Elon Study Abroad | Read what Elon students are doing around the world

As our time in Australia comes to a close, we still have a few more stops that we wanted to take.  But there is no better way to relax in Australia than celebrating a Free Day as a class.  Various students traveled to neighboring cities to visit the beach, the Aquarium of Western Australia, and to spend a few dollars at the Fremantle markets.  Don’t be surprised if you see boomerangs flying across Elon’s campus or hear the sound of a didgeridoo, as these were a few of the popular purchases.  The class chose to close out the adventurous day with a group dinner at the Moon Cafe  to share our stories.

After this well deserved Free Day, the class quickly readjusted to work mode as we tackled the Ferry ride to Rottnest Island, which once acted as a penal colony for Aboriginal men and boys.    It came as a shock to many of us to stand on a land that once experienced so much heartache.  This area holds great significance as it contains various Aboriginal sites scattered around the island.  A few of these sites included the prison site itself, the cemetery, the house of an ex-convict, and a museum displaying the history of the land.  The former prison, now known as the Lodge, provided an interesting glimpse into the devastating conditions that existed only a few decades ago.   However, you would never recognize this history as the Lodge is now ironically home to a fabulously furnished resort, thus covering up the deep rooted history of the prisoners.  Just next to the building we found the Aboriginal prisoners’ burial ground, though it is not like the cemeteries we see at home.  No graves were labeled, and the land was disrespected in the past as it once served as a camping ground.  However, today mechanisms  have been set into place to preserve the history that is associated with the land.

This day was definitely about balance.  The all work and no play mentality is not one that this group hopes for – whether you chose to take the bus, or getting in a work out as a few students biked around the island.  Either way Parakeet Bay seemed to be a popular place for the students to end up.  It did not take long for anyone to jump into their snorkel gear and explore the reefs in the Bay.  We made friends with a sting ray and some even spotted Nemo!  Though our return to dry land was not as welcoming as we had imagined as a few students encountered quokkas, a marsupial species native to Rottnest Island, before hopping on the Ferry back to Perth.

The following day, students enjoyed the morning at various beaches before heading to Curtin University in the late afternoon for a lecture from esteemed Australian Representative of Parliament, Ken Wyatt.  Students had the opportunity to pick apart the brain of the very first Aboriginal man to be elected to the House of Representatives – which we dare say is no small feat.  After spending the past few weeks in the bush learning how the Aboriginal people fit into their native land, it was fascinating to learn the experiences of a man who works to partner the world in the outback to contemporary society.  As the son of a woman of the Stolen Generation, he definitely gave us insight into the multi-generational impact of Aboriginal history and how Australian law attempts to bring the two worlds together.  It would seem that our class was affected by his talk of empowering collaboration, as we found ourselves enjoying a 29 person dinner party at a Mexican restaurant that was muy delicioso.

The next morning, the students were excited to spend their last full day at Caversham Wildlife Reserve. They were able to get an up close and personal look at some of the fascinating animals that are indigenous to the area, such as the dingos, wombats, koalas, and other creatures. The most popular attraction was the kangaroo exhibit as students were able to feed, pet, and hop around the yard with them. As we close out with our last night, students are excited to have enlightening discussions with a panel of some of the prestigious members of the Aboriginal community over one last group dinner.  Before we depart on our 25 hour journey back to the States, the students are excited to take part in Survival Day festivities tomorrow, which is put on annually by members of the Aboriginal community. We are very sad to leave and all hope to be able to return to Australia one day!

-Cheers!
Abby, Chelsea, Eric, and Meghan

The bloggers at Rottnest Island

Playing around with our kangaroo friends

What’s in a name?

Villa El Salvador. Oasis #3. It didn’t look like an oasis. We stopped at one of the many shacks made of recycled materials on one of the dirt streets. María Rodríguez was cleaning and cutting chicken feet to make the soup. Monday through Friday she and another woman cook and serve the community lunch for which each person pays about 45 US cents.  María and her neighbors “invaded” this desert area about five years ago when they moved down from the mountains looking for a better life near Lima, the center of industry and commerce in Peru. They didn’t bring much to their new home but they did bring some of their ancient Andean communal values. These included working together and reciprocity. That’s how they survive and create a new life in the big city.

A common phenomenon in Peru, squatters will invade vacant land near big cities and create a pueblo joven, a new town. Pueblos jóvenes do not exist on any official map. They’re not legal. The squatters struggle for years to establish an infrastructure, get titles to the land and incorporate into a town. The authorities will try to evict them, so they carefully avoid any problems with the police. Not surprisingly when Elon student Zane Campen asked María what was required to become a community member her assistant immediately answered, “You must behave.” A quechua saying expresses their ethos, “Ama sua. Ama Quella. Ama Llullay.” Don’t be a thief. Don’t be lazy. Don’t lie. Our guide told us that these shanty towns were the safest neighborhoods in Peru.

Elon students made a contribution so that the two soup kitchens at Oasis #3 can buy plates and much needed kitchen utensils. From our affluent US perspective this place does not look like an oasis but it represents their hopes and dreams. Slum or oasis? Where you stand determines what you see.

-Lauren Needell

One of the most rewarding aspects of this course was the opportunity to assist with various programs or organizations in place to improve communities throughout South Africa. We have visited various schools and nurseries, known as crèches. All of these institutions were very different from what I am used to growing up with the privilege of an American education at top public schools. The class sizes were at least twice what I had grown up with and where my schools had shelves full of brand new books and computers, these classrooms had very few educational resources. Another major difference was the security measures taken by the schools and crèches. At the top of every fence, not only around the school but around many homes and other buildings, were barbed wire, electrical fencing, and intensely sharp spikes seemingly protecting the institutions from the surrounding area. The surrounding area of one crèche in particular was the township of Zwelithe. Just like many of the other townships we had visited, Zwelithe was filled with small homes made of scrap metal and the streets were lined with vendors trying to sell anything that they were able to get their hands on. Many of the homes in Zwelithe did not have electricity or running water, and the majority of the homes that did have electricity were stealing it from wires attached to stoplights or streetlights. But despite the evident hardships that the children of the crèche faced every day, their spirits were extremely high and their will to learn was incredible. We spent time with the children reading, drawing, playing, and preparing lunch for them and they rewarded us with beautiful songs and illuminating smiles.

Later that afternoon we traveled just minutes down the road to the world renowned whale-watching capital of the world, Hermanus. Hermanus was right on the water and offered wonderful restaurants and shops to go along with the beautiful scenery. We had lunch at one of the many upscale restaurants and were given some free time to walk around and see what Hermanus had to offer. In contrast to the shacks and cargo-vessels-turned-barber-shops of Zwelithe, Hermanus had fountains surrounded by statues of whales and informational signs. Instead of dirt roads and produce stands, Hermanus had brick sidewalks and parking lots outside of the column lined shops and restaurants. And instead of barbed wire lining the fences surrounding all of the buildings, Hermanus had large homes surrounded by tall walls and equipped with ADT security systems. Needless to say, the disparity in wealth between the residents of Zwelithe and their neighbors living in Hermanus was vast.

I can’t help but think that this enormous disparity of wealth is a lasting effect of apartheid. The fact that such an enormous economic difference exists in such close proximity and the racial correlation to the socioeconomic segregation shows very clearly that while apartheid is no longer written into the laws or constitution of South Africa, it certainly persists in the difference of opportunity between economic classes. This economic disparity contributes to a cycle of inequality, where the children from the poorer families do not get a good enough education and therefore have limited career choices and opportunity to break free from the grasp of poverty. Because of the cyclical nature of the inequality in the townships of South Africa, and the initial disparity of rights and opportunity set in place by the systems of apartheid, the black and colored citizens in South Africa are still today being discriminated against as a result of apartheid. Although apartheid in South Africa and segregation in the United States no longer exist in practice, when will the effects of segregation and racial discrimination no long plague society?

During our safari experience in the Aquila Game Reserve, we learned of South Africa’s Big Five: the rhino, the elephant, the lion, the leopard, and the African buffalo.  Along our trek through the reserve with safari guide Carl, we learned of the great deal of poaching occurring in South Africa.  Only a few days before, the poaching of several rhinos made front-page headlines in the newspaper.

There is evidently a great deal of distaste for poachers among South Africans.  When we asked Carl what he does when he catches poachers, and he stared back straight faced and said, “Shoot ‘em, and feed ‘em to the lions.”  We could not tell if this was his dark sense of humor or he was being serious.  With so much light being put on poaching of large African game, a serious poaching issue is often cast in its shadow: plant poaching.

Through my personal experiences at Tygerberg Nature Preserve, I found that there is a different kind of poaching that is having a more dramatic effect on the local ecosystem than poaching big game.  Traditional South African medicines call for the use of some plants, which are currently endangered under South African law.  Poachers are not only targeting big game, but also targeting these plants, which hold great commercial value.  One example of this is the recent poaching of the Impala Lily in Kruger national park.  This flower is not only beautiful but also essential to the ecosystem in Kruger.  The heavy poaching of this flower and others can lead to the complete destruction of a majority of the ecosystem.  Of course, poachers are not the only issue facing South Africa’s nature preserves.

I learned in Tygerberg that an equally menacing threat to South African ecosystems is invasive plant species.  Foreign plants brought over by Europeans are still having a tremendous impact on indigenous plant species.  We spent half a day clearing out an invasive flower that speckled a few hectares of land in the preserve and barely made a dent.  The prevalence of foreign plants in the South African ecosystem has led to a hustle to protect the few areas in South Africa that still contain purely indigenous plant life.  The protection of these areas is integral in the preservation of the history of South Africa, especially in the Cradle of Humankind.  By preserving the indigenous, natural beauty of South Africa, we can preserve a piece of beauty in a country that has had such an unsteady past.

Throughout our entire experience in South Africa there was information on HIV/AIDS in almost every museum and exhibition that we visited. It is a terrible disease that affects so many people, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa.
One museum that had more information on HIV/AIDS than was expected was Maropeng. There was a piece that had the following information: “Over 40 million people are living with HIV worldwide, more than half of them in Sub-Saharan Africa. Over 20 million people have died of AIDS since it was discovered in 1981. About 3.1 million people died from AIDS in 2004.” After reading this I stood near the plaque and looked at peoples faces while they read it, and the looks that were made by other students told the whole story. The looks that I saw were mostly of shock because we had learned about how devastating the disease was, but seeing these statistics rite in front of our faces seemed to have hit home much more than if we had read them on a computer back in the United States.
Many other museums had information or something depicting the disease, one of which was Constitution Hill. They depicted an image of AIDS as a red bed with black, spike looking protrusions coming out of it and in the middle of this was a face that had a look of agony and pain. The tour guide told only told me that it depicted a person infected with HIV/AIDS and that it was up to me to determine my own opinion on it.
The other place that I saw information on HIV/AIDS was in the schools that we visited. When I walked around the schools working for Ubuntu Sports Outreach telling the students that we were playing futbol after school I saw small posters in some of the class rooms with information on HIV/AIDS. I asked some of the teachers if they talked about it and they said not to the younger students because most of them know people with the disease and it was too troubling to them. When I asked teachers for the older students they said they didn’t talk about it much which shocked me. With kids getting married and having sex earlier in life there needs to be more sex education earlier in students lives so the idea of using protection and practicing safe sex is instilled in them earlier in life.
Another major issue that our cohort came across was healthcare. Healthcare encompasses so many things from dental care to medicine for the common cold, and South Africa is struggling in many of these areas. When you go into many of the townships there is garbage and trash everywhere, lines of porter potties surrounding homes, and stagnant water in some areas. In a country where there are so many townships, these issues are magnified even more. When you walk around the various areas and you talk to the local people of South Africa you notice that some their teeth are missing, or there were brown stains on their teeth, and this is a product of the healthcare system. I talked to Jeff Wojewoda, who is aspiring to be a dentist after school and he said that if he came down to South Africa to work he would be the busiest dentist in the world. Dental hygiene is another area the South African government has not tackled, but it needs to start fixing some of the major health care problems in the country.
The healthcare system was drastically unequal during apartheid, and that has continued even now. The disparity in money the different populations receive from the government is too great to help fix many of the health issues that are currently affecting South Africa. The government is trying to do more to help stop the AIDS epidemic, but that is not the only health issue that is currently affecting the country. Other disease such as bacterial diarrhea, Typhoid Fever, and Hepatitis A are also extremely prevalent and do not receive as much focus as HIV/AIDS. South Africa is an amazing country, but with out proper healthcare and education the problems will never be fixed.

Our class had the opportunity to visit the largest black township in South Africa, the South Western Township, or Soweto. One of our guides, K.B. is actually a resident of Soweto and was proud to show us his community. The atmosphere and energy of Soweto was unexpected. We entered into a vibrant township with approximately seven million residents. Soweto has approximately 287 school and a university as well as one of the largest hospitals in the world. Soweto is home to the first black millionaire under apartheid but has a large disparity in socio-economic level due to the 40% unemployment rate. This is evident by the larger houses minutes away from a squatter settlement of Motsaweli.

While we had been exposed to the enormous disparity in wealth this squatter settlement was hard for many. There were dead rats in the dirt roads and a kresh full of children with flies constantly landing on them. This was the first time where children had asked us for sweets or money. The absolute poverty in this settlement was eye opening to the privilege that our class has experienced. Throughout this class we have examined our privilege that our race, gender, socio-economic status, etc. has on our world view and the way we are perceived. This short visit into the squatter settlement made me think about my privilege and how I can use this privilege to help those that do not have the same opportunity and lifestyle as I have.

One of the parts of our tour of Soweto that stood out to me was when our guide, K. B. told us that under apartheid, the government tried to keep the various ethnic groups divided into zones so that they would not unite. K.B. told us that while the Zulu should have lived in one area, the Xhosa in another and so on, that there was no way to keep people from staying in these zones. This showed one of the ways that the black population tried to resist the government under apartheid. While the government tried to keep the black population from uniting and divide them based on tribal and ethnic lines, the people found a common purpose through the spirit of Ubuntu and found ways to resist.

Soweto was the site of the first student uprisings in 1976. Reading about this uprising was one thing but to go to the site where tanks and a police force met children that were barely fourteen was incredible. Students stood up to fight the apartheid system of teaching in Afrikaans and sadly, many lost their lives for this resistance. The Hector Peterson Memorial was a powerful and profound museum that allowed our class to experience the atmosphere and confusion associated with the Bantu Education Acts and eventually the Soweto Uprisings. The most impactful part of the exhibit was a famous photo of Hector Peterson, the first child killed in the uprising, being carried by another teenager. The fact that children were losing their lives for educational opportunity and resistance to apartheid affected me. It made me question how far I was willing to go in order to ensure a quality education for myself.

The impact of black consciousness was highlighted in the exhibit. Steve Biko was a large influence on the children of Soweto as well as the continent of Africa. A quote that resonated with me from the exhibit was “black consciousness seeks to instill the idea of self-determination to restore feelings of pride and dignity to blacks after centuries of racist oppression. It is an attitude of mind and a way of life. It is the realization that the most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed”. Being in the exhibit made me realize how Biko’s words would rally the children of Soweto to protest the introduction of Afrikaans as a teaching medium.

Another highlight of Soweto was seeing Nelson Mandela’s house at 8115 Orlando West. Our class got to hear more about the struggle for racial equality and Nelson and Winnie Mandela’s role in dismantling the apartheid system. It was incredible to see the bullet holes in the front of the Mandela home as well as learn that their house had been petrol bombed twice. The violence and hateful atmosphere that enveloped apartheid is hard to imagine but Nelson Mandela’s perseverance makes his eventual election to president even more inspiring.

Soweto was an amazing experience that our class was lucky to experience. The atmosphere and history of the township makes me wonder how privilege affects our view of a community. We see Soweto as a place of uprising in the early years of the apartheid struggle. However, the township has transformed to a place of hope for the Rainbow nation. Housing one of the largest hospitals in the Southern Hemisphere and a growing middle class, Soweto is poised to remain a vibrant community.

Driving and walking through the streets of Soweto our bus drivers, and Soweto residents, KB and TK taught us about the past and present of the city. Absorbing the culture of the area and shocked by the large population (7 million) and sheer poverty and contradictions of wealth surrounding us, our group traveled in discussion. However, when rounding a corner in the Orlando West Township KB said, “This is the corner where the students were met by the police forces in 1976.” A silence fell over our group as we imagined what took place there years ago. We then ventured to the Hector Pieterson Museum located just beyond the corner. On the corner where the Soweto Uprisings began on June 16, 1976 is a memorial to the many students who lost their lives during the protests. A simple stone memorial commemorates the Soweto Uprisings, and reads, “To honour the youth who gave their lives in the struggle for freedom and democracy.” Walking through the museum there was a change of mood amongst the group. For the first time, there was complete silence. We all walked through the museum fully engaged in the information surrounding us. The museum was simple, informative, and powerful. Multiple mediums were used to tell the story of the Soweto Uprisings from the beginning of apartheid through the many riots and formation of various political groups. The exhibit included video footage of the police confronting students in the streets, various perspectives of the events of June 16, 1976, photographs, and significant objects. At the conclusion of the exhibit is an open courtyard serving as a memorial to the many youth who lost their lives during the Soweto Uprisings. The students are commemorated with bricks scattered throughout gravel in a two level courtyard. On each brick is the name of the individual along with the day on which they died.

August 29, 1974 the Southern Transvaal Regional Director of Education, Mr. W.C. Ackerman, issued an order that required certain subjects to be taught in Afrikaans, while others remained being taught in English. This caused and uproar throughout the education system, students and teachers alike. Following the installation of the language requirements numerous school administrators were dismissed and students began to speak out against the order. After varying groups attempted to confront the language in education issue, students at Orlando West Junior Secondary School went on strike on May 17, 1976. The students went on strike in protest of the forced use of Afrikaans. This strike sparked many surrounding schools to follow their lead and too go on strike in protest of Afrikaans. On June 13, 1976 a meeting of representatives from the Soweto schools was held in Orlando East. At the meeting it was decided that there would be a protest held on June 16^th against the use of Afrikaans. After much planning on June 16, 1976, students marched in Soweto in protest of the use of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction. The students were met on the street by police and violence erupted. The first student to be killed was Hector Pieterson. Jun 16, 1976 marked the beginning of the Soweto Uprisings. For the rest of June, riots and protests broke out throughout South Africa is sympathy and support of the events that took place in Soweto on June 16, 1976.

The Hector Pieterson museum was truly moving. Prior to visiting the museum I had a general understanding of the events that took place in Soweto and as a result of the march on June 16, 1976, however I never truly understood the magnitude of the events. Additionally, it was incredible to think that the students involved in the marches and protests were our age and some even younger. The courage and determination the students had continues to amaze me. While I hope that I would stand up for my beliefs in all situations, I cannot imagine the reality of dying for them. The way in which is museum was laid out is excellent in my opinion. The exhibit walks you through what let up to June 16, 1976, as well as, what happened following. One of the walls provides a look into June 16, 1976 from the view point of a student, parent, and an official. This was intriguing to me because all of the perspectives were vastly different and informative in their own manner. After leaving the Hector Pieterson Museum we drove back through the streets of the Orlando West Township and it was difficult to picture the students walking through the streets and meeting the brutality of the police, but was all in all, a different Orlando West than I saw looking out the bus window before visiting the Hector Pieterson Museum.

On January 11^th, the SASA class of 2012 got the privilege of having a woman named Zwaki Qeqe speak to us, as well as a young woman named Adele. Ms. Qeqe manages the Bonne Esperance refugee center for women and children. She came to speak to us about immigration and refugees in South Africa and the struggles that they face. South Africa has had a bad history with immigrants, which has left people with very negative feelings towards immigrants and refugees. Xenophobia is rampant in the country, despite their supposed open door policy and the idea of a “Rainbow Nation”. Some of this may come from the idea that the immigrants are taking jobs from the vast number of jobless South Africans. This is very similar to the reasoning that many American’s have for their negative views towards immigrants.

After apartheid, there was a mass movement to deport the illegal immigrants in South Africa. This has been criticized as a brutal and corrupt system. In 2002, South Africa created, and in 2005 enforced a new, friendlier immigration act. This new act focused on bringing in skilled immigrants and attempting to get rid of the xenophobia in the country, but it didn’t have any specific plan to do this. While the act got rid of the refugee camps, it still contained fairly brutal measures for deporting undocumented immigrants, including enlisting the members of the community to spy and report anybody whom they suspected to be an illegal immigrant. This only fueled the fire of the xenophobia. One of the large contributors to the immigration to South Africa is Zimbabwe.  Zimbabwe citizens have fled the economic hardships and political oppression of their country for South Africa and have been the victims of much of the xenophobia. In May 2008, xenophobic riots spread across the country because of the country’s dissatisfaction with how things were going.

The goal of many refugee centers like the one that Zwaki Qeqe works at is to integrate refugees into society. They do this through things like community development. They attempt to increase the participation of the refugees in their communities. Some places attempt to do this with sports. Others do this through other community programs. These centers also try to teach skill development so that refugees can have the skills to get jobs. They also help them apply for jobs once they have the skills.

Another goal of these centers is to educate the South African citizens about refugees and immigrants. They try to teach them how to help refugees and how to teach them. They teach them that the immigrants aren’t a negative thing to have in their country and how they can work together to improve their communities. They also set up the Amnesty Center for Peace. This center focuses on the peaceful coexistence of refugees in the country. This helps with their goal of social reintegration and cohesion. They attempt to make the refugees “ambassadors of peace”. These ambassadors are refugees that help other refugees. They focus specifically on crime and work with the police to stop xenophobic crime as well as crime by refugees themselves. They also use a street community approach and have these ambassadors monitor the streets for xenophobia as well as to make sure that the refugees are involved in the community. They also promote peace.

One of the hardest things when working with refugees, especially women and children is that they are scared and embarrassed to tell their stories. This means that they are unable to do as well because they can’t get better and get past what has happened to them. One thing that Ms. Qeqe’s center does is give these refugees a safe place to tell their stories and mend. Adele was one of these children who was afraid to tell her story and who was helped by this center. She was forced to grow up fast and went through more than any of us can imagine.

When Adele was 6, she was brought by her family across the border in a box in the trunk of her car. She was abused by her family, and when a teacher found out about it and confronted her father, it only made it worse. This convinced Adele that nobody could help her and she attempted to take things into her own hands. She ran away from home but eventually a teacher found out and forced her to return. She was again beaten and finally ran away with her sister and stayed with strangers. They were found by the police but Adele was unable to tell them the truth. She was sent to a social worker who, even after Adele told her what happened wasn’t able to help. Adele never went home. She lived the rest of her childhood on the streets. She was sexually abused by people and was even impregnated by rape. Eventually she found the shelter and they helped her out and helped her to tell her story. Now she lives with her brother.

This story is one of terrible circumstances and a child who was made to grow up too fast, but it is one that many refugees could tell you. The centers help these children who have nobody else. At the end of Adele’s story, many of the members of the class were visibly moved. It was a powerful moment. The hope is that this center and the others like it can eventually rid the country of xenophobia and prevent more children from having stories like Adele’s. It is a huge undertaking, but by educating the community and getting involved, progress is being made. On one of our outings as a class. I remember hearing one of the township members talking about xenophobia that they had seen in their township. It struck me that, while it is still happening, at least there are some people in the community who notice it and are trying to make a difference, and that’s a good place to start.

On January 18, the cohort visited Soweto.  Soweto, an acronym for South Western Township, is a western suburb of Johannesburg.  The day began with us visiting Soccer City, the large soccer stadium located in the outskirts of Soweto where the finals of the 2010 World Cup were held.  The stadium which had the ability to hold almost 95,000 fans is shaped like a large clay bowl.  A thirteen your old girl won a contest for the design of the stadium, in which the outer structure is a mosaic of colors ranging from off-white to dark brown.  We learned from our tour guide that the colors are supposed to represent the diversity of the people of South Africa.  At the time of our visit, the stadium seemed almost completely deserted, and only a few cars sat in the vast parking lots on the overcast day.  I imagined this to be a large contrast to the large and excited crowds that must have amassed around the stadium during the world cup.  I wondered how hosting the World Cup affected Soweto.  Did many tourists from around the world gain exposure to the township?  Or was the stadium strategically located on the outskirts of Soweto to limit the world’s exposure to township life?  Did Soweto monetarily reap any benefits through the investment into the stadium, and the tourism of the World Cup?

From the stadium, we ventured further into Soweto.  We immediately drove through large mine dumps, which were large mounds of sand that looked like landfills.  Five tons of sand are needed for the extraction of one ounce of gold.  The mine dumps served as reminders of the industry that brought the development of Johannesburg (“the city of gold”) and Soweto.  The discovery of gold in the late 1800s resulted in a large gold rush, and Soweto was developed as an area to house migrant workers.  I thought it was ironic how the precious metal gold, helped develop Soweto, an area of great poverty.

Our tour guide for the day was a young gentleman named T.K.  As a resident of Soweto he was able to give us much insight and knowledge concerning the area.  He explained that many of the residents of the township greatly believed in the South African philosophy of Ubuntu, the idea of community and humanity.  I thought the idea of the Ubuntu in Soweto, correlated with the lives of the residents of the townships we visited near Cape Town, such as Langa.  In the townships, I noticed the strong presence of communal living and tending to the care of others beyond the immediate family.

The area of Soweto is large, at over 250 kilometers squared, and is home to 3.5-4 million residents.  There seemed to be a lot of energy in the township as there were many pedestrians on the sidewalks and j-walking.  Many of the residents were reliant on the numerous van-like taxis for transportation.  Many vendors also lined some streets selling various foods items and articles of clothing, while we passed other streets with Toyota and V.W. dealerships.  T.K. described Soweto to be a land of contrasts.  In some areas, I noticed rather nice brick and concrete homes, with two car garages and fenced in yards.  In other areas, I found more traditional shanty homes, small and weathered, with much more trash around them.  In Soweto, there were limited trees in comparison to areas of Johannesburg.  The lack of trees in Soweto illustrated the residents’ methods of survival, in using the timber of trees as a source of energy in areas that often lack electricity.

We stopped in an area of Soweto, called Motsoaledi.  In comparison to other shanty towns we visited, I felt this area was not as used to tourism.  In Motsoaledi we visited a very small pre-school with an aged play area outside.  Despite the size of the school, it accommodated many children.  As our tour guy said they would be, the residents were receptive to my class, and engaged us and offered us greetings.  Children walked and played in the streets in bare feet.  T.K. later explained that they were school children that should have been at school.  This was a contrast from another area of Soweto where I saw school children in school uniforms. It was interesting as my class reflected about some of our interactions with the children.  A female student explained how one of the young children was asking her about how many kids she had.  Such interactions helped illustrate the cultural differences we confronted.  While from a western perspective, one would not expect a college aged female to have multiple children, in Soweto this may be the norm.

I was amazed of the influence that Soweto and its inhabitants had in the opposition to Apartheid.  We visited Freedom Square, an area that houses a monument that commemorated the signing of the Freedom Charter, a guideline for which the people would base their fight against the repressive culture in the 1950s.  In the monument, the 10 pillars of the charter were written, such as, “The people shall govern, “All national groups shall have equal rights,” and “The people shall share the country’s wealth.”   Many pivotal figures in the movement against Apartheid live or lived in Soweto, such as Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu.  After leaving Nelson Mandela’s former house, our day concluded at the Hector Pieterson Museum.  The museum was named after 12 year old Hector Pieterson, the first student to be killed during the June 16, 1976 Soweto uprising.  The uprising was when thousands of students from Soweto marched in opposition to the government’s policy to enforce teaching in Afrikaans in the schools.  The police combated the event with violence and gun fire.  The uprising in Soweto was a pivotal moment in South Africa in the opposition against Apartheid.  Mark Mathabane recounts the event in his book, Kaffir Boy, and how the uprising in Soweto inspired students from all around to engage in the cause.  The influence of the event in Soweto reminded me of the influence of the “Greensboro Five,” the black students in Greensboro, NC, who sat in a restaurant and refused to leave without being served.  Their efforts inspired others across the country to engage in the fight for Civil Rights.

Leaving Soweto, I realized the great historical impact the township had on all of South Africa.  The people of Soweto and the events that happened there inspired the country and were influential in bringing an end to Apartheid.  Now I question, who are the current leaders in Soweto?  While Apartheid may be over, what problems still exist, and what is being done to try to resolve these problems?

On our second day in Capetown, our group as a whole was surprised to learn that there were both a Holocaust and Jewish Museum and that we would be going there.  We were confused about why the museum existed, and asked ourselves whether there were Jewish people in South Africa and whether they had a real presence in this country.   I was especially interested to learn the answers to these questions because I am Jewish and am very eager to understand more about my own heritage and believe it is my responsibility to do so.  As soon as we got to the Holocaust Museum I became even more interested because our tour guide was Jewish and his mom had died in the Holocaust. I also have several relatives who died in the Holocaust. When I asked why there was a Holocaust Museum in South Africa he responded quickly and with great passion that the apartheid system was based in part on the Nazi regime.  I didn’t know about the role of propaganda in the Nazi regime and how that related to apartheid tactics until our tour guide explained it as we went through the museum.  I was surprised, though, that the guide didn’t mention that it wasn’t only Jews that were killed in the Holocaust but many others as well.  I was inspired by this tour, now wanting to go to Israel and take also take a course on the Holocaust spring semester at Elon.  I couldn’t believe how modern the Jewish museum was and how much work went into it.  One question that I kept asking myself was what the local people thought about this museum and whether many have seen it.

I was, in fact, surprised to learn that there was a Jewish presence in South Africa and that Jews had been part of South African history. We also visited the Jewish Museum, but we didn’t spend as much time there as in the Holocaust Museum Although I need to learn more, I did learn that there is a small percentage of Jewish people in South Africa, and that Jewish people had been on both sides of the apartheid issue.  Although many were very active protestors and involved with the anti-apartheid movement, unfortunately some did not want to get involved. The old (white) South Africa has also had a conflicted relationship with Jews and Israel, at times attempting to stop Jewish immigration, and also showing some support for Nazi Germany.  South Africa, I believe, has generally been supportive of Israel.  One night a group of us wanted to go out and we ended up in a town called Sea Point.  We later learned that this was an area known for its Jewish population as well as a population of gays.

However, it was the Holocaust Museum that had the most impact for me.  As I thought more and more about why this museum exists in South Africa and what the connection is between the Holocaust and apartheid, I began to understand.  I tried to do some reading and research into this idea and realized more and more how much of what we had been learning as a group about racism, discrimination and the horrors of apartheid had certain parallels to the Holocaust at another time in history.  Although these two events are different, the importance of a commitment to human rights is the lesson that should be learned from both.  Both South Africa and Germany have a past full of  horrific events and shameful acts against other human beings and if people don’t learn from history, then as the saying goes, history is likely to repeat itself.

I learned from my research that the South Africans in 2007 included teaching the Holocaust as part of the new curriculum in schools. The South Africans wanted to emphasize teaching human rights and how that theme is based on the Constitution of South Africa.  This documents was influenced by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which was written as a result of the Holocaust and World War 11. The South Africans wisely saw that to teach human rights, along with teaching many other historical events, the teaching of the Holocaust and the lessons learned was crucial.  To study the Holocaust is important in and of itself; however; to focus on what can be learned from it, what parallels to apartheid there are,  is critical to a commitment to human rights, a respect for differences and a more complete understanding of moral and ethical issues involved in being human.

There are many other advantages to an awareness of the Holocaust for South Africans.  I was reminded in my research that the testimony of Holocaust survivors fits in well with South African tradition of oral history and story telling as a way to teach values and morals.  Drawing parallels in the two events also allows present day South Africans to understand what the responses are to extreme discrimination and what choices the oppressed people have.

I learned that Archbishop Desmond Tutu is a supporter of the museum and has eloquently summed up the value of teaching the Holocaust to South Africans.  “We learn about the Holocaust so that we can become more human, more gentle, more caring, more compassionate, valuing every person as being of infinite worth, so precious that we know such atrocities will never happen again and the world will be a more human place”  I was very moved by this quote, and sincerely hope that as human beings, we can learn from our tragic mistakes in history; however given the continuing human rights violations and atrocities in countries around the world, I can’t help wondering if we ever really learn these critical lessons?