A Little Bit of History

We had a long breakfast with the Cordles this morning. They shared with us a lot of their story of how they met and married. I am impressed by how prayerful and purposeful they were (are). I also noted how free we feel to just relate to and enjoy the people we are with when we have no schedule to follow. It is a blessing to be with them.

After breakfast (noon), we left for Robben Island, a place that has been used by colonists and governments over the years for imprisonment and quarantine, and the place the Apartheid government used to lock away anti-apartheid leaders such as Nelson Mandela. (The picture to the right is of his cell with his toilet can and pad for sleeping.) I was impressed with how Mandela wrote his book “A Long Walk to Freedom” on scraps of paper and had them buried in the garden in the corner of the prison courtyard one piece at a time before having them smuggled off the island. It was also touching to me that our tour guide was a former political prisoner on the island. Obviously, he made the tour much more authentic and real. Today, former wardens and prisoners live and work together on the island to support the museum.

It has only been 17 years since the last political prisoners were released from Robben Island, and it is interesting/confusing/sad to look at this country and wonder how long it will be before people are more integrated and life is more egalitarian. We are struck by how little the government seems to be doing to help that. I guess it has been over 140 years since slavery was abolished, and the U.S. still has its struggles. On that note, though, we get asked frequently about Barack Obama by Africans. Our waiter tonight was from Burundi. We asked him why he liked Obama and he said it was because of the things Obama has said. (A boy from Botswana we met on the boat today has Obama’s victory speech printed out in his room.) Our waiter said that he and other Africans are hopeful that Obama will help bring peace to Africa. I was a little surprised at this, and asked what he thought Obama could do to help. He said many in Africa blame powerful countries like the U.S. and France for sponsoring sides in a war, making guns, conducting business dishonestly… I am aware that this is common sentiment regarding our country and at least partially true, but tonight I was a little caught off-guard by how personal it felt to be implicated in someone else’s problems halfway around the world.