January 4, 2007
Thursday, January 04, 2007
By Carlie PostWe started our morning at the District 6 Museum, which is a memorial of sorts to a harmonious community in South Africa that was destroyed during the 1960’s. The apartheid government decided to force the people out of their homes because they were living together in peace with people of many different ethnic backgrounds. Our guide, Noor, lived there and told us his story. Some of us bought his book.
From there, we walked four blocks to the Castle of Good Hope, which was established by the Dutch to guard them from the British, but the British eventually overtook it. We saw the prison cells, dungeon, and torture chamber. It was rather creepy, but the castle was actually pretty because it is painted light yellow and is built like a fort, with the moat still in existence.
We spent the better part of our day in Guguletu, which is a small “township,” which is where black people were forced to move during apartheid. There, we visited the J L Zwane Centre and Church, where we met our guides, who were very hospitable and entertaining. We visited small, two-room houses enlarged slightly by shacks, and the poverty was very evident. Our guide even showed us his own house.
At the church, we had a question-and-answer session with the pastor, who is an incredible man full of faith and passion. He explained to us some of the problems that South Africa faces, including the lack of marriages and high number of children; poverty; unemployment (about 70% in Guguletu); homelessness; hostility between ethnic groups; trauma; orphans; and uncertainty about how to face these problems. It was sobering and we struggle with how to process these concerns, but we continue to enjoy the beautiful country that surrounds us, and the energetic and compassionate people we are meeting.
We hope that our friends and family back home are able to view these entries, or will soon, since our Internet is quite limited. We hope you are doing well!
