Humanity in a Rainbow Nation

Ian & Maggie were captivated by the city tour!

Braamfontein; a hip and upcoming part of town

South Africa's history is complicated, I suppose most histories are.  But there is something captivating about this story.  It is a story that includes the origin of humankind, ancient and tribal traditions, the atrocities of colonization, racism, and, of course, Apartheid, and a country rebuilding post such a destructive era.  Many things strike me about this place, but above all it is how this city is so dynamic.  As we play "tourist" here in Joburg, we are experiencing things that haven't been here long- there is, apparently, always something new.  We went on the brand new double decker bus tour that leaves from the equally new and sparkling clean Gautrain station that is situated in a less than glamorous part of town.  One cannot be any more of a conspicuous tourist- and it was a pleasant surprise all around.  The people were waving and hooting at us, apparently happy to see people enjoying their city.  The narrative on the tour was rich in history and anecdotal stories, but woven throughout is the common theme of change, growth, hope for the future, and the idea that as long as we continue to embrace the "we are one people" ideology, this country will go far.

Amazing street art all over downtown JHB.  At one point in history, building owners
bricked over their first levels to avoid forceful takeovers of their empty buildings-
now there is so much renovation and redevelopment to look forward to.

The new Nelson Mandela Bridge.  Not many bridges in a town with no water!

Replicas of the oldest human ancestor skulls;
Wits Origins Centre

South Africa's history is a old as it gets, as old as the first bipedal human-like species. We started our human history lesson at the Wits Origins Centre, a very modern and well done museum that reinforces the theme of humans all being descendants of Africa- we are one human family.  The kids got to hold pieces of the oldest known human art (rock paintings), and touch replicas of the different skulls of the various branches of early humanity.  All this history is mixed in with modern art installations; beautifully done.

To learn more, we made a weekend trip up to The Cradle of Humankind, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  This land about an hour outside of JHB is the richest source of archeological artifacts and fossils in the world, including the only almost complete bipedal skeleton dating 3.3 million years back.  Ian was fascinated with the story of "Little Foot" and how he likely died by falling into a cave as an adolescent boy.  There he was preserved until a gold-hungry Italian miner blasted these caves open looking for minerals to process his gold, thereby opening up this jackpot of evolutionary history for scientists to discover.  It is amazing to contemplate the evolution of your own species and to fathom how this story has been put together in such a short period of time.  Millions of years of history, all to be discovered and assembled during the last 100... it's an incredible time to be alive!

Looking back and up as we head deep into the Sterkfontein Caves at the Cradle of Humankind 

Ian looking for gold-  Matt kept hitting his head!

J burg is also known as "egoli", the land of gold.  In the late 1800's there was a gold rush when a gold reef was discovered deep underground here in the highveld, and this massive city was born.  Matt and Ian did a tour of an abandoned gold mine which took them in a lift down a mine shaft almost 3000 feet deep.  This is just the tip- this mine goes 10,000 feet down- it used to take workers packed into these rickety elevators 2 hours each way in the pitch black to get to work and back in ghastly conditions.  Can you imagine feeling like you are descending into the core of the earth every day?  Maggie was a tad too young for the tour, which was fortunate for me because the panicky feeling I was getting just reading the description of the tour told me my claustrophobia would win!  We had, after all, been stuck in an elevator at Matt's office just a few days before (it was a mercifully short stranding)!  The boys were so glad they did the tour; the sheer depth and size of these mines, and the human suffering and sacrifice that occurred within clearly left an impression on them.

Entrance to the Apartheid museum; no photos allowed
 inside, but a beautifully done museum.

We spent a morning at the Apartheid Museum, another new jewel in Jozi's crown.  This is an emotional journey from the moment you enter through the "white" or "non-white" gate, segregated randomly by the stamp on the back of your ticket.  The museum itself starts with a short movie that sets the stage for Apartheid, a word that means "separate-hood" in Afrikaans, to rise in the 40's by reviewing southern Africa's history back to colonization by the Dutch and then English.  The journey is through the violent rise and fall of the Apartheid government, and the heroes who eventually brought this systematic racial oppression to it's end with the first free election in 1994.  Nelson Mandela was elected president after his 27 years of imprisonment;  there is an entire wing of the museum dedicated to this incredible man.  We were worried how the kids would react to the museum, but as kids usually do, they pleasantly surprised us with intelligent questions and patience while we took in what they couldn't.  There were huge groups of uniformed school children everywhere, and they provided good diversion as the kids watched how other kids do field trips (much more orderly and quiet than most US school groups!).

Nelson Mandela's house in Soweto, now a museum, bullet
holes still evident in the brick from years of conflict and
violence.  Now, they joke, this street is the Beverly Hills of
Soweto, and very famous as the only street in the world to
produce two Nobel Peace Laureates- Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu.

There is still an obvious social divide in South Africa, but it is not just color of skin that is divisive. It is poverty vs wealth, haves vs. have nots, not unlike many parts of the world.  There is a large middle class on the rise, while on every street corner you see people of all colors down and out.  The average security guard, which are everywhere in this town, make about R2000 per month (a little over $200).  Given the prices in the malls, in grocery stores, and in many restaurants, this is not enough to live on in the upper echelon.  When you make that little, you live in modest townships or over-crowded high-rises, you shop in traditional markets, and you don't do much other than work.  The neighborhood just south of us called Hillbrow is an urban jungle of decaying high rise apartments, laundry hanging from windows, people spilling onto the streets and into the parks at all times - some say it is the most dense living area in the world, home to millions of people in just one square mile- multiple documentaries have been made about this most crowded and dangerous of neighborhoods.  Our GPS wants to take us through Hillbrow every time our destination is south of us, which is not the most comfortable driving situation, but it is an exercise in contrast. Just to the north (literally, within a block), there are miles and miles of walled-in communities, each house surrounded with barbed wire and electric fences, 24-hour security guards; where Land Rovers, Mercedes, Jaguars and BMWs are abundant on the highways.  I don't know what is right or wrong- if I lived through the turmoil and crime and urban decay of the 80's and 90's in Joburg, I'd live behind a wall too. We are behind a wall at our guest house, and I won't lie, I'm glad we are. But this also raises inner conflict for me- a very visible divide between those who have and those who we are afraid of wanting what we have.

We were lucky enough to be given a personal tour of Soweto, the famous Township in which blacks were forced to live during Apartheid, and a major battle ground during the fight for freedom.  Nicolette, our new friend through Wits, graciously showed us around- she was born and raised here in Joburg.  We didn't touch the tip of the iceberg; Soweto is massive, a "city within a city", but we saw the world's biggest hospital (not at all what you might expect from this title- it looks like a rural hospital with many small run down buildings but it goes on forever).  Soweto is another example of contrast- though it was originally a township where people were forced to live, it is now home to so many people who wouldn't leave it now that they could move anywhere.  Therefore you have unofficial settlements with no sewer or water or electricity, next to nice homes with BMWs in the driveway.  We need to spend more time here, but we were so grateful to Nicolette for spending her Sunday morning giving us the overview!

The famous Soweto Towers; once nuclear cooling towers, now massive murals
depicting the area's culture and history.  You can swing or bungy jump from the span,
and at night there is a lively bar and restaurant at the base.

One might think that walking around South Africa in the post Apartheid climate the racial tension would be palpable.  But it is not so.  This is truly a rainbow nation that is not black and white, it is every color in the spectrum. People are so warm, so friendly, so willing to answer all your questions (I usually have a lot).  Americans are perhaps even more warmly welcomed- South Africans are big fans of President Obama.  This country is on a long road of recovery, which of course is laden with difficulty, conflict, the growing pains of progress.  But there is a constitution in place, there is freedom, and there is evidence of growth and progress at an astonishing rate, no matter which direction you look.  

Our own U.S. history is not that different than South Africa's- we are perhaps the other "Rainbow Nation", with all the opportunities and challenges that come with diversity.  This realization makes me even more impressed with the rate of progress in this country.  This is indeed a special place, where the triumph of human spirit is evident in Jozi's past and her present. Another new friend, Rhian, said it best when she said there is something hopeful about South Africa that sets it apart from the rest of Africa.  I couldn't agree more in my short time here.