Wow. So much to process here. I’m trying to wrap my head around the inhumanity of Aparthied. It’s just mind boggling to me that at one point in history, a mere 20 years ago (!), 9% of the population had control over 80% of the land. (Don’t quote me on those numbers).  It’s just unreal.

We visited some poor communities yesterday. It took me back to my high school summers visiting Squatters camps on the US/Mexican border–cardboard shacks, lack of running water, electrical lines tapped into city lines, overcrowded dwellings with tin roofs held down by rocks, children running barefoot. And then there’s the other side of the coin, beautiful homes, gated front yards, sprinklers watering the grass,  and ironically privileged white kids (and some black kids) attending a top-of-the-line public school barefoot because the philosophy is that children learn better when barefoot.  Then every shoeless child across the globe must be super smart!  But seriously, the constant shift between the Haves and the Have Nots is just that… constant.  I can’t possibly do any of what we’re seeing justice through my writing. At least not yet.

Tomorrow we’re heading out to see more of the city from an open top red tour bus. Our tour guides will be 5th graders from The Sun Valley School. Then we’ll spend the afternoon at the beach. Friday we’ll head to Robben Island where Mandela was imprisoned.

Here are a few pics from the past couple of days.

Table Mountain

Kids  playing on the beach at ground after dinner last night.

The balcony at City Hall from where Mandela spoke upon his release from 27 years in prison.

And lastly, you can take the kids out of Work Program, but you can’t take the Work Program out of the kids. Dinner wash after take out pizza for dinner.

😉

T. Melissa