It’s time for another history lesson ya’ll. The past few days we have been learning about the violence that emerged out of Apartheid by visiting monuments, we learned about the Guguletu seven, the Trojan horse massacre, and Robben Island.

The Guguletu seven monument is in the Guguletu township outside of Cape Town, and it honors seven individuals that were killed by the police. The police were never charged with their murder because they claimed that one of the seven men threw a grenade at them, but once apartheid was over and Nelson Mandela, the first democratic president of South Africa, came into office in 1994, the case was revisited. One officer, who was involved in the incident, told the truth, and stated that the whole thing had been a trap to kill the seven youngsters. This monument is really bold, it consists of seven cut outs of the men’s bodies in the way they were found dead.

Premesh, one of our professors, in front the entire Guguletu Seven monument

One of the seven granite silhouettes of the Guguletu Seven

The second place we visited is the monument of the Trojan Horse Massacre, which remembers the death of three young men as well as all other victims of a brutal killings spree from the police (government). The monument itself is really interesting because it combines an “actual” or “official” monument with the graffiti in the background that “has always been there.” Another really cool thing about the monument is that if you touch the metal (copper I think?), it leaves an orange residue on your hand so that you can take a part of that with you.

Some of the group in front of the Trojan Horse Massacre Monument

Last, we went to Robben Island. Robben Island itself is a small island off of the coast of Cape Town and only a 30 minute ferry away, but Robben Island Maximum Security Prison, was the prison used by the Apartheid government to keep political prisoners. It is also the place where Nelson Mandela spent 27 years of his life. The compounds consist of a jail, which was originally designed to keep 300-400 people, but was probably keeping more than double that number, a quarry where the prisoners worked, and other areas. Oh, Robben Island is also a world heritage site! Booh Yah!

Entrance to Robben Island Maximum Security Prison

Nelson Mandela's Cell (2 x 2.5 meters big, eek!)

Seeing these monuments and museums brought a foreign sadness to my heart. Although I did not know these people and this is not my country, knowing that this much suffering has occurred and that people have struggled brings me down. Being able to see Nelson Mandela’s cell and the actual pavement were people were killed is a unique experience. I could almost feel the presence of these people as I stood there looking at the actual place they inhabited not too long ago. I am very happy, though, that the people of South Africa have held onto this history because hopefully these monuments can one day help others remember this history and then never let it be repeated.

P.S. I still have three more weeks in South Africa where I will be going to Jo-Burg, Pretoria, Kimberly, and Kruger National Park. Whoopi Whoop!