Last Saturday began when yet again, Tia and I were the last
of our group to meet in the lobby. Jeff, our advisor, has come to expect the
Cape Town girls as, “last one’s in and last one’s out”. We seem to be
transitioning very well into the South African mindset when it comes to time. Which
has been a bit of a struggle for me since those of you who have spent any time with me know
I pride myself in punctuality...hahaha!!!
Regardless, once we were all together we headed on a tour
around Johannesburg with Alfred, the nicest tour/van driver ever. That day we
embraced every stereo type known to man on being a tourist and loaded into our
15 passenger van :\ . Alfred showed us neighborhood after neighborhood and went
in depth about the Apartheid and racial divide. He drove us into Alexandria,
the township where he grew up. The homes were constructed of tin sheets put
together to form walls. There was laundry hanging along side of the homes and
instead of bathrooms, there stood porta-potty after porta-potty. During the
Apartheid, townships were created to divide black, white and colored residents.
People of one race would be sent to live in a certain township without the
chance to leave. And today although the Apartheid is abolished racial divide
and segregation within the townships are just as present. Alfred told us, “If
people left Alexandria it was a miracle and as of today few don’t even know
what life looks like outside of the neighborhood.” He is the only one from his family to leave Alexandria and in
his opinion the cycle will continue from generation to generation if girls the
under the age of 18 continue to get pregnant.
A Shot of Alexandria
It is amazing to think that blocks up the street there are
hundred thousand dollar homes and gated communities. It is going to sound dorky
but I kept thinking how similar Johannesburg was to Gotham City (you know,
Batman). The change in living conditions was so abrupt and from an outsiders
perspective, it seems like change will only come with help from a superhero. If
only Bruce Wayne were around to do something, haha! However, this is when we
have to rely on the supernatural workings of God and pray that change
will come.
*Side note: apparently Nelson Mandela spent some years of his
life living in Alexandria.
After our city tour, we ended at the Hector Pieterson Museum
outside of Johannasburg. Hector Pieterson was a 13 year old boy, killed outside
of a local school during the rallying of school aged children who opposed a
change in education. The children were forced to learn in the Afrikaans
language after they had already learned in English. Afrikaans was not their
native tongue and they felt they were being pushed into disregarding their
heritage. After Hector’s death there came more commotion and many died as a
result (white and black alike). This suffering however did not happen in vain
and the children did win their battle against the school board.
At the Hector Pieterson Museaum
So… before I go into Sunday I need to mention the horrible
effects of 7 hour jetlag. I don’t know how this happened simultaneously, but at
midnight both Tia and myself were up and definitely not going back to bed! (For
those of you who suffer from insomnia you will understand the sheer dread of
not being able to sleep when needed.)So…. after 2 hours of listening to
Redeeming Love on audio tape we both decided to hit the hotel gym. Needless to
say, running did calm/exhaust both of us but we still only got 2 hours of sleep
cause we had to be up bright and early the next morning to visit the Apartheid
museum. (Now, we are safe to transition)
The Apartheid museum, for those of you who are unaware: is a
museum in Johannesburg about Nelson Mandela, South African government, and the
history of the Apartheid law (pre/during/post). We did not have much time to
explore because of time constraints but this museum went into explanation about
the ANC (African National Congress) party and the oppression of both black and
colored South Africans. I learned about the history of Nelson Mandela. It
covered the steps leading to his 20 year incarceration and then election into
presidency. He never relented from the cause and even through great tribulation
took the bigger road. There were other men from the ANC who were also convicted
of political fraud and locked at Robbins Island with Mandela. During the time
in prison there were still battles for freedom and Mandela’s entrapment caused
more people to stand behind the ANC. In 1994 the Apartheid was officially
lifted but damage was almost irreversible. The separation of white, black and
colored people runs deep within South African society and the damage has yet to
fully reverse. It is especially seen in the row after row of government funded
houses found all over South Africa.
Later that day we went to an African “flee” market where sales
were only made through a barter system. Every booth you stopped at was headed
by a man pushing his product into your hands asking, “how much will you give me
for this.” I’m not sure if I should be bragging but I got pretty good at having
them go as low in price as possible (which I’m pretty sure is still full price
so I didn’t feel too bad). Also, one made me very uncomfortable when he started
talking about the hair on my arm. He said his “girlfriend” had hands like mine
and then started talking about how he liked tall girls because they were
easiest to kiss, smooth right? Needless to say I left as soon as I could and
tried to avoid his staring. Haha, oh the memories of Johannesburg!
Well, we are now officially in Cape Town and getting all
settled!!! I will update shortly with the DL but as of now I think I wrote
enough (I’m known to be a bit long winded, I apologize). If you remember Keep
Leliebloem (Lily Bloom) Children’s home in your prayers and I hope you are
having a beautiful and blessed day.
Grace and Peace
-Kay
You are in my prayers! Thank you for keeping me updated! Continue shining that light lady!
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