Sawnibona umfowethu nodadawethu! Hello, brothers and sisters! I am now writing from Durban, South Africa, after spending three nights in Johannesburg, a city of nearly four million people — the largest population in South Africa — with an elevation of two miles, which can make it difficult to breathe at times, and views that similarly can absolutely take your breath away. While in Johannesburg, I was able to visit Soweto, which is an acronym for the southwestern township. It is a historic township and where Nelson Mandela spent most of his time as an adult before and after he was imprisoned.
Soweto is probably best known for the 1976 Soweto Uprising, during which students began marching in demonstrations against using Afrikaans in schools. In an effort to maintain the Afrikaans language, the apartheid government passed the Afrikaans Medium Decree in 1974, which required teaching half the classes in Afrikaans and the other half in English. This meant that lessons were not taught in the mother tongue of black Africans, which made it difficult for students to pass requisite classes. Police then killed a 13-year-old boy named Hector Pieterson while he was protesting the new language decree June 16. This marked the beginning of weeks of violence, when hundreds of people were killed and arrested in the township. During my visit I was able to stop by the Hector Pieterson Museum, two blocks away from where Pieterson was killed. It was a very moving museum dedicated to honoring the thousands of youths killed and imprisoned during the Soweto Uprising.
Not far from the museum was Nelson Mandela’s Orlando West house. I unfortunately was unable to go inside because the house was undergoing construction to accommodate more visitors in the future, but it was great to see the home that Mandela had written fondly of in his autobiography, as well as the hundreds of people of all races and nationalities that gathered there to catch a glimpse of its famous walls.
After visiting Soweto, it was time to drive to Durban. The six-hour drive was absolutely gorgeous; rolling hills, plateaus and amazing trees filled the view. Upon arriving in Durban, I stayed at a hostel in the city right near the ocean. I was able to go swimming in the Indian Ocean for the first time! My swim was unfortunately short-lived, however, because of the number of jellyfish in the water. I was not in the water five minutes before I had already been stung twice — but being able to swim in the Indian Ocean was well worth it.
I stayed in the hostel for two nights before finally moving in with my homestay family. I am staying in Cato Manor, which is a township outside of Durban that has a lot of history. It was originally an Indian and African settlement under apartheid, where Indian settlers were permitted to own land and usually employed Africans. Most residents lived in relative harmony in this settlement and they even had an underground beer market to sidestep the apartheid rule that only whites were allowed to drink “white man’s liquor.” Eventually Cato Manor fell apart in the final years of apartheid, though, and it was only resettled in the early 1990s. Cato Manor is now a government township, where the new government builds all the houses, all of which consequently look the same. My “family,” which consists of a mom, dad, an 18-year-old cousin, 11-year-old daughter and a 16 month-old daughter, has electricity and running water but no hot water at home. Everyone must heat water to take a bath or have hot coffee or tea. Still, I love Cato Manor; there are kids everywhere, and some are currently teaching me how to dance. I guess my nerdy dance moves just aren’t up to par to be in their show.
For the most part, my days now consist of taking classes during the morning and afternoon about Zulu (the largest ethnic group), the politics, culture and healthcare system of South Africa, and spending the evenings in Cato Manor. Everyone usually goes to bed around 9 p.m. and wakes up at 5 a.m. This has taken some adjustment, but I have gotten used to it — although I won’t say I am not excited about the prospect of sleeping in until 7 a.m. this weekend.
I heard it snowed back home. Hope everyone is enjoying it. I am still trying to get used to the 90-degree weather here!
Megan’s column runs biweekly Tuesdays. She can be reached at m.stiles@cavalierdaily.com.
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