Day 23: Soweto

It was another gorgeous day in South Africa!  I have had more time in the sun this week than I had all summer long! :)  Today we went with Auntie Bev to Soweto which is a city about 30-45 minutes from where we are staying.  I want to be cautious of relaying the history as I don't want to get it wrong, but it was started as a village for blacks.  It carries a great deal of South African history and heritage and we had the opportunity to visit several landmarks there today.  We first went to the Hector Pieterson Museum.  The museum shares the story of the effects of apartheid in Soweto which lead to the uprising in 1976.  During the uprising, many died, including Hector Pieterson who was only 13.  The government refused to allow the citizens to have a mass funeral for all those lost, so they settled by allowing for a funeral service to be held for Hector.  I am leaving out a lot of detail.  If you would like to read more about it, you can check it out here: http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/history-soweto  It was pretty depressing, but a good opportunity to learn more about the history of SA at the same time.

From there, we headed to the home of Nelson Mandela.  We were taken on a guided tour of his home and learned a great deal about his life and family.  They had letters he had written to his wife and family  while imprisoned on Robben Island available for viewing, many of the awards that he and his wife have received, gifts that they had been given, and photos and quotes from Mandela and others.  The house had actually been set on fire twice among other violent acts (bullet holes were still visible on the exterior of the house).  The house had been updated years ago to current standards, but Mandela had requested that the updates be removed and the home be restored as it had been (which happened in 2008).  We did take a few pictures there.

We took a break from our tour for lunch at a traditional South African restaurant.  After lunch, we headed to the Oppenheimer Tower. The tower was built to enable people to see all of Soweto.  The tower has 49 stairs to recognize the 49 townships of Soweto.  Also on the property is a village that we were given a guided tour of.  Below is a picture of a traditional thatch hut.

And here is the view from the top of the tower (giving proof that I went up there!).  I was completely freaked out when our guide jumped up on the ledge of the tower so casually to take our photo, leaning back to fit us in.  Near heart attack, but I made it!

The last stop on our adventure today was to an informal settlement (a.k.a village of shacks).  What an eye-opening experience.  16,000 people live in this settlement which does not have electricity, modern plumbing or proper sanitation, and one water source to provide for hundreds or more.  They received a gift from a tourist that provided them with more modern outhouse accommodations.  Despite all of this, they are happy people.  We were able to go inside one of the homes and the woman was happy with what she had.  Paffarin stove, paraffin lamps, two cramped rooms for four people.  One twin bed.  No refrigeration, heat, protection, or privacy.  It definitely makes you stop and think about how easy we have it.  She had a large basin hanging on the wall which we were told was what they used to bathe.  They would take it to their water supply, fill it, and then bring it back and bathe with that water.  Here is an image of the street we walked through.    

We made some friends along the way.  Precious children.  They asked us all kinds of questions and of course, asked for money.  I did get some smiles when I shared my gum with them.  

It really is an amazing thing they have going there.  The men that give the tours live in the village.  They keep 10% of any donations given for the tours and the rest goes into a fund for the entire community.  How different would our world be if we all worked together like that???

Makes us stop and thank God for the amazing life he has provided us with.

We headed back to our guest house and Nicolas went swimming for a bit.  He was doing all kinds of different jumps into the pool.  This was my favorite - kung fu panda.  

The rest of our evening followed our routine - dinner, homework, ice cream (a habit we need to break - for my own good!), and we watched half of Annie.  Tomorrow should be another lazy day here at the guest house.  This week really flew by!  Many have asked us if we are ready to come home and it's a tough question to answer.  Do we miss home?  Yes.  We miss family and friends, our own bed, own shower, the dogs, our church (although New Creation is a great church away from home!), and the comforts of "home".  At the same time, though, we love it here.  Beyond the obvious beautiful weather, South Africa is a beautiful place with great people and culture.  We are grateful for the time we have here to experience all that SA has to offer and to have this time to bond with Nicolas.  We are able to see into his life here in SA, meet so many people in his life and build friendships that we will cherish forever.  So yes, we miss home, but we are blessed to have a home away from home. :)

Lastly, here is another video from Pilanesberg.  I hate to say it, but the John Ball Zoo is just not going to cut it after all we have seen here!!!

Goodnight!

Laura, Kevin, and Nicolas