Soweto and Nelson Mandela House
So last Saturday (6/8) we decided to go explore Soweto, which is where Nelson Mandela and his family lived for 40 years. The name Soweto actually originated from South Western Townships and it Soweto is just a mixture of a lot of different townships in Guateng (which is the province where Johannesburg is located and where we are staying)!
We went to Soweto with 3 other girls from our graduate program who are also staying in Johannesburg - Marcie, Kate, and Emily. When we first got to Soweto, the Nelson Mandela house was really crowded with school groups so we walked around a bit to pass the time so that we didn't have to wait in line. We window shopped at all of the booths locals had set up near the house and came upon these beautiful bowls that were handmade out of beads and copper wire. We spoke to the woman at the booth for quite a while and discovered that she had worked with someone from France to create a program where children and women from Soweto make bowls and plates to sell at this booth and the money earned goes directly back to them for groceries and living expenses. It sounded really incredible to us and we spent a really long time picking out the perfect bowls to bring back home!
Then, we had the chance to visit Nelson Mandela's house, which was the first house he ever purchased on his own and his family lived there for 40 years (even while he was in prison). Throughout his house they had many awards that Mandela and his second wife (Winnie Mandela) were given throughout the years - it was incredible.
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| The address of the house! |
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| On the left is the last picture taken of Nelson Mandela before he was arrested and to the right (much smaller) is the first picture taken after he was released from prison 27 years later |
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| Our delicious Soweto drinks! |
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| The South African version of a restaurant space heater |
If any museum could possibly try to capture everything that happened during the Apartheid, this one definitely came as close as humanly possible. The museum was huge and incredible. We were there for 2 to 3 hours and were literally kicked out as it was closing - we didn't even get through everything! When you first walked into the museum, you were assigned to either Blankes (white) or Nie-Blankes (non-white). Michelle and I were each assigned to different groups. You then entered the museum based on your assignment and couldn't cross over to the other side.
I wasn't really down with the racial and ethnic barriers so I just crossed over to Michelle's Nie-Blankes side real quick. :)
Nelson Mandela Square Fail and later fix
This past Wednesday we set out to find the peacemakers museum, which we read was in Nelson Mandela Square. So we set off to Nelson Mandela Square in Joburg, which is about 4 or 5 malls (literally, like full malls) and 8 hotels arranged in a massive square complex. We asked around EVERYWHERE and never seemed to find out where this dang museum was located, so we ended up wandering around instead. Thankfully, we decided to go back this Friday and saw the museum. The Peacemaker museum honored Nobel Laureates from South Africa. There are 4 - Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk who won together for working together to find a peaceful solution to the end of apartheid, Cheif Albert Luthuli who was president of the Africa National Congress (ANC) and consistently stood by a policy of non-violent resistance, and Desmond Tutu. It was a very small museum, but we were still excited to see it and learned even more about 4 very important figures in South African history! We signed a peace pledge there and made an origami dove out of it to add to the museum.
I'll stop boring you with additional knowledge that I learned at this museum, but believe me I learned a lot. Also, to be honest, I'm a little exhausted right now and probably can't even teach you very well. I will tell you the most surprising thing I learned, though. I had no clue that certain groups within South Africa were violently against the peaceful solution Mandela and FW de Klerk were working towards in the early 1990s. The IFP (Inkatha Freedom Party) and other parties in South Africa broke out in violent riots during the 1990s, that were against Mandela agreeing to negotiate with de Klerk about an end to the Apartheid. The IFP specifically wanted Africa to be ruled by and dominated by only historically native Africans. But, like many of you know, there is now a democratic South Africa and eventually there was a peaceful solution!
At the end of the museum, they had a peace garden where you had the opportunity to reflect on everything you'd just learned (and how anything like the Apartheid could be possible). It was beautiful.
At the very end, we picked our favorite Nelson Mandela quote from a series of quotes that were color coded and added a stick of that color to a large collection of sticks people who have visited the museum have added throughout the years.
This past Wednesday we set out to find the peacemakers museum, which we read was in Nelson Mandela Square. So we set off to Nelson Mandela Square in Joburg, which is about 4 or 5 malls (literally, like full malls) and 8 hotels arranged in a massive square complex. We asked around EVERYWHERE and never seemed to find out where this dang museum was located, so we ended up wandering around instead. Thankfully, we decided to go back this Friday and saw the museum. The Peacemaker museum honored Nobel Laureates from South Africa. There are 4 - Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk who won together for working together to find a peaceful solution to the end of apartheid, Cheif Albert Luthuli who was president of the Africa National Congress (ANC) and consistently stood by a policy of non-violent resistance, and Desmond Tutu. It was a very small museum, but we were still excited to see it and learned even more about 4 very important figures in South African history! We signed a peace pledge there and made an origami dove out of it to add to the museum.
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| A huge statue of Nelson Mandela at Nelson Mandela Square |
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| The Peacemakers museum dove made out of peace pledges taken by people who have visited the museum. |
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| Our peace pledge doves |
After the museum, we saw The Fault in Our Stars and bawled our eyeballs out. After all of that sadness, we met our 3 friends who are living here - Marcie, Kate, and Emily - out for drinks in a new side of town - Melville - where they are currently living. Melville really reminded us of a college town - there is a whole strip of nice restaurants and bars on one street and pretty much everyone walks around. We had a really great time! I also met a fellow Tar Heel (WE'RE EVERYWHERE!) who is studying abroad in Joburg for 6 weeks. Marcie, Emily, and Kate met him a couple of weeks ago where they used to live.
Volunteering at an Orphanage in Soweto
Kate, one of my fellow Emory students, studied abroad in South Africa before and had the opportunity to volunteer at an orphanage in Soweto. She reached out to the orphanage again to see if we could volunteer there this week and we did today. It was so incredible. We were there from 1-5pm. From around 1 to 2:30 we cuddled with some incredibly adorable babies that were all around 5 months old. One of them was upset whenever I wasn't paying attention to her and was talking like crazy until I would hold her again. I fell in love.
Then, for the remainder of the time, we played with the older children. They taught us a lot of South African games and we taught them duck, duck goose.
In the spirit of Father's Day, I definitely want to shout out to my crazy father - Micheal Hannah - who always played the "Up high, down low, back side, too slow!" high-five game with me when I was little. It's always a hit for the kids. I taught it to this adorable little man... There's a little piece of your spirit in South Africa, dad!
During the last hour or so, I met the most incredible, bright little girl. She asked me my name, and when I told her, she asked, "what does it mean?" I told her that, honestly, it meant "a bale of hay". She told me her name - Kinsley (I know I'm not at all spelling it correctly, but that's the easiest phonetic spelling), and that it meant "beautiful." She told me that she is in 4th grade and that her favorite subject in school is math. We did some division and she ACED it all! She also taught me a great deal of Zulu and was a natural teacher. She kept quizzing me to make sure what she taught me had stuck. I really needed a notebook to take down notes because she described the words, how to pronounce them, and their meaning so well. I can't wait to go back and spend more time with her and honestly, I wish I could take her home with me. She is incredibly bright and sweet, and deserves an entire world full of opportunity.
I can't really do today justice in words, but honestly it has been one of my favorite experiences in South Africa (and life) so far and I know we will be going back again.
I apologize for the lack of blogging and for this condensation of my past week in South Africa!
Ngiyakuthanda (I love you :) )
Kate, one of my fellow Emory students, studied abroad in South Africa before and had the opportunity to volunteer at an orphanage in Soweto. She reached out to the orphanage again to see if we could volunteer there this week and we did today. It was so incredible. We were there from 1-5pm. From around 1 to 2:30 we cuddled with some incredibly adorable babies that were all around 5 months old. One of them was upset whenever I wasn't paying attention to her and was talking like crazy until I would hold her again. I fell in love.
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| My love |
In the spirit of Father's Day, I definitely want to shout out to my crazy father - Micheal Hannah - who always played the "Up high, down low, back side, too slow!" high-five game with me when I was little. It's always a hit for the kids. I taught it to this adorable little man... There's a little piece of your spirit in South Africa, dad!During the last hour or so, I met the most incredible, bright little girl. She asked me my name, and when I told her, she asked, "what does it mean?" I told her that, honestly, it meant "a bale of hay". She told me her name - Kinsley (I know I'm not at all spelling it correctly, but that's the easiest phonetic spelling), and that it meant "beautiful." She told me that she is in 4th grade and that her favorite subject in school is math. We did some division and she ACED it all! She also taught me a great deal of Zulu and was a natural teacher. She kept quizzing me to make sure what she taught me had stuck. I really needed a notebook to take down notes because she described the words, how to pronounce them, and their meaning so well. I can't wait to go back and spend more time with her and honestly, I wish I could take her home with me. She is incredibly bright and sweet, and deserves an entire world full of opportunity.
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| Learning Zulu from my natural teacher |
I can't really do today justice in words, but honestly it has been one of my favorite experiences in South Africa (and life) so far and I know we will be going back again.
I apologize for the lack of blogging and for this condensation of my past week in South Africa!
Ngiyakuthanda (I love you :) )
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