Random Thoughts, Part One

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” - Miriam Beard

I fear this blog is becoming more of an itinerary and less a reflection on what I have seen, heard, and experienced over the past few days. Thus, I will post my itinerary under a separate section and take a moment to reflect and share a few random thoughts/stories...

As we passed over the Nelson Mandela bridge this afternoon, I was reminded of the story Kenny told us about the day Mandela was released. As he unfolded his story, he talked about his parents and other adults hiding pictures and printed material about Mandela. The apartheid government - who maintained strict control over the press, media, and political organizations - tried to erase Mandela from the collective memory. In essence, they tried to persuade people that Mandela was gone and intimated that he did not exist. When the news broke that he was going to be released, no one believed it. Then, on February 11, 1990, his release was broadcast. Kenny said, "In South Africa, we celebrate with singing and dancing. I expected a roar of it across the land, but that didn't happen. I was in a room with 8 other men watching the television. I looked up and there were tears in their eyes. The singing and dancing happened later."

The United States and South Africa share many common experiences when it comes to race, and many people - myself included - have always looked to education as a means of easing racial tension, preventing discrimination, and eradicating stereotypes. Thus, I was intrigued when Kenny proposed a different avenue. He proposed instituting a draft for all South African teenagers; that way, he argued, all South Africans, regardless of race, language, or socioeconomic status, would work side-by-side toward a common goal. It's something to consider (especially when you start thinking about the role the armed services played in our own racial history).

I am worried that my previous post made it sound like everything has improved in townships like Soweto. That is not the case. What we saw yesterday and today was tremendous progress, but there is still abject poverty. People still live in squatter camps with no electricity or running water, and there is still a very high rate of unemployment. And of course all of this is located 10 miles outside of a "first world" city. What I was trying to get across (and I am not sure I did a great job) was the stark contrast between Soweto and Jo'burg not only in terms of economic wealth, but in terms of spiritual wealth. It can be summed up by the philosophy of Ubuntu - or the philosophy "I am because we are." Or as Archbishop Desmond Tutu said, "A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed." This humanist philosophy is alive and well in Soweto - despite the poverty - and I think that is what stood out to me. That vibe, that spirit, that humanist philosophy, that Ubuntu, was so obviously lacking in the suburbs of Jo'burg; moreover, it is missing entirely throughout much of the United States, and I wish it wasn't. (Come to think of it, it's almost like Obama is running on the platform of Ubuntu. Hmmm.)