Jo-burg!

Hi, Just a quick note just to let you know that we arrived in Johannesburg safely! The flight was long and I only slept maybe 2-3 hours out of the 21 hour total flight time. Jet lag does not seem bad, I feel pretty adapted to their time already. Friday we woke up early and went on a tour of the cities of Johannesburg and of Soweto today. Johannesburg is really industrialized and well-developed. Soweto stands for South Western Township which is on the outskirts of Jo-burg. It is where all the coloured people were sent to live during the apartheid because only white people were allowed to stay in Johannesburg. Soweto is a large region and approximately 4 million people live there. There are some really poor neighborhoods within it as well as really rich areas. I had always imagined Soweto to be extreme poverty but it was not like what I pictured. They have lots of “matchbox houses” –which are small yes, but seem well-built compared to what I have seen in Ghana. They have two bedrooms and a living room. The toilet and running water are outside. Typically 2-3 generations live in them. There are also government condos and townhouses within Soweto too which cost more money.

All within Soweto we were able to see Nelson Mandela’s house, Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s house, the Hector Pieterson Memorial, the Regina Mundi Church, as well as the Apartheid Museum. Hector Pieterson was shot and killed during the 1970 uprising against the aparthied government. The government was forcing education to be taught in Afrikaans and English 50:50, regardless of what children spoke at home. South Africa has 11 distinct languages and the Afrikaans language was seen as the white supremest language. Hector Pieterson was only 13 years old. He is the one below being carried by Mbuyisa Makhubo, an 18 year old schoolboy who went into hiding after being harrassed by the police after the photograph was released. Mbuyisa hasn't been seen since 1978.

The Regina Mundi Church was a refuge at one point during the apartheid for coloured students that were protesting. The police actually came in the church and fired at them –injuring quite a few. The Apartheid Museum was gigantic and showed the history of the apartheid as well as a Nelson Mandela exhibit which showed his hand in stopping the apartheid. The day was busy, but full of learning. I have lots of questions still about the history here, so I am excited to start our History of South Africa class on Wednesday. Here is a picture of Kelly and I in Soweto:

Tomorrow we leave Johannesburg and fly to Durban. From Durban we will drive about an hour and a half to African Enterprise campus where we will be staying for the next 10 weeks in Pietermeritzburg. I'm excited and ready to settle in and unpack my bags!