An emotional day of lows and highs: from Robben Island to iThuba (Day 5) Thursday, March 26
Today we woke up with a somber morning because Sunny, our favorite waiter, was not here. We took a bus out to the harbor to catch a ride to Robben Island. On the ferry, the waters were a little choppy, but we survived by watching the beautiful Table Mountain/Cape Town skyline on the horizon. When we landed we were greeted by a tour bus and our guide Mohammed. The bus drove around Robben Island, and Mohammed provided context about seemingly every former resident on the island from guides to prisoners and the deep history of the island. He also included segments about specific audience members’ home countries and how they played roles in the history of Robben Island. We took a quick break to take a group photo with a breathtaking view of the Cape in the background before going to the actual prison.
After being “sentenced” to report to jail by Mohammed, we were met by a former inmate, Lucky, who spent 5 years on the island as a political prisoner. He gave us a tour of the different living conditions depending on race and the time period. For example, incarcerated Indian people would be given pants while black and coloured people were given shorts (though accessibility to better living conditions improved near the end of Apartheid [due to foreign pressure]). After our “Lucky” tour, which included a section for Namibian political prisoners, the registration desk, large holding cells, the island’s hospital, and Mandela’s prison yard, cell and hall way, we were “released” for good behavior, and ferried home.
We walked around the harbors shopping mall where we ate at Nando's, the same grilled chicken joint as after our hike on Lion’s head.
After lunch, we drove out to iThuba where we started by playing some ice breaker games to get to know each other and our names. Then, Sivwe gave instructions for a math competition where iThuba kids, leaders, and Poly students formed four teams. These teams would solve some math problems individually then did a head on competition between teams. After Sivwe reminded the importance of Curiosity, Community, and Critical-thinking along with Kindness, Respect, and Love and he emphasized how the games accentuated these virtues. After the “world championships” of math, each team sent an iThuba student, Leap high schooler and a Poly Panther to the front of the learning center, where each highlighted how one of these virtues was present in the lesson and competition.
While wrapping up, a group of some of the iThuba and Poly Students started freestyle rapping and dancing. It started small with a group of five but eventually nearly every person had joined in the circle dancing and singing. After what seemed like hours of festive dancing and celebrations, it took a long time for everyone to extricate themselves from the situation and board the bus; we simply did not want to leave because we were having so much fun connecting with each other. Both sides were sad to see each other go but were excited for future endeavors.
For dinner we took a long hike, uphill into a residential area where we ate in the basement of the Blue Cafe. Dinner ranged from Tropical smoothies all around to traditional South African comfort food Babootie with rice, beef, and chutney. Our server for the night Stacy was very effervescent making our night ten times better. After returning back to our hotel we debriefed this day of emotional swings: the somberness of seeing where Mandela, Sobukwe and others were imprisoned to the highs of communicating, collaborating, and connecting with the iThuba and Leap HS students… what a truly exciting and incredible day!
Hadyn and Miles
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| Iconic view of Cape Town |
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| a fraction of the list of prisoners at Robben Island |
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| Limestone quarry where Mandela worked |
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| Mandela's cell |
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| iThuba Innovation Hub |
