Johannesburg - Give me hope Johanna...

Its been a bit of a journey so far! I went to pick up some of my things from Mnt Tabor Trust and dried off some of my just washed clothes as the drier in the yha was eating my money and offering damp clothes at every coin. And so when I was finished the best Mike at the Trust could offer me was a lift at 8.30pm which I took, it got me in at the airport about 9.30pm...my flight was at 6am! And so I decided to make some phone calls for a few hours to pass the time and I read to the end of the book I had picked up in another youth hostel and eventually at 4am bleary eyed I checked in, I believe I was the first person to check in....however...on getting on the plane at 6am I did not have a window seat! It says on my ticket that is my preference and I was the first to check in so I was not happy! How many times am I going to fly from Auckland...not many if any more and land in Sydney flying over the bridge and the opera house! And so in Sydney I waited a couple of hours for my flight then boarded feeling good that yes I was going to have a window seat. But, but but...I found a woman standing at the window and she asked me if it would be ok for her sister to get the seat as she has a 2 year old with her and she would like to have the family together. I was tired and just said...'I wanted a window seat' in a really pathetic sorry for myself tired half asleep kind of way, and then she said, well fine if thats how you feel but you have a 2 year old beside you, I eventually relented, not because he was 2 as I am find with that but because I didn't think I wanted to sit with her after putting me on the spot like that. And so I got to sit in the middle aisle no where near the window. Boy I felt sorry for myself! To make matters worse during the flight I heard someone say that we were flying over these great big beautiful icebergs...I turned round to see the woman and the 5 year old walking up and down the aisle while the 'sister' sat gazing out 'my window'. I don't bear a grudge! But anyway, I wasn't beaten I went to the back where there was a window by the 'toilet' and I looked out that and even got a couple of pictures. And....I sat beside a lovely family who I am actually meeting later on today! The mum is a social worker and she has invited me to see some of the work that goes on around the Johannesburg area especially to do with young mums who abandon their babies in parks and stuff because they are not able to look after or feed them. And so I suppose...it wasn't all bad, but I BETTER get a window seat on the way home and I don't care who asks me to swop...forget it!!! ha ha

Yeah Sylvia get to the point...ok JOHANNESBURG
I got here a few days ago and I was very apprehensive especially as my guide book was all doom and gloom and protect yourself and get a taxi from every A to every B and store money in a safe place and maybe carry a weapon and if you can learn some self defense! Well, I was not feeling too great about that sort of adjustment! But I got here a bit nervous, the family I mentioned asked if I was ok and I said I was as I was being picked up by the youth hostel and so they gave me a number to phone them soon and wished me well. I was asked by several black guys hanging about if I wanted a taxi, conversations struck up, trying to build my trust, 'hey sister', and my reply 'no brother, no taxi needed!'. After a while I eventually found the driver and off we went. The youth hostel is a bit basic and there is not even a lock on room doors but there are lockers and security boxes. But for the lack of security per room, outside it is like a Fort. As I have walked around I have found that most places have heavy investment in tall walls and loads of barbed wire its really scary looking! It seems to be quite an affluent area and you would think that every house harboured a super star!

I went on a trip the other day to 'Soweto' it was a really emotional experience for me after reading Nelson Mandella's 'Long Walk to Freedom' a few years ago (named my car after him!) I felt a real respect for the black people of South Africa and their stuggle from 'Apartheid'. What they went through I can never comprehend, my only thought is that things like that should never happen in this day and age. And when people are in a position of power they should never never never ever abuse that power. I cannot understand man's inhumanity to man, its deplorable. I have been around the Soweto Townships and also saw that man rich people live in Soweto, even millionaires, and so you have all sorts of housing from big rich mansions to shacks. Very strange. But it all came about because black people were not allowed to live around white people and so they had to congregate together rich and poor black and black! Apartheid is about the separation of colour, sometimes people would even be separated from their family if their brother or sister was of lighter skin colour. Coloureds with Coloureds, Asians with Asians, Chinese with Chinese, Black with Black and White with White. I have spoken to some white people and asked them how they could live knowing what was happening to these people, most answer that they did not know what was happening as their government covered it up. I went to the Apartheid museum and saw how you could not use a white persons water fountain, toilet, train/bus seat, etc...its just so wrong. Separation because the white people were scared the black people who were the majority would one day turn on them. My goodness, I respect the black people of this country who have suffered and now look to the future with hope and not to the past with anger...I think I would want revenge if I had to see my mother man handled because she didn't have the right pass to go to the shop or go to her work or that my sister could not go to school and get an education like another colour of people. So unfair, so upsetting. Thank goodness things are changing, if not slowly. I also went to the Hector Peterson Museum, a 13 year old boy who was killed in 16 June 1976 because he and a whole load of kids did not want to learn their subjects in Afrikaaner the language of their oppressors they wanted to continue to learn in English. It would be very difficult to learn Geography, History, music etc in 2 different languages at the same time plus the fact it was the language of the people they grew to hate. And so the kids of 6 - 18 got on the streets to demonstrate and the police opened fire. Hector was one of the first killed. I cried when I saw where he was shot and the pictures of the kids standing up for themselves, a peaceful demonstration met with the force of an abusive power in the police. So unfair. I so respect these people for how they have moved on, but understand they must harbour so much pain in their hearts. My guide was there when this happened to Hector, he grew up in Soweto and saw these atocities. How 10% of the people got 80% of the land and how the people were treated as second class citizens. And he was around when the police opened fire that day in 1976. Too much blood and tears.

Well I will put some photos on soon. Africa touches my heart very much. I have also heard from my friend Bishnu in Nepal and things seem to be a little better in his country. Why do these things have to happen, why do people have to treat other people as if they are not even human. Remember these people in your prayers and your thoughts...just don't forget.

Sylvia

ps Its now the 8th of May and I thought I would give a wee update. I am in a place called Phalaborwa which is where I will kick off my safari trip and mercy mission. We take food and aid to people in hospitals and schools from here to Namibia, Botswana and in to Zambia, travelling for about 25 days. I am really excited about it as already I camped last night with another girl Susan from Canada who is also a volunteer and we are picking up another 9 people tonight. Yesterday Susan and I got to our 'Base Camp' and we saw some hippos in the distance, to say we were nearly jumping up and down like it was Christmas morning would be an understatement. When we actually see anything close up I think we will probably faint we are so excited! And so, so far we have 'heard' buffalo in the bushes just next door to our tent, saw the hippos and you definitely hear them they are so loud, and also saw some aligators in the river beside us and we have heard by our team leaders Dan and Paula that the camp has also had a visit from elephants and hyeena and on occasion lions as we are right beside the Kruger National Park. Its all so kjduioheri exciting!

Anyway, if you don't hear from me for a while, I am in the jungle...lets hope I come out alive. I have signed the waiver to say if I am eaten or maimed by any of these things not to hold Paula or Dan responsible, I am loving it!

Oh yeah, forgot to say...the family I met on the plane they had me volunteer for the day in the 'Princess Alice' orphanage in Joburg that looks after 25 babies at a time and supports a few mothers who want to keep their babies as well as those who want to give their babies away. I worked from 7am to 4pm feeding babies and rocking them to sleep, they were sooooo gorgeous...I so wanted one!