Today, we started our morning off a bit later than usual. We were supposed to be packing sandwiches and hitting the road for a grueling hike up table mountain by 9:00, but the weather put a stop to those plans. Luckily, our amazing tour guides, Mike and Push, planned an amazing day for us in place of the hike. So, most of us slept in an extra hour before grabbing some breakfast and heading for the bus.
We had a jam packed day. After taking a scenic drive up Signal Hill, we stopped for some incredible photos. It was so windy, I almost got blown off the top of the mountain! It was worth it though; you could see the entire city of Cape Town, enclosed by mountains and sloping down to open at the Atlantic Ocean. I’m sure we can all agree the views were breathtaking.
Although the scenery was beautiful, the most impactful part of the day would have to be our visit to the District 6 Museum, where we were given a personal tour by a former resident of district 6 named Noor, who lived through apartheid. District 6 is a historic and culturally significant neighborhood in Cape Town that stood for decades until apartheid laws tore it down, both literally and figuratively, during the 1970s. Once a diverse community home to black, colored, and even white South Africans, apartheid laws declared District 6 to be “white only” in 1966. Over a thousand families were forced out of their homes over the next few years; their houses were bulldozed to the ground. They were forced into “all colored” or “all black townships” by the government to enforce their goal of separation. Noor told us about a family he knew, a black mother and a coloured father with three children, who were forced to live in separate townships. The father had to get a permit from the police to enter the black township, and was only allowed to see his family for 3 hours every 3 months. He missed watching his kids grow up. This is just one example of the imediate, direct impact that apartheid had on the people of South africa.
When apartheid ended in 1994, District 6 was declared to no longer be a White only area. Today, the homes of District 6 are being rebuilt, but the community is still healing. Noor, already 75 years old, won’t be able to move back into his home for 16 years. Despite this, the people of District 6 still have hope of rebuilding their once strong and proud community, and Noor hopes that if he does not live to see his home again, he will be able to pass it on to his grandchildren.
Emma C., Rockville High School