a wall around your house, the wall is around the outer perimeter, but hidden by trees so I don't see them and don't feel like I am living in a prison. Although the reporter in this article below writes that she feels Dainfern is like a prison....
Each their own choice, but I like it that my children can walk freely out of my house and to the Pavilion where more kids are playing at the soccer field, or swimming in the community pool and meeting their friends from school without being scared that somebody will hijack, hurt or rape them. Because we live in a secured estate and we can walk around wherever we want.
I probably would not have chosen to live like this if it wasn't necessary, but in this country it is!! So do we have a choice?? Not really!! And when we move to a safer country we probably won't go to a secured estate, because like everything else it has advantages, but also disadvantages. But for us, expats with kids going to the American International school with a school bus system this is the best option we have. And I am glad to be part of this community that they give all those negative names for, mostly because they can't be part of it, are jealous, or don't know really what's going on here and just have some info from hearsay... isn't that how it mostly goes?? Gossip spreads fast, but a lot of time it is info they just have from 3rd parties but never direct from the people that live inside....
Read full article here.
For us this is a safe haven, and that is all what counts when I make a decision of where to live in whatever country I move to.
What is your prime decision making point of where to live in your country? Is it the safety issue or the school district, or being inside the city centre, or just outside in the country side?? Do you have to make a choice of safety as your FIRST choice??
It probably all depends in which country you live! So don't judge because we live in a place you would not choose to live in your country, but make up your opinion after a bit of research and see if you still would make that same decision....
Just my 2 cents on living where we do!
Enjoy this Terrific Tuesday!!
Mireille xx
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