We just
got back from our excursion in Johannesburg and Kruger National Park and it was
amazing! We left last Friday and were on our way to Johannesburg where we
stayed at the Sandton Park Inn hotel, which was very nice. We spent the first
couple of days at different museums, where we learned a lot more about
apartheid and what occurred there in Jo'burg. At the Apartheid Museum, there was
a lot of information on the police brutality that happened during those times.
It was really hard to read and see all of these true facts about events that
happened and how supporters of apartheid treated anti-apartheid activists who
were just fighting for their freedom. People were beaten and killed for
protesting against the Pass Law which made non-whites have to carry a pass at
all times for identification in their own homeland. Men and women together
were captured and murdered and then had their murders covered up by the police
who instead would say their cause of death was suicide. It was awful. Another
museum that stuck out to me was the Hector Peterson Memorial Museum, which was
about the massacre of people who were protesting against the use of Afrikaans
as the medium of instruction for schools despite students having no background in Afrikaans
whatsoever. The museum has accounts of the day from police officers and
protesters, each saying different things. Of course, the police were afraid to
admit what they did and why they did it, so they tried to cover it up as much
as possible. But for the protesters involved, they know the truth.
On another
one of the days, we went to the Boys and Girls Club. That was probably my
favorite day, because we just got to have fun and play with the kids! Some of
us started a big game of duck duck goose, and the kids loved it. Then everyone
got together on the basketball court and played games and relay races. It was a
really nice day to just have fun and relax. I wish we could have gone back
another day!
On
Wednesday we left for Kruger. Kruger was awesome; even just driving in we saw a
bunch of different animals like giraffes and elephants. Then we went on a game
drive at night and one very early the next morning. We got to see a bunch of
little lion cubs with their mother. One got lost as they were crossing the road
and it was so sad and so cute to watch as the little cub wandered and called
for his mother. I slept the rest of the day after that because I was so
exhausted but it was still very nice and fun. Then the next day we left to head
back home! On the flight back to Cape Town, I had a conversation with a White
South African couple sitting next to me, and it was very interesting to hear
their perspective on the issues their nation was facing. It was a different
perspective than most of the conversations I have had here before about the
same issues so it gave me a different view on the nation and the way it
operates. It was definitely eye opening. All in all, it is definitely good to
be back home!
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