June 27, 2008: Departed Seattle for Johannesburg, South Africa
June 28 - July 1: Pretoria - 1322 Backpackers
- Meeting with Mary Crewe of the Centre for Study of AIDS: Mary Crewe leads University of Pretoria students in the Future Leaders @ Work program, devoted to spreading AIDS awareness at the school and beyond. South Africa, of course, has been severely impacted by the AIDS epidemic; beyond the direct ramifications for individuals and their families, the social and economic impact has been massive. In our first meeting, we sought insight from Mary on the current conditions in South Africa and steps they are taking to curb the crisis... [Read More]
- Guided visit to the Voortrekker Monument: In scheduling our visit to Pretoria, we focused on coordinating meetings at both the Voortrekker Monument, devoted to Afrikaner nationalism and Freedom Park, a new public space dedicated to South Africa's struggle against apartheid and for liberty. In the process, it was easy to establish a false or misleading dichotomy, with the Voortrekker Monument coming out the poorer for it, appearing to be a symbol of a racist past from which South Africa is trying to emerge. Our hosts, however, including educational coordinator and historian Arend Posthuma, and guide Petrus Maloka, worked very hard to dissuade us of this notion... [Read More]
- Guided visit to Freedom Park: We knew we were in for a treat long before we arrived at Freedom Park. Our contact there, Ilse Posselt, the Public Relations coordinator for the park, had emailed us a rough itinerary for our full-day visit; activities outlined for the day included drum lessons, a guided tour of the new park, conversations with two other Pretoria high school groups, and a keynote by Wally Serote. Perhaps more than anything else, though - and with all due respect to Mr. Serote - we were struck by the final item: an "Amazing Race" style scavenger hunt around the park... [Read More]
- Interview with Wally Serote: An accomplished poet and former freedom fighter, Wally Serote today is the chairman of Freedom Park. After delivering a powerful keynote address to all of the students gathered at the park, he sat down with us for an interview... [Read More]
- Guided visit to Constitution Hill with Sarah Pudifin: En route to Soweto, we paid a visit to Constitution Hill in Johannesburg, which is home to a compelling juxtaposition of South Africa past and present, with the old town jail that once held Nelson Mandela and many others prisoners and the new Constitutional Court, established to uphold the law. We were met by Sarah, a law clerk, who walked us through the facilities and described the pursuit of justice in South Africa today... [Read More]
- Interview with Antoinette Pieterson Sithole: The iconic photograph of apartheid South Africa, captured during the Soweto Uprising in 1976, features three people: the dead body of Hector Pieterson, a stoic Mbuyisa Makhubo carrying Hector, and Hector's sister - Antoinette - at his side, grieving. Today, Antoinette remains in Soweto, advising the museum named after her brother. When we arrived at the museum, she was standing in front of an enlarged version of the famous photograph, doing an interview for BBC. We watched and wondered: how could she spend every day of her adulthood so closely attached to what must have been the most tragic moment of her life? Fortunately, we had an opportunity to ask... [Read More]
- Bike tour of Soweto with Charmaine Dlamini: Most groups visiting South Africa base themselves in a nice suburb of Johannesburg, near a big shopping mall, and get their "township experience" in on a half-day package tour, driving to a few select spots and then returning to the hotel by lunch. It was critical to us that we stay in Soweto for several days; we were struck while there by how much more comfortable we felt in the township than we did in Pretoria. Nonetheless, while we were based in Soweto and had cars available to us, we wanted to see the city through local eyes and at the ground level. Enter Charmaine, a dynamic local guide who led us through Soweto on bicycles... [Read More]
- Visit to Avalon Cemetery: One of the largest cemeteries in South Africa, Avalon was founded in the midst of the Apartheid era and thus is the final resting place for a number of prominent activists, including Hector Pieterson and Helen Joseph. In recent years, however, it has seen its capacity strained by a surge of AIDS-related deaths. We visited on a Saturday, the primary burial day, to pay witness to the tragedy of contemporary South Africa, and we were definitely not alone... [Read More]
- Visit to Apartheid Museum: Driving to the Apartheid Museum, it is easy to become confused, to even convince yourself that you have taken a wrong turn. The reason is that, instead of the somber setting you might have anticipated, the road is flanked by roller coasters and a huge casino. However, nestled on the edge of Gold Reef City theme park is one of the world's finest museums... [Read More]
- Any visit to South Africa, no matter how serious the substance, would be the poorer for not devoting some time to the country's natural wonders. We spent three days in Pilanesberg, driving through the huge park, watching crocodiles eat a zebra and lions eat a wildebeest, and nearly freezing to death at night. This also served as a much needed break, giving us a chance to process what we had seen and heard so far before continuing on to Cape Town.
- Meeting with Trauma Centre for Survivors of Violence, including interviews with Miriam Fredericks (Head of Service Delivery) and Mogamat Keraan: One of the challenges in studying history is the tendency towards analyzing events on a macro level. For example, it's tempting to only think about apartheid's legacy in sweeping terms, focusing on the larger problems of national reconciliation. Doing so, however, neglects the individual trauma experienced by so many people in the country and the long, complicated process of healing that each of them faced individually, often with inadequate support. Cape Town's Trauma Centre has long worked to fill that gap, tending to the needs of modern South Africa's many victims... [Read More]
- Guided visit to Robben Island, including group discussion with former prisoners Thulani Mabaso and Vincent Diba: At what point do important memory sites become sights, places to pose for pictures instead of pause for reflection? Is it even fair to draw a distinction between the two? Somehow, a historic site must accommodate the well-read experts and the uninformed sightseers; the latter in particular are critical to connect with, so that a connection might be forged allowing for deeper study and reflection later. The point is, there might be a purpose served by turning a place of trauma into a place of tourism. However, the manner in which that has been accomplished at Robben Island is deeply unsatisfying; only when we returned to the mainland did we begin to appreciate the tragedy inflicted there... [Read More]
- Interview with Mary Burton, former commissioner on the TRC: Despite being nowhere near the first body of its kind, South Africa's TRC quickly became the most famous and visible - and a model for many countries that have created commissions of their own. In the process, South Africa's truth commissioners have become de facto spokespeople for the field of transitional justice. Shortly before our visit, Mary Burton had been in Indonesia, discussing that country's plans and making suggestions for the structure. Right from the start, she acknowledged that not every country coming out of violence should have a truth commission. From there, the conversation moved in a number of different directions, as she generously accommodated us with a full group discussion and a formal interview... [Read More]
- Service project at Youngsfield Refugee Camp, including interviews with several refugees: A little less than two months before our departure for South Africa, the country erupted in violence, as immigrant communities were targeted by angry South Africans, identifying the foreigners as a scapegoat for their economic and social vulnerability. Soon, the government established refugee camps to provide protection and temporary housing, as many of the foreigners had seen their homes destroyed and others believed they were in great danger. By the time we arrived in South Africa in late-June, the violence had died down, but the camps and the sense of vulnerability remained... [Read More]
- Meeting with Black Sash, including interviews with two founding members: Over and over again, we were amazed by the generosity of the people and organizations that agreed to meet with us. Not only did they spend a great deal of time with us, but they often rolled out the red carpet. Black Sash was no exception. One of South Africa's most venerable human rights organizations, the Sash was effusive in welcoming us, introducing us to important figures from throughout the organization's history, and sharing their perspectives on South Africa's struggle... [Read More]
- Day-trip to Paarl for meeting with Gary Helling of Monte Christo Ministries: We arrived in Paarl, a picturesque spot nearly two hours by train from Cape Town, a little uncertain of what we would find there. We were scheduled to meet with an American church group overseeing a number of social initiatives in the town. Admittedly, we entered with some reservations - we had all read about religious groups providing assistance hand-in-hand with evangelization, or about incomplete international projects that ultimately did more harm than help. So, Gary, the leader of the Monte Christo Ministries efforts in Paarl, had our attention when he told us, "Our goal is to set this up so that we can leave it in their hands..." [Read More]
- Guided visit to the Big Hole diamond mine: South Africa's history of colonial aggression was driven in large part by imperialist desire for gold and diamonds. Kimberley is the site of many of South Africa's richest diamond mines and was thus a focal point of Anglo-Boer tensions near the turn of the century. Simply dubbed The Big Hole, this former diamond mine documents the region's mining history while smoothing out some rough edges... [Read More]
- Interview with Emilia Potenza, Educational Director of the Apartheid Museum: The creative mastermind behind the excellent Apartheid Museum, Emilia Potenza also has a background as an anti-apartheid activist. Unlike many of the other activists with whom we spoke with on this trip, though, she was a young, white student at the height of her resistance efforts, allowing her to speak more directly to the perspectives and positions of our group... [Read More]