7/28 Amy Biehl Foundation

This is our last day in South Africa. We went to the Amy Biehl Foundation. Amy Biehl was an activist based from the United States. She moved to South Africa on a scholarship and she was fighting against apartheid.  

On August 25, 1993, while Amy was driving three black colleagues back to Cape Town's Guguletu Township, a group of youths pelted her car with stones and forced it to stop. Dozens of young men then surrounded the car repeating the militant Pan Africanist Congress chant, "One settler [white person], one bullet!" Amy was then pulled from the car, struck in the head with a brick as she tried to flee, and then beaten and stabbed in the heart while she lay on the ground. During the attack, Amy's black friends yelled that she was a "comrade" and friend of black South Africa to no avail. Amy was carried back to the car after the attack by her friends who then drove her to the nearest police station where she died. Amy was 26 years old.- RJGEIB website

Originally the people were charged with her murder. Through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Biehl's family was able to forgive the murders and they were released from prison. In exchange, the men were to join the Biehl family and advocate to other people about the effects of Apartheid.

Looking form the outside in, I'm not too sure if I would able to forgive the murders of a love one; let alone consider them as family. I wouldn't consider that as being "strong" or "bold". I would just consider it a different way of dealing with death. Better her than me. I'm not too sure if I could justify the pain that I would deal with due to their disadvantaged backgrounds. Outside of this situation, I battle with sympathizing with disenfranchised backgrounds with condemning their behaviors. I do believe in reward/ consequences system especially when taking personal responsibility. This battle extends in teaching, from a sociology group- viewing a group of people commit crimes against people and use their backgrounds as an excuse. Whether they are Black, Women, Caribbean or other diverse backgrounds. I definitely battle when people commit acts against me and "forgiving" them. Only for a possibility for them to commit the behavior again.

We went to one school site where ABF is located. It's an after school program where children are learning dance, literacy and sports. This program to decrease the chances of students being involved in gangs and being susceptible to drugs and alcohol. The talent the the children exuded were speechless and amazing. Whether it was seeing children playing sports and instrument, learning how to deal with societal pressures or seeing young boys engage in "Boot Dancing". This observation reinforced the importance of supplemental programs within at-risk communities. When funding is removed, the people that are affected the most are the children as they fall prey to the societal trap pressures.

7/25 District 6 Museum and Robben Island

District Six was named the Sixth Municipal District of Cape Town in 1867. Originally established as a mixed community of freed slaves, merchants, artisans, labourers and immigrants,

District Six was a vibrant centre with close links to the city and the port. By the beginning of the twentieth century, however, the process of removals and marginalisation had begun.
The first to be forced out were black South Africans who were displaced from the District in 1901. As the more prosperous moved away to the suburbs, the area became a neglected ward of the city.

On 11 February 1966 it was declared a white area under the Group Areas Act of 1950, and by 1982, the life of the community was over. More than 60 000 people were forcibly removed to barren outlying areas aptly known as the Cape Flats, and their houses in District Six were flattened by bulldozers.

The District Six Museum, established in December 1994, works with the memories of the 
District Six experience and with that of forced removals more generally.- (District Six Museum website )

 

 

We visited the District 6 Museum where our tour guide witnessed and was impacted by the eviction. The government would force the Blacks and Coloreds to move out of the cities and created townships for them to live. Often times these townships lacked in schools, markets, jobs and other necessities that people were used to in their former city.

She was mixed. Her father was Black and her mother was White. Her father died right before the removal of people from District 6. Her mother refused to leave District 6 because she considered it home. Consequently, the government made her apartment complex unlivable by disconnecting her electricity and water. Eventually her family convinced the mother to move into the new home against the mother's wishes. The mother declared "This will never be home".  The next day her mother died of heart failure.Throughout the museum, there were photos, documents and testimonies of people who were impacted by the forced eviction.

Afterwards we boarded the ship and headed to Robben Island to where former South African president Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years. We took a tour of the prison. Our guide who was a former prisoner, explained living conditions of the prison and we were able to see Nelson Mandela's cell. It was located in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The water was so clean and blue. Randomly, I saw penguins and reindeer on the prison island.

Later on a few of us went to to a District 6 jazz night where one of the workers performed. His voice was soulful. It was a pleasant night.

7/24 Aquila Safari

My theory is that you cannot visit Africa without going to a safari. So a few of us decided to go to the Aquila Safari in Sea Point. It's 2 hours outside of Cape Town.  Although it cost us R2490 (approx $177), it was worth it. The scenic views were breathtaking. The food was AMAZING! and the added bonus of seeing wildlife animals in their natural habitat were priceless. As an added bonus, we were within close range of seeing Lions. The trip was worth it.

7/23 Johnathan Jansen and Cape Town

Prior to us leaving UFS to head to Cape Town, we met with Jonathan Jansen. He is the president of UFS and also is the author of "Knowledge in the Blood". The book outlines the history of South Africa and how he encouraged the students to be integrated. He answered questions about race relations, his opinions about USA and why he decided to step down as president of UFS. It felt good connecting the dots of the knowledge that we obtained regarding South Africa with his story. This allowed me to deepen my comprehension of his book and South Africa.

Afterwards we flew to  Cape Town and we were sleeping at a hotel named "An African villa". Cape Town is beautiful. The views of the mountains were speechless. Cape Town seems like it is built within the mountains. In addition, we visited the Green Market Square. Professor Clarke informed us that this is the place to bargain for South African goods. I was ready! For the first go-round, I was able to purchase jewelry, souvenirs and wooden art.

7/22 Princess Gabo Foundation

We went to Albert Moroka High School where they implemented the baby dolls project. The school is partnered up with the Princess Gabo Foundation. They were advocating to the students the consequences of teenage pregnancy. Instead of having the responsibility of babies at an early age, they encouraged students to pursue higher education and travel the world. The students' discipline and mannerisms were on point. Not only that they showed us respect, the students' showed Princess Gabo the utmost respect. 

Afterwards Princess Gabo guided us to the Chief Moroka Memorial Site as she described her lineage and how she became the Princess of Thaba' Nchu. At the memorial site, we encountered some of her family members. The ladies informed us on the issues that women of the community were encountering such as poverty, inadequate job skills, lack of education and single parent homes.  They decided to be proactive by educating the women through home economics so it could empower women and children to become self sufficient.

7/21 UFS and South African War Museum

UFS

This is my first time attending a university campus outside of USA. UFS's campus looks very similar to USA campuses. We had to attend a workshop that discussed the UFS history. Originally college lectures were in English. Then it changed to Afrikaans. In addition, the student body were predominately white and did not admit Black Students. SA higher education coincided with the history of South Africa. SA went through 3 phases. The first phase was British colonization. The British originally invaded South Africa. While the British were invading SA, the Dutch invaded South Africa. Once the Dutch defeated the English, the start of the Apartheid movement began-Afrikaner Nationalist Party. Apartheid was determined to prevent Blacks and Colored people to be considered equal to Whites. This impacted admitting people of color to universities. 

Eventually, UFS became a majority black population and incorporated a multilingual studies or and became an integrated school. The transition from segregated to integrated institution was not easy. The president of the University, Johnathan Jansen spearheaded the integration movement at the university.

South African War

After UFS, we visited the South African War Museum where we learned in more detail about the "Anglo-Boer War" between the British and the Boers. Through the museum it depicted Boers and Africans placed in concentration camps. The pictures of malnourished children was disheartening. Through the museum, we learned that Africans played a role with the war. Since they were indigenous people, they were able to inform the British/ Boers about the land,environment and best routes to defeat their opponents. We also learned that through the Anglo-Boer war, the African Nationalist Congress was formed.


The Anglo-Boer War name was changed to the South African War. One of the presenters by the name of Dr. Twala said "You cannot have a war in South African soil without the black people being involved and not call it a South African war". He said it with so much passion. After the museum, we went to one of the founder members of the ANC house name Thomas Mtobi Mapikela and learned about how he influenced people in the township to stand up against apartheid.
 
After the tour, we came back to UFS and learned that we are going to be split up in two groups. One group was going to visit the homeless shelter and another group will visit a high school discussing teen pregnancy.  I decided to join the group that focused on teen pregnancy.

7/20/2016 Bloemfontein

Today was our last day in Johannesburg. We had to travel to Bloemfontein, South Africa  through the airplanes. If we would have  drove from JNB to Bloemfontein, it would have taken us about 8 hours. However the plane ride was about an hour plane ride. Also too, I was able to get good sleep on it. 

For the next three days, we are staying in the University of the Free States hotel named Kovsie Inn. We also have a guest ID. The rooms looks very similar to dorms. The campus is beautiful. After we put our luggages in our rooms, we went to a restaurant named "Long Horn Steak House". In JNB, the predominate race are Black South Africans. Besides the men creepily staring at me, the hospitality was nice where people did not mind opening the doors for you. In Bloemfontein outside of UFS, the population is predominately Afrikaans and let's just say we had an interesting encounter.

There was a liquor store in the same plaza as Longhorn Steak House. I went to purchase an Amarula bottle for R130 ($9.00). When I purchased the bottle, I asked the cashier "How do you say thank you in Afrikaans?" She said "Dankie". To me, it sounds like the word "Donkey" :P. After she asked me where I am from, she gave me a free bottle of "Melktertjies". It tastes like melted Milk Dudes mixed with Vodka. It tastes really good. Afterwards, I headed to LHSH." One person was holding the door for us and said "I am tired of holding this s*** someone else needs to hold the door and lets go of the door. " I sarcastically said " Well Thank you too then".

We got to meet Karen and some of her guests and we ate some food. This was the time to get to know one another and learn about people's POV on their countries and other world wide issues.