Reframing Stories
Today was my last full day in Capetown. I left Simons Town early and got onto Capetown by 10am. I walked in the increasingly heave rain down to the waterfront arriving I'm plenty of time for a coffee before getting on the 11am ferry to Robben island. It was pretty weird being with a whole lot of people not used to sailing and exclaiming excitedly at every wave.
Robben island is very cool and very well organise. We got into a bus for a 45 minutes tour around the island. Then we are handed over to an ex political prisoner who takes us around the maximum security prison for 45 minutes. That left 30 minutes for wandering and shopping. It is amazing to hear how those prisoners first sent there refused to see this as the end and treated it as a university. St first secretly and then with permission and support those who were educated taught those who could not read or write. In the end many sent there left with diplomas, and degrees. That reframing carries on today with the facility now a world heritage site to inspire others to bring freedom and justice for all.
Then I caught the hop on and off bus up to the Green Markets and St George's cathedral. In the crypt is a display of the huge peace march led by archbishop Desmond Tutu and the mayor of Capetown in 1989. It has photos of that and other marches that happened around south Africa in support. It also has a display of some of the stories heard by the truth and reconciliation tribunal. Very moving.
I finished the day at the Slave Exhibition based in the old slave lodge. Capetown was built and maintained on slaves brought here from Indonesia, India, and east and west Africa. While slaves were treated appalling by the Dutch and English. Even when slaves were freed in the late 1830's they were deemed to be unpaid apprentices. However this mix created Afrikaans (the earliest written Afrikaans was on Arabic script written by Indonesian Muslims). One of the tragedies of apartheid was it ripped multi cultural and ethnic Capetown apart.
I am now sitting in Kalk Bay in a pub\restaurant built on rocks I'm the sea. It is on the train station. I can see Simons town from here. A nice way to finish the day.
With luck tomorrow I go whale watching before heading home.
Robben island is very cool and very well organise. We got into a bus for a 45 minutes tour around the island. Then we are handed over to an ex political prisoner who takes us around the maximum security prison for 45 minutes. That left 30 minutes for wandering and shopping. It is amazing to hear how those prisoners first sent there refused to see this as the end and treated it as a university. St first secretly and then with permission and support those who were educated taught those who could not read or write. In the end many sent there left with diplomas, and degrees. That reframing carries on today with the facility now a world heritage site to inspire others to bring freedom and justice for all.
Then I caught the hop on and off bus up to the Green Markets and St George's cathedral. In the crypt is a display of the huge peace march led by archbishop Desmond Tutu and the mayor of Capetown in 1989. It has photos of that and other marches that happened around south Africa in support. It also has a display of some of the stories heard by the truth and reconciliation tribunal. Very moving.
I finished the day at the Slave Exhibition based in the old slave lodge. Capetown was built and maintained on slaves brought here from Indonesia, India, and east and west Africa. While slaves were treated appalling by the Dutch and English. Even when slaves were freed in the late 1830's they were deemed to be unpaid apprentices. However this mix created Afrikaans (the earliest written Afrikaans was on Arabic script written by Indonesian Muslims). One of the tragedies of apartheid was it ripped multi cultural and ethnic Capetown apart.
I am now sitting in Kalk Bay in a pub\restaurant built on rocks I'm the sea. It is on the train station. I can see Simons town from here. A nice way to finish the day.
With luck tomorrow I go whale watching before heading home.
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