Learning about South Africa’s devastating history while living in Soweto, a township where blacks were forced to move into during the apartheid, has been an enriching and powerful experience. A few days ago, we visited the apartheid museum in Johannesburg. While the museum experience was a painful one, it was necessary in order to understand what the blacks, coloureds, and the Indians went through just a few decades ago. My heart aches for the innocent people that were robbed of their humanity, respect, and dignity. I cannot begin to understand how a group of human beings could impose such intense brutality, hatred, and oppression on another group of human beings. We are all the same in our flesh and blood. I found myself purely hating the Afrikaners, who after the negotiations between the black and white parties began, tear gassed and shot down hundreds of school children. How can people do such harsh things? Why on earth did the oppressive and inhumane apartheid laws last 46 years without the rest of the world stepping in?

As horrible as apartheid was, only a small handful of white South Africans actually stood up against it, with the vast majority of whites in full support of it. Thinking about this, I have to wonder what side I would have taken had I been a white South African during the apartheid years. I would like to believe that I would have been among the handful who stood up against the injustice and oppression, but I cannot be sure. Going against the grain is always a difficult thing to do. Chances are, if I would have been present at Jesus’ trial, I would have shouted along with the crowd to crucify him. So who am I, really, to point fingers? At the apartheid museum, I realized that evil lives in all of us, including me, and therefore, I am capable of all the brutal crimes the whites committed against the non-whites in South Africa. By acknowledging the evil inside me, I am able to choose good over evil, justice over injustice, and peace over violence. This does not make me in any way less angry at the Afrikaners, but it does help me to see the plank in my own eye and remove it before taking out the specks from my sisters’ and brothers’ eyes. We all need God’s mercy and forgiveness.

-Heidi Hershberger

On Tuesday we had an interesting experience at the local high school. South Africa is celebrating Heritage Day this week, so the students put on a bit of a show for us, complete with traditional costumes and dancing. When our turn came to share parts of our heritage, we sang a few songs for them. Everyone was clapping and trying to sing along. It impresses me how proud they seem to be of their own culture, and how much appreciation they show for our culture as well. The most memorable part of the day, however, was the taste testing that followed. The teachers had prepared a feast, which consisted of a number of traditional dishes that made their mouths water and our stomachs churn. I tasted chicken feet, mopani (fried worms), mohodu (cow intestines), and a few other things that I found barely tolerable.  I can only remember a few times in my life that I have actually gagged on something I was eating, but the worms definitely increased that tally by one more. Most of the time, though, we eat pretty well. My host mom Ester is a wonderful cook. She feeds us lots of meat and papa, a thick carbohydrate paste made of white maize meal that we eat with our hands. Sometimes we get beans, beets, potato salad, or mashed pumpkin on the side, and every once in a long while, she cooks a little spinach or some mixed vegetables. I have been missing my veggies, so by the time I get home, I might be willing to eat only greens for an entire week straight. We do get enough fruit, though, almost every “tuck shop” and roadside stand sells apples and oranges. Several times in the past two weeks, I have wished we had a little more variety, but after tasting some of their strange South African delicacies on Tuesday, I am no longer taking for granted their simple staple foods that I have come to enjoy.

-Briana Eshleman

Wednesday morning our group took a relaxing trip to a local community center and was given marimba lessons. For some of the group, like myself, this was the first time we had ever seen a marimba. The marimba is a musical instrument made of smooth wooden pieces and pipes. The wood is struck with drumstick-type mallets, and sound is produced. All of us got a chance to display our skill, and some caught on quicker than others. Every one of us had a terrific time trying our hand at this traditional South African instrument and making beautiful music together. We also loved the break from our usually busy morning schedule to sit in the sun and listen to a professional marimba band as they played for us.

It is wonderful to see how well our group is getting along with one another and becoming a family. You can really tell that people are really comfortable with one another when they are willing to display their marimba talents, or lack thereof, as well as their “unique” dance moves. By the end of the morning, we were able to walk away with another piece of traditional South African culture, as well as many smiles and fantastic memories.

-Allison Byler

Two weeks into our adventure and I still cannot believe we are in South Africa. Being thrown into a completely different place and culture was not as difficult as I had originally anticipated. I had envisioned myself feeling unsettled and alone…I could not have been more wrong. I have never felt so welcomed in my whole life.

My host mom looks after me, and has made me a part of her family. She has taught me how to bake and how to hand wash my clothes properly. Doing such simple things in a different environment was an experience.

It is easy to feel lost when everything surrounding you is new and very different, but the amazing people you encounter along the way make any adjustments or transitions that much easier. I have fallen in love with the people of South Africa, they have a pride and sense of being that is unshakable. I feel honored to live with these people and to be able to learn from them.

-Rochelle Fisher

On Tuesday, September 8, I finally arrived in Soweto, South Africa, just outside the capital city of Johannesburg. I entered Soweto filled with apprehension as well as excitement. It was time to meet my new seSotho host family. Many different thoughts were shooting through my head. Would we get along? Would my new family like me? How would they react when I accidentally broke their social rules?

Once I actually met my family, I was so relieved. They were absolutely wonderful. We live in a small four room house and my roommate, Justin Reesor, and I are sharing one room together. Our family showed us around the small, but nicely maintained house and tried to make us feel comfortable. ‘Me Pinkie, our host mom and the ruler of the house, had met us last week and took it upon herself to introduce us to everyone else. There was Pinkie’s forty-year-old daughter, Mawo, and her children, Bahloli and Lesedi. They are one year and eight months, and seven years old, respectively. Bahloli is the cutest toddler imaginable. I think that these living arrangements are going to work out wonderfully, and I am now more excited than ever.

- Nils Martin

Everywhere we go here in Soweto we are bombarded by many greetings and questions, the most popular question being, “What do you like best about South Africa?” Every time my answer is the same: the people. Every day the people of Soweto continue to bless us all as a group with their overwhelming love and hospitality. The primary school children all want to give you hugs, hold your hands, and buy you sweets, the high schoolers greet you warmly and ask many, many questions about our families, school, and what’s popular in the United States. Women on the street are constantly stopping us to invite us into their homes for a cold drink or tea and to “tutor” us in seSotho. Wherever we go, we are greeted with love. That is what I love most about South Africa. The people.

- Rachel Yoder

As our plane taxied down the runway at the Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, my first thoughts on South Africa were “This is really…brown.” Although our first impressions might have been a little off considering our 18 hour flight, the last few days in South Africa have been eye-opening, inspiring, and filled with wonderful people and amazing sights.

South Africa, from what I have seen, is a land of fences. A land of walls and gates, guard dogs and barbed wire. Security is a top priority, largely stemming from the remnants of apartheid thinking, which demands that the whites maintain absolute authority to manage the much larger black population. Although this thinking is beginning to recede, the fences still remain.

We will go into Soweto this week for our homestays, and I am excited knowing that through those relationships, we might be able to tear down even just a little bit of the wall that divides black from white, maybe evening learning what it means to be a person instead of just a color. Living in Soweto will (hopefully) open my eyes to see the similarities between Americans and South Africans, between my culture and this new exciting place halfway around the globe.

-Michael Spory

The novelties had worn off by hour two. We discovered every little gadget there was to find on the airplane. And lo and behold, there were no lions running through the fields when we landed in Africa.

We’re currently staying at Jacaranda Lodge–learning Sesotho, participating in daily group discussions, and bonding over Dutch Blitz and kicking around a flat soccer ball. On Tuesday we’ll head out to Soweto to live with our host families for 3 weeks.

We were able to experience a true South African welcoming as we visited Soweto this morning. There was singing, drumming, story-telling, stepping, eating, and oh… there was dancing. One hour of full out Mennonite/African dancing. It was quite a hoot. It’s unreal to think we’ve only been here for three days with everything we’ve seen, heard, eaten, and processed already.

-Katie Rodriguez