With my feet firmly on land my new found equilibrium brings clarity in reflection. The past few months have been a whirlwind of new countries, people and experiences. These experiences have challenged me in new ways, bringing broad global processes into local perspective. From the demand for sugarcane biofuels, land tenure and farmers of the Amazon region Brazil, cocoa farming and the slave trade of Ghana, and the post Apartheid townships of South Africa there is never a substitute for personal experience. Ultimately it's what defines our world view, our perspective and for some of us.. our call to action.
Cape Town, South Africa is undoubtedly one of the most stunning cities I will ever visit. Sheltered by Table Mountain, the sage brush juniper landscape of the American southwest meets a rocky coastline, scattered with houses, posh waterfront restaurants and the newly constructed World Cup soccer stadium. The air was dry and hot with each passing day as beautiful as the last. Wow, so this is South Africa. On day two we ventured into the vineyards of the Western Cape. The most famous being Stellenbosch with its well established vineyards a relic of the agricultural expansion of the Afrikaan past and a symbolic icon of South Africa's prosperous economic future with a brand for the world's finest wines.
On day three I visited Robben Island the once British tool for silencing political patriots such as Nelson Mandela, Kgalema Motlanthe and now president Jacob Zuma. The visit proved insightful in understanding the hardships of the apartheid era and the struggle for freedom in South Africa. As our guide mentioned, the roots of oppression run deep and require a generation by generation approach to complete integration and equality. Will the BEC, the Affirmative Action of South Africa bring integration or discourage national unity? Traveling from the shi shi shops of the white Cape Town waterfront to the slums of a black Cape Town township the next day I quickly understood the struggle ahead for true equality. Less than two weeks ago I was at the dungeons of Western Africa's principal source for the transcontinental slave trade and now in a country that less than 20 years ago stood divided by color. Do the the same inequalities now divide us by class, opportunities for health care, education and economic opportunity? Will the people rise up as they are now in Egypt and Libya to demand basic freedoms? History will soon write itself.
Our final day was the ultimate reward as students from the Freedom in Creation Chapter at Semester at Sea, Andrew and I undertook an art project with kids from the Capricorn Primary School, a model school in a Cape Town township. As Andrew and I disembark the ship in Cape Town and head to Uganda I must say that I am forever grateful for Semester at Sea program. The interactions with students, faculty, and life long learners were a source of great encouragement to myself and our work in Uganda. I hope they too find the journey a source of optimism, paradigm shifting thought and inspiration for action.
Today we relax and write emails from Uganda's capital Kampala. Tomorrow we move onward to Gulu. Another chapter begins.
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