more pictures from the Semesters

Strandfontein

The week in Strandfontein was a week to learn and live with "Colour" people. The week was spent learn about places like Colleen's Place of Hope, a home that takes in children who have been abandon by there parents. Other places included a Museum that told the story of how whole neighbourhoods where forcibly removed. The week was also spent learning how people are still effected by that removal today. How the struggles of oppression is past down from generation to generation and how people are working to reconcile the past. After our different field trips we often spent time at the beach to relax. It was a good week.

The beach often brings out excitement in students

Robin Island Prison

Robin Island Prison

Simon's Town

Following a 2 day bus ride through desert the time we had in Simon’s Town was a refreshing break after a busy week in Soweto. After settling in at our accommodations some people ran off to stalk penguins on the beach while others went into town. The first day was spent on a mountain taking turns paragliding. Six hours is very long when you’re on a mountain, though it made way for people rein-acting scenes from Lord of the rings. People who went first spent most of the day rock hopping or hanging out at a restaurant. The paragliding itself was short-about-10min-but really cool. It was about 3 running steps and then we were gliding over Clifton beach just outside of Cape Town. The next day we went to Cape Point which we thought was the southern most tip of Africa and where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet but we have conflicting reports. Further research is needed. All the same it was a gorgeous place. It had lots of paths, a lighthouse and a beach. The beach is where most people ended up. More than one person was sore afterwards because of the massive waves.

Our last day in Simon’s Town was free, since shark diving was rescheduled do to boat engine failure. I hung out on the beach all day but some people walked into town to the shops, others took a train into a bigger town, and some people did all those things. For dinner we were given a little extra money to go out for a nice meal in either Simon’s Town or Cape Town. It was a good end to a good couple of days.

-Robin

The big Trek

We pulled of Soweto at the unhealthy hour of 5am on Tuesday the 1^st of February, committed to a gruelling 2-day bus ride to the cape. As the sun set on Tuesday and choking dust swirled through the bus – the inside of the bus – we pulled into a beautiful oasis in the desert.

We stayed with a wonderful family that hosted us for the night at their stunning beautiful sheep farm. We were treated to a lovely braai and words of encouragement from our host.

We slept out under the stars on mattresses that we put on the lawn and tennis court. We fell a sleep under the stars that night and woke up under the expansive sky.

It took longer then we thought to reach Simonstown, but as we finally stepped off the bus and saw penguins wadding around, we knew that the next leg of our journey had officially begun.

-Brock

Pictures

Here are a few more pictures from different points in our trip. Thanks for following our blogg and we will continue to update as the reasources to do so become avalible

lectuer with Peit Meiring, one of the leaders of the TRC


Picture from Lion Park


Picture from Lion Park


Drum workshop in Pretoria



Gumboot Dancing (Soweto week)

Traditional African dance that members of our group learned and performed (Soweto week)


tour of "Soccer City" the Flagship statium for the 2010 Fifa World Cup. Is located just outside of Soweto

Soweto week

Soweto week

Soweto week

Soweto week

Soweto week

Soweto week

Soweto

A friend told me shortly before I left that when she thought of Africa all she could think of were World Vision commercials. When I first stepped into Kliptown, a section of the township of Soweto, I am reluctant to admit that I found it difficult to think of anything else. But after spending several days in Kliptown during our Soweto week, I will be the first to list off all the things the people of Soweto have that I do not.

Soweto is one of the poorest black townships in South Africa. Located outside of Johannesburg, Soweto has an incredibly rich and violent history, filled with stories of oppression, suffering brokenness, resiliency, perseverance, courage and hope.

Our week began at the Soweto Vineyard church with a Sunday morning service that contained more rhythm and enthusiasm then I think all of Canada possesses. The next two days were spent at museums and taking tours, where we learned the names, dates and historical events that shaped Soweto and South Africa. Afterwards, we would go back to the local community center where we were staying and be greeted by Brenda (everybody’s favourite candy lady) and dozens of local kids who wanted to play soccer, braid our hair or maybe just “shap shap” (say hello)

Then came our service projects. A few students, including myself, had the privilege of working with Brother Bob and his organization SKY (Soweto Kliptown Youth). During the three days I spent at SKY I was able to see and experience some pretty amazing things. We met literally hundreds of kids as well as the overworked and underpaid teachers and youth workers that gave their best every single day so that these kids might have something to eat. We saw enormous generosity when a community that is itself in need, recognized and even bigger need and sent many of the clothes that had been given to them to the earthquake victims in Haiti. We witnessed tragedy as a school and an entire community grieved the loss of a ten-year-old boy. And we saw all of this being met with incredible resiliency determination, courage and hope as the residents of Kliptown pulled together to support each other, to feed each other, to love each other, and to even teach each other (and us) gumboot dancing.

At first glance the shacks we saw in Soweto don’t appear at all dissimilar from those in the World Vision commercials, but I promise that what you see in those commercials doesn’t even come close to expressing the sense of community or interdependency Soweto has, or the vibrancy and hope we saw in those children’s smiles, or the courage and determination we sensed in those who raised them. At the end of the day I don’t know what or who those commercials are trying to portray, but it certainly isn’t the people of Soweto.

-Alex

befor and after photos of a shack that students painted

In side the Constitutional court

from a visit to a prison that held the likes of Mandela and Gandhi
many of the buildings form this prison have been torn down and the briks use to constucted the constiutional court building that stands on site of the old prison