South African History

Today the entire delegation was treated to a wonderful historical tour of Johannesburg by Mr. Graham West, one of the history teachers from Brescia House. And I do mean treated as he is both very passionate and knowledgeable about the topic of apartheid. He actually had a grandmother who was an anti-apartheid activist who was jailed at Constitution Hill, and eventually fled the country. She did return in her later years which is the time he knew her. With this as a background, we started our tour at the Apartheid Museum (this is a must for any future delegation) where Mr. West provided detailed information along our way through the years of apartheid. All of the students and adults heard details we did not know, and it was a very moving experience. Mr. West apologized several times for sharing the sad details and remarked this is a part of his country’s history of which he is not proud.

 Our next stop on the tour was in Soweto (short for Southwest Township) and the former home of Nelson Mandela. We explored the small home after which Mr. West noted that this home, even in its humble state, was considered to be quite grand for the street. We also learned that this is the only street in the world which is home to 2 of the world’s Nobel Peace Prize winners, Mr. Mandela and Bishop Desmond Tutu (who lived just down and across the street). Following our tour of the home, we visited the memorial site of Hector Pieterson, the first child killed in the student protests of 1976.

 

 

 

 

Our final stop was at Constitution Hill where students were guided through the women’s prison. After hearing about the varying conditions dependent upon your race, students were taken to the Constitution Court. Our guide explained the wonderful architectural aspects and their symbolic connection to “African justice under a tree.” Students were able to see how the difficult history we were exposed to earlier in the day has brought groups of people together with a new hope for a more collaborative society into the future.