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13 May 2008

South Africa is much the same and different as many African countries that I have visited. Same in the sense of the smell of burning oil and gasoline, shipping containers as buildings, the red dirt, the friendly people, passenger vans as taxis, crazy driving, dogs for security, chickens and goats roaming everywhere, and the seemingly common practice of taking things as they come. The differences and nuances come in the country's history - white minority oppressive rule. White people are not unheard of in this area of Africa and South Africa specifically - uncommon, but not unseen. You get a sense that you are always being watched, but in a different way than what may be experienced in other African countries without such a history. It is more of a, "why are you here" look instead of the, "oh! You are white." The history of white oppression and the current issue of white organizations taking away from the communities makes the dynamic similar in skepticism, but different in why.

The beginning of arguable the greatest youth activism movement all began with twelve. Twelve young boys inspired by the ideas of Nelson Mandela left on a journey that would change their lives and so many others for years to come. This is the story of how Nelson Mandela's movement began. Social movements often have symbolic leaders, but they are really comprised of thousands, thousands and thousands of local leaders and supporters. The first of these unsung heroes came from Bloemfontein. Most people have never heard of Bloemfontein, but they have heard of Soweto or Johannesburg or Cape Town. Bloemfontein is where the twelve came from.