Robben Island

I visited a world heritage site; Robben Island. For those of you who don't know about Robben Island (and essentially Apartheid in South Africa), I will provide you with a brief historical background. 

If you're not interested in the history part, skip to the last paragraph! 

From 1948 until 1994 South Africa (a COUNTRY in the continent of Africa; not "SouthERN Africa") was ruled by a government which policy was supported by apartheid, the Afrikaans word for "separateness." This political party consisted of all white people, primarily Afrikaners (of Dutch descent). Apartheid stood for the separateness of whites with all other races in South Africa at the time. This did not only include blacks, but also coloureds (people with mixed ancestry of black and white), Indians, and Asians. The Apartheid government created laws which were politically oppressing all other races. There were "pass laws" which meant that there were designated areas for certain races, and you had to carry around a "pass book" at all times. Furthermore, only whites were allowed to vote, and work in certain jobs. Only whites had land rights, and even though they were a huge minority, the owned the majority of the land. There was total segregation in education, the workplace, and there were even laws passed that stated that it was illegal for races to mix through marriage. Blacks were forced out of their homes and were moved to areas known as "Bantu homelands" which the government claimed was "what the people wanted; a homeland." however, these were slums where no houses existed, and thousands of people were forced to live there. Neddless to say, Apartheid was a terrible time but it led to many political movements. Political activists at the time joined political parties such as the ANC (African National Congress, which still exists today), or the Communist Party, or many other parties which were fighting against the National Party (Apartheid government). Throughout Apartheid, there were many riots, protests and expressions of political views. Many people were imprisoned for their actions, and sometimes just their beliefs. These people (political prisoners) were sent to Robben Island. Robben Island is just off the coast of Cape Town and used to be used as a "hospital" for people with leprosy. During apartheid, the government used it as a prison for criminal and political prisoners. Some of these prisoners include big names in South African history like: Robert Sobukwe, Jacob Zuma, and even Nelson Mandela (which should ring a bell for most of you!). Nelson Mandela was the first democratically elected (black) president of South Africa. 

Now enough, with the history parts! I want to tell you about my visit to Robben Island....
I went with my housemates and we took the ferry over to the Island. Robben Island provides great tours of not only the Island and the town on it, but also the prison as well. The most unique part about the tour is that all the guides for the prison tour are actually past political prisoners! It was great to have a true and emotional explanation of everything. The tour guide I had, had stayed in the prison for 5 years (he was supposed to stay longer but apartheid ended!). He told us many stories and inside facts about the prison. I even got to see Nelson Mandela's cell which still had his blanket and bucket in it. This was very interesting to me because I am currently reading his autobiography... which he secretly wrote while on Robben Island! My favourite part of the whole tour though was going to the cells in "section A." I liked this the most because each cell had a picture of the person that stayed in the cell, with the dates of their imprisonment, and a story that the prisoner provided. The stories ranged from funny, to thought provoking, to heartbreaking. The tour was one of the highlights of my trip. It was extremely educational but really made me realize that people can make a difference. It was quite emotional seeing what these people went through. But it was all because they were fighting for Freedom. 

Our Tour Guide

Nelson Mandela's Cell