After
a spending three months in Cape Town, as much as I love it here, it was nice to
go explore other areas on the country. During our time in Johannesburg we spent
three days at museums and one day at the Boys and Girls Club in Soweto.
All
of the museums that we went to were very interesting and taught us a lot about
Apartheid, the events that occurred during Apartheid and what it was like to be
there. The first museum that we went to was the Hector Pietersen Museum. Hector
Pietersen was the first student to be killed during the protests that were
against mandate that required classes to be taught in Afrikaans rather then the
student’s primary language.
We
went to several other museums, including the Apartheid Museum, the Mandela
Family Home, and the Sharpeville Memorial. At Sharpeville we learned all about
the Sharpeville Massacre: where, when, and how it happened. But when we were in
the graveyard where the 69 people killed during the massacre were buried we
were also given a lesson on traditional (non-european) South African memorial practices.
When people went to visit their ancestors graves they would first
slaughter an animal, then drink some South African beer (and bring their
ancestors some) and then smoke some snuff (still not quite sure what this is,
but from what I understand you smoke tobacco through your nose and it causes
you to become very high). After doing all of this you can talk to your
ancestors.
However, out
of all the days we spent in Jo’burg, my favorite day was the day that we spend
at the Soweto Boys and Girls Club. While there we all helped out with some sort
of project to improve the location. My task proved to be quite difficult. A few
others and myself had to turn a plot of land that had rock hard, glass filled
soil that was layered with burnt trash into a flower garden. It took a few
hours but we were eventually able to make a decent garden, and I wish I could
see some pictures of it in a year or two to see how successful it becomes. After
we were all done with our tasks we spent the time prior to lunch playing with
the kids. I ended up having my sunglasses taken multiple times but the kids
were adorable. I’m pretty sure when it was time to leave everyone from out
program shed a tear.
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| Carl, Tekowa and Erica enjoy playing with the kids at the Boys and Girls Club of Soweto |
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