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| Katrina |
Living in
Cape Town for almost three weeks now, the history is not something you can’t
ignore. It bears it ugly face in the infrastructure of the city, dividing the
black and coloured townships. It is felt in the eerie emptiness left behind in
District 6, where a community once so rich in culture and liveliness was
forcibly removed and declared a “White Only Area.” It is felt in the
poverty and lack of resources of the almost all black schools in the townships,
in the identity crises felt by the Khoi (indigenous) peoples, and in the
underfunded organizations trying to provide healthcare, childcare, outreach for
an unreachable amount of people in need. But what has captured me most about
this place is that I, even as an American, get the chance to not only witness,
but be a part of the history to be made in South Africa. Because while you
can’t ignore the history of oppression and bondage, nor would you want to, it
is beginning to be overpowered by a new face; hope. Hope for a better South
Africa that respects and loves all people, hope for this new “born-free”
generation to reach places never dreamed of by their parents, and hope for
improvements on the conditions in the townships. And I get to be in the midst
of this crucial moment in 2014, an election year, of a nation standing 20 years
after the end of Apartheid, and recently reminded by Nelson Mandela’s
death.
While I’ve
loved being a tourist and seeing all the beauty and fun of Cape Town, I never
expected to feel such a connection to the history. We got the chance to visit
the District 6 Museum, the Slave Lodge, and Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela
spent 18 of his 27 years as well as hear many personal accounts from many
others. These places were so different to me because it felt so uncomfortably
real. It wasn’t coming from old history books, it was being told to me by
people who actually LIVED it. People who felt the pain, experienced the
heartbreak, and were now eager to share it with me. There was no sugar coating
it. But even though each of these places represented a dark piece of history,
it wasn’t darkness that they conveyed, but hope. Strangely, this was almost a
hard pill to swallow for me. After hearing the painful accounts of our guide at
the Distric 6 Museum, I was filled with anger and sadness for these people.
Similar feelings arose when we toured Robben Island and learned of the horrific
conditions and treatment of political prisoners including Nelson Mandela. But
instead of dwelling on the oppression, the District 6 Museum was a celebration
of what this vibrant community once was. And Robben Island focused more on the
education and social activism movements within the prisons, such as the “Each
one teach one” mentality than the suffering that had taken place there. Towards
the end of our stay on Robben Island, we got to see Mandela’s small cell and
hear more about his life. While I’d read and learned about Mandela many times,
hearing his actions and words repeated in this spot 30 years later hit me
harder than I ever could’ve imagined. After basically spending his entire life
unjustly imprisoned and seeing every one of his friends, family and loved ones
suffer in unimaginable ways, when he was finally set free, he did not choose to
hate. He did not choose resentment. He did not seek retribution. Instead he
chose forgiveness. He told the nation that the only way to move on to
create a free South Africa was to not follow in their oppressor’s footsteps or
else the cycle of inequality and destruction would only continue. It is
so hard for me to comprehend extending this forgiveness to the same men who
made your entire existence a living hell, and I feel at a loss of words for how
much pride and respect I have for him. He knew that there was a whole greater
freedom in forgiveness, and it truly does give me hope that even a little bit
of light, from even one person, is strong enough to beat out the dark.
“For to
be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that
respects and enhances the freedom of others” – Nelson Mandela.
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| Katrina's ready to embrace all Cape Town has to offer |
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