As I flew into Cape Town
International Airport I felt the same as I had when I landed in New York 36
hours prior. I was tired, cramped and would have been content if I never got on
a plane again. All of this melted away the moment I stepped outside and was met
with a beautiful view of Table Mountain and a blast of the South African heat. All
of a sudden I had all the energy in the world and was filled with excitement
for all of the wonderful things I knew I was going to experience. Little did I
know just how much I would experience in my first week alone.
Orientation first truly
began with the flight into Cape Town. With this we were treated to an aerial
view of the beautiful city of Cape Town before our bus ride into the heart of
Rondebosch where we will be staying for the next 4 months. From high in the sky
it’s impossible to distinguish the rich from the impoverished or white from
black or coloured. The first bus ride to Loch Road was a completely different
experience a clear distinction began to develop. On one side of the road was
obvious poverty and destitution while the other side was filled with decadence
and luxury. All of the students on board were almost completely silent and for
this group that speaks volumes. All of this came to an abrupt end when we
arrived at our destination. None of us would fully comprehend what we had
experienced up until this point until much later in the week. Our orientation
would take us from the blistering heights of the various mountain ranges that
encircle Cape Town to the depths of poverty within the townships. Every
beautiful thing we saw was juxtaposed with at least two gruesome realities. This
juxtaposition has had a different effect on every member of group due to the
many different paths our groups took to South Africa and the many different
defining characteristics of who we are.
My name is Jerard Brown
and I am an African American male residing in Columbia, South Carolina. I am
studying Political Science at the University of Connecticut and I will graduate
in Spring of 2014. Telling someone these few terse facts only begins to scratch
the surface of who I am and at the same time these things are immensely
important in shaping my experiences. For instance the fact that I am only one
of three Americans of African descent and the only Southern resident on the
trip added a great deal of depth to my experience in the Slave Lodge, on Robben
Island, and in the townships. The slave lodge made it very evident to me that I
have no idea where my family truly came from. Everyone else on the trip can
directly trace their lineage but I have no idea. My ancestors could have been
occupants of that very Slave Lodge at some point, but I will most likely never
know this. The stories of harsh discrimination we heard about while on Robben
Island made my truly understand the stories of discrimination my grandparents
shared with me when I was younger. I was face to face with a man whose life had
very recently been negatively shaped by discrimination. Our interactions with
the townships kind of offended me because of the way we just walked through and
took pictures as if we were viewing some kind of display. It felt wrong and
cheap to me. This was something I’m not sure every member of our group thought
about. It is my sincerest hope that in the coming weeks I am able to bring a
different and unique perspective to the table and provide insight that others
may not have gotten otherwise.
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