Onna's incredible trip to Jo'burg

Our spring break excursion to Johannesburg was a true rollercoaster of emotions. We visited many powerful historic locations such as the Apartheid Museum, the Hector Pieterson Memorial, Constitution Hill and the Sharpeville Exhibition Centre.

I really enjoyed all of these museums because they included many real life anecdotes from people who were directly involved in the many uprisings caused by apartheid. The day that really caught my emotions was when we visited Sharpeville, the place of the massacre on March 21, 1960 where over 69 people were shot dead because of their protest of the passbooks. The memorial was on the exact grounds of where the people who died in massacre fell. There was a podium representing each person, ranging from 12 to 60 years old. After we visited the graveyard, where those bodies peacefully rest. For the majority of my time here and the stories I have heard, apartheid always seemed to be so awful that it was unimaginable that this could have taken place and stole the lives of so many innocent people. However this trip to Sharpeville really solidified the fact that this is all so real. The grief I felt in my bones was something I have never felt before. I felt heavy with pain and sorrow for the families who will have to deal with this pain for the years to come. I returned to the bus and sat in my seat alone, at a loss for words. How can someone have the willpower to shoot one person, let alone 69 harmless people? I was left with such sorrow and it was then that I realized that this was one of the most powerful days for me in South Africa thus far.  

Onna (in red) and classmates listen in horror to story of Sharpeville

Alice recalls the events of the Sharpeville Massacre,  21 March 1960

Onna & Emily L working in garden at Boys & Girls Club

We also spent one of our days in Johannesburg at the Boys & Girls Club in Soweto; the largest township in South Africa. We were greeted by lots of smiling faces and before we could even put our bags down we were being pulled in multiple directions. The first half of the day we spent doing necessary work around the club such as picking up litter, wiping down tables & chairs, fixing up the garden. The second half of the day we were left to play with the young people. Many of the girls flocked to the other girls and asked us to sit down so they could play with our hair. I heard their ‘ooohs’ and ‘wows’ while they took my hair down from my ponytail. They spent most of my time just feeling my hair rather than creating hairstyles. I was confused at first but then realized that it was the smoothness of my hair that amazed them so much. I thought of the shampoo ads that stress on ‘silky smooth locks’ as a means of beauty. This made me curse the power of advertisements and the definition that they create of what is ‘beautiful’. What happened to celebrating yourself? After these thoughts I asked the girls if I could play with their beautiful hair, they look surprised but let out shy smiles. My time at the Boy & Girls club truly made me evaluate my own ideas of beauty and how outside forces have influenced them. I will no longer allow myself to be pressed into thinking that the airbrushed celebrities in magazines are the definition of beauty. Beauty should not be held under one definition.

Although our trip to Joburg was incredible, I was surprised of how excited I was to return to our big ol' home in Cape Town. I missed my walks through the Commons and the constant views of Table Mountain. This place is my happiness. Not looking forward to leaving my new home in less than a month.