Thursday, June 28 – Today we visited the the Hector Pieterson Museum, a museum focusing on the Apartheid era. The Hector Pieterson Museum had the most raw images I’ve ever seen inside a museum… like the image of a 13-year-old student protester’s lifeless body being carried away by a civilian. This student was Hector Pieterson, recognized as the first person killed in the Soweto uprising. His sacrifice will always be remembered because of the iconic picture taken by Sam Nzima.
There were also images of police/military officers hanging out of car windows with sniper rifles, looking for black South African groups of more than 3 people. If groups fit that description officers would start firing on them with the intent to kill. Other images depicted officers deciding to release tear gas into homes, causing babies to panic. There was also a 3D exhibit of 300 bricks. Each brick had the name of a child killed during the Soweto Uprising (if their bodies were found). 300 children is a lot, but what’s worse is that there are possibly hundreds more whose bodies have not been found. These 
images shocked me because nearly all of the atrocities were being committed by law enforcement, a group responsible for protecting people and enforcing the law, not harming.
The fact that we got to share the museum experience with our KYP (Kliptown Youth Program) peers made what I saw even more impactful. I got to talk with them about how they felt as South African youth, going to a museum about people who had experienced these atrocities firsthand. After the museum we were able to connect more personally with our KYP peers. While it may have looked like we were just socializing, we were also empathizing with them.
Most of our conversations were about the similar challenges faced in our communities. Once we were able to define some common problems, such as pollution, violence, and the lack of job opportunities, we started to ideate possible solutions. Tomorrow, we will move on from brainstorming to prototyping possible solutions.
Mark L., Eastern High School