Tuesday, March 22

It's Tuesday morning in Cape Town. Every day is filled to capacity with meetings, tours and eating (and lots of it). Since most of our meetings happen in people's homes, food is always involved. I'm going to need to join Bill's weight loss challenge for sure when I get back.

Today we're going to Robben Island, the infamous prison where Nelson Mandela was held for 27 years. It's a 3 hour tour including the boat ride that leaves from Cape Town's harbour. Later we'll be heading to the township of Khayelitsha where we'll be visiting a rape crisis and women's shelter. I'm still trying to get my head around the township concept. I don't know if this is accurate, but what I've come up with is that they are like suburban ghettos -- they are high concentrations of desperately poor people living on the outskirts of the major cities. There are Black townships and Coloured -- but no white ones, of course.

Yesterday was a national holiday -- Human Rights Day, which commemorates the anniversary of the Sharpeville Massacre. On March 21, 1960, 69 people were killed and 150 injured during a peaceful protest against the apartheid government. Black men, women and children were the victims. After that, the government outlawed any type of demonstration by the people. This inspired the next wave of the anti-apartheid movement, one that moved towards armed resistance. This is when the military wing of the ANC, Spear of the Nation, was created.

All of this history is captured in the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg which we visited on Saturday. It's a powerful exploration of the diabolical nature of racism. Here's one quote displayed at the museum that sums up the absolute insanity: "The white man is the master in South Africa, and the white man, from the very nature of his origins, from the very nature of his birth, and from the very nature of his guardianship, will remain master in South Africa to the end." House Assembly, 1950

The end came in 1994, however, like in America, institutional racism persists in this country. This was a major topic in our conversation yesterday with 7 local women entrepreneurs who are striving to break into Cape Town's very segregated business world. There has been no healing process for Blacks, said Weziwe Xameni, who works with community based organizations. The Truth and Reconciliation process didn't go far enough. People, Black people in particular, still suffer from the years of degradation and mental and emotional abuse at the hands of the white minority. But these local business women have a desire for personal and professional freedom. They are determined to make a new path for themselves and families. Their businesses range from construction to public relations. Right now for most of them, success is still a question, but they are committed to finding the answers and the opportunities regardless of the hurdles.