Team Ubuntu!

This flower is from the Kirstenbosch gardens.

Nelson Mandela's jail cell.

1.First photo background: this quote is from the Freedom Charter drafted by the African National Congress or ANC (major leaders of the anti-aparteid struggle who founded this political/social organization including Mandiba) "In 1955, the ANC sent out fifty thousand volunteers into townships and the countryside to collect 'freedom demands' from the people of South Africa. This system was designed to give all South Africans equal rights."

While watching Laura Gamse's incredible film "The Creators" (about the power of music and the arts to help people cope during apartheid and also to navigate the post-apartheid environment), we saw the young graffiti artist Faith47 paint murals such as this one around South Africa. ON our first day in Cape Town we spotted it just behind the National Gallery.

2. Team Ubuntu on top of Table Mountain

3. Camps Bay and the Atlantic Ocean in Cape Town

A Day in the Life of Team Ubuntu

Today was our first day in Cape Town. We arrived last night around 11pm and it was too dark to see the amazing view. This morning we were greeted by one of the most spectacular views I have ever seen. We enjoyed this view over a delicious breakfast of bacon and eggs at the Bay Atlantic Hotel, which is shadowed by Table Mountain and looks out over Camps Bay.This morning we were joined by Knoxville Rotarian Kathryn Johnson, who acted as our terrific tour guide. We are very grateful to have her accompany us this week-end!

Then we took a bus tour along the coast and made several stops along the way at important points such as Table Mountain and St. George's Cathedral. Walking around the city we spotted one of the murals featured in the documentary"The Creators," about South African artists struggling for a better life in the midst of extreme poverty ! It read "all should be equal before the law" from the now famous Freedom Charter written in response to apartheid laws and policies. It was really cool to seeit in real life. After touring both the beaches and the cities I have concluded that Cape Town  is a mixture of Europe and the California coast... only better. After a long day of touring we all took our shoes off and walked along the beautiful beach. We put our feet in the water and it was freezing!
 
After returning to our B&B and watching a beautiful sunset, we went to dinner at a restaurant called The Codfather which had very good seafood and sushi! This has been a wonderful first day in South Africa, with great weather, and I can't  wait to explore Cape Town more tomorrow! Also, no one is hurt or sick! :)
-Isabel

St. George’s Cathedral

One of the stops on our bus tour was the beautiful St. George’s  Anglican Cathedral built in 1901 and resembles a traditional stone built English church with stained glass windows from France.   Desmond Tutu (Nobel Prize Winner 1980) has served as the Archbishop of this cathedral for many years and has dedicated his life to the promotion of peace and anti- apartheid . He has described South Africans as the ‘rainbow people of God’ and we learned that he organized a huge peace rally in 1989 which started on the front steps of the cathedral. An informational display of photos and text guided us through the years of the injustices of apartheid and the people it affected – very moving.

The Cathedral keeps records of visitors and the young ladies who greeted us were interested to learn we were from TN (‘ Is that close to Mississippi?) and had heard of Elvis and Oprah! One of the greeters showed us to the entrance and said that it’s thanks to Desmond Tutu and the abolition of apartheid that she’s able to have the job she has today at the cathedral – 18 short years ago it wouldn’t have been possible for her to work there.

On a side note, I was interested to note that Queen Elizabeth II visited Cape Town in 1995 and a plaque in the cathedral commemorated her visit – such a poignant and symbolic visit. –Liz Gregor

District Six Museum

One stop on our sightseeing tour of Cape Town was the District Six Museum. District Six was a mixed community of freed slaves, merchants, artisans, laborers, and immigrants. In the 1970's, however, 60,000 residents were evacuated and the district was declared a White Group Area. Residents were told they were living illegally in a white area and must make arrangements to remove themselves as soon as possible. The Group Areas Act authorized the relocation of 150000 Capetonians who were sent to various townships based on their ethnicity and race. The break out of the bubonic plague was used as an excuse for the first removal in 1901. Since then, there have been a total of 46 sites of removal. The area was eventually flattened by bulldozers and residents were forcibly relocated to the Cape Flats, barren land located outside of the city. 

While in the museum we talked with Noor, one of the original residents in the district who watched his house being demolished. He was neighbors with Christians, Hindus, Coloreds, Jews - everybody lived in multicultural harmony. He now works in the District Six Museum and has written a book about his experiences. Even though he frequently comes in contact with many celebrities and royalty, he treats them just as he would any other visitor as they are just another human being, just like us. Something he said that particularly resinates with all of us is "there is just one race- the human race".

 For more information go to: www.districtsix.co.za

Table Mountain

During our first touring day in Cape Town, we rode a tour bus around the city to see major attractions and one of my favorites was Table Mountain. This mountain is 1,086 meters or 3,563 feet high and has two big peaks called “Lion’s Head” and “Devil’s Peak” that are connected by the lower rocky part of the mountain. During the year, multiple journeys up to the mountain in cable cars are taken daily; however, cloudy days make it harder to see the view of Cape Town from up above, so most people are risky in the hopes of making it to the top to enjoy the amazing view. The weather today was perfect with a few clouds so our group went for it and by the time we got to the top the “table cloth” of clouds cleared. The view was absolutely surreal and the scenery breathtaking! I enjoyed getting to see the beautiful South African geography. Not only was the view of the city amazing; the mountain itself was cool because it contains a huge number of different plant and animal species; more flora and fauna in fact than in all of Great Britain! If you would like to read more information about Table Mountain, I have found a website with more facts that is listed below.

tablemountain.net

Team Ubuntu (Webb School Interact Club)

TEAM UBUNTU arrived in Cape, Town South Africa on June 1, 2012. We are a delegation of three Webb School Interact Club students (Lizzie, Isabel and Morgan), their adviser Liz Gregor and University of Tennessee student Jayanni, who is serving as their assistant chaperone. We will be here for two weeks (until June 13) as we visit and participate in Rotary and Interact service projects in Knysna and Stanford, South Africa.


Want to know more about Interact? Visit the website: http://www.rotary.org/en/StudentsAndYouth/YouthPrograms/Interact/Pages/ridefault.aspx