HEY GUYS! It’s Cyanne, Willow, and Lennon here today with another blog. (We apologize for the late blog.)
Today we had a late start and had breakfast at around 8:15am. Afterwards, our group met in the lobby at 9:20am to start our day. We all loaded onto Mr. Aaron’s bus and drove to Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s Museum.
The entire group expressed such an appreciation for Tutu’s Museum and learning about how he lived his impactful life. He grew up in a township and then became a teacher but soon realized his true passion was for God. He became one of the leading figures in the anti-apartheid movement. He really focused on forgiveness and healing the wounds even if it was uncomfortable. He organized South Africa’s Truth And Reconciliation trials in which oppressors would apologize to the oppressed. Desmond Tutu emphasized his ability to recognize the past yet not dwell on it. Through his endeavors where he reconciled the population of South Africa during these trials, he empathized with victims of varying assaults, which were enforced by the systematic oppression caused by apartheid. At the end of the museum, we received the opportunity to retrieve cards that had quotes spoken by Desmond Tutu. For example one of the cards read, “When we forgive, we take back control of our own fate and our feelings. We become our own liberator.” This spoke to us because of Tutu’s recognition of a societal ill; after the museum visitation, we later discussed this perspective with Siviwe Mbinda.
Later that day, we went to Langa township. When we arrived, we were immediately put into different groups such as: sports, dance, english lessons, and technology. The varying groups consisted of 1-3 Poly students, 1-3 iThuba Students, and 1-3 Leap High School students. Each group discussed possible ways to implement and change the community through the use of the newly plotted iThuba land and facilities in coordination with the different themed groups. For example, the sports group came up with the idea of incorporating mental health sessions before exercising together to prevent pre-practice anger, sadness or anxiety towards others during this athletic escape from home. The dance group proposed bringing a lot of color to the space using student made paintings, murals, and crafts to bring the community together. Furthermore, dance and sports both strive to form stronger connections within the community of Langa through meaningful experiences at iThuba’s new space. After making several different plans in our respective groups, we headed back to the local community center. At the community center we all hung out, talked, danced, sang, and played a lot of games with each other. As we were leaving we exchanged heartfelt goodbyes and tight hugs, which then led us to reflect on our newly made friendships with our South African friends!
 |
| Future site of iThuba |
.HEIC) |
| the groups were planning their program presentations |
 |
| Making Friends... |
.heic) |
| Lisa and Sofia |
 |
| Special connections |
 |
| This is how we roll... |
.HEIC) |
| Transforming land into a site of learning |
.HEIC)
.heic)
.HEIC)
