Secor like Peace Corps

We went to the Apartheid Museum in Joburg pretty early on in PST. The museum is beautiful, and it was good to get a sense, however partial, of the decades of oppression and violence the country went through. I've found that people don't mention it by name. It is just 'before' or 'during that time'. It was the same in Rwanda in regards to the genocide. I can't imagine how a country heals after such terrible events. Well, if South Africa is any example, slowly. It is going to take a long time before the structural poor education, low income, and lack of socioeconomic mobility begins to change. That said, the country has made great strides in reconciliation, and, according to almost everyone I've talked to, things are getting better.

I'd heavily recommend reading A Long Walk to Freedom. It gives a really good description of what life was like during Apartheid, and how much had to be done to fight it. The book is pretty long, but well worth it.

















There was a whole wing dedicated to Nelson Mandela, which followed his life from birth to present day. It had some great video clips of him, as well as his original speech from the Rivonia Trial.







Tanks used by the Apartheid government to put down protests.





It was Youth Day here last week, a public holiday to celebrate the anniversary of the Soweto Uprising (June 16th, 1976), when tens of thousands of students took to the streets of Soweto to protest the introduction of Afrikaans as the main language in schools. 176 people were killed - mostly students.