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Soweto


 


     I don't know why I was smiling.  After taking this walking "tour" through these peoples' houses made of corregated metal and cardboard, I burst into tears, knowing there was nothing I could do to make their lives better.  They were gracious and charming; the little children had two toys: a beat-up ball made of tape and the shell of a camera some similar tourist had left behind. 

    When the rest of the little four-person tour group went on to tour Winnie Mandela's house, I sat in the truck and sobbed.

     With the aftermath of Apartheid there is so much inequality and saddness in South Africa.  Anyone who merely goes to South African resorts is missing the whole picture; a snapshot of what White man has done to South Africa can be seen on any corner.  Johannesburg-with the highest crime rate anywhere in the world, was the only place in the world where I have ever felt unsafe.



 


 

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soweto_uprising

 

The Soweto Uprising, also known as June 16, was a series of high school student-led protests in South Africa that began on the morning of June 16, 1976.[1] Students from numerous Sowetan schools began to protest in the streets of Soweto, in response to the introduction of Afrikaans as the medium of instruction in local schools.[2] An estimated 20,000 students took part in the protests, roughly 700 were killed and another 4,000 were injured.[3] The 16th of June is now a public holiday, Youth Day, in South Africa, in remembrance of the events in 1976.

* Be sure to click on "South Africa" (the previous page) to read more detail.