Johannesburg, 02/29/2012 - 03/01/2012

After we left Paris, we jumped on a 10 hour flight to Johannesburg. When we landed, we stayed in the airport for about 8 hours while we waited for the rest of our group: 8 other adults and 13 teenage boys from a school in Orem called Telos Academy. Amazingly enough, no bags got lost in transit! A miracle if I've ever seen one. We loaded all our stuff into 5 small rental cars and drove just outside the city to a B&B called The Woodpecker's Inn, owned by a lovely South African lady named Marnie. We got settled in, Marnie made an awesome South African meal for us, and we went to bed!

The view from our room to the street. SO GREEN! 

Overlooking the pool at The Woodpecker's Inn. 

Morning came EARLY. South Africa is about 9 hours ahead of us (prior to the Daylight Savings Time adjustment) and so we woke at about 5am, not bad at all really. Marnie made us an awesome breakfast, while we waited for our tour vans to take us to see the sites. 

The Orlando Towers in Soweto are a decomissioned coal-power station which used to power Johannesburg for over 50 years!

We stepped off the tour bus to go into a museum and saw a man selling things at a small market. On his table was a copy of the Book of Mormon. We asked if it was his own copy, or if he was trying to sell it. He said it was his and that he was getting baptized on Friday. Small world.  (Photo by Joe Reynolds)

These were at a little market outside of the Hector Pieterson Museum. Hector Pieterson was 13 years old when he was shot and killed in the 1978 student uprising in Soweto during Apartheid. Unfortunately, they didn't allow photos on the museum premises. The museum was both amazing and terrifying. They had multiple televisions playing actual footage of the uprisings.  I was so upset at one point that I almost ran through the museum with my eyes on the ground. So, so sad. 

After leaving the Hector Pieterson Museum, we made a stop at Nelson Mandela's home on Vilakazi Street-- the only street in the world to house two Nobel Peace Prize winners: Mandela and Desmond Tutu. 

The group of boys that went with us, and the tour guide at the Mandela House. 

Photo by Joe Reynolds

In the backyard, there is an awesome little garden. This photo holds a lot of symbolism for me. I just love the juxtaposition of the harsh iron bars and the cheerfulness of the yellow flower. 

After the Mandela House, we visited the Regina Mundi church. This is Desmond Tutu's church where the youth would meet to plan their uprisings against Apartheid. 

The gorgeous stained glass windows depicting various moments during Apartheid. The one in the middle portrays the day Mandela was released from prison. 

Messages of love and peace adorn the walls upstairs. 

The Madonna and Child of Soweto. The symbolism behind the eye at the bottom is actually quite moving. The pupil of the eye represents the Regina Mundi church, and the hope that it gave the people during times of hardship. The two forks directed toward the pupil from the sides represent the violence that was used during the apartheid era. The black shapes at the bottom is the skyline of the city, and the zig-zags are the matchbox houses in Soweto Township. Also represented are the two soccer fields in Soweto. Soccer is a big deal there.  

We left the church and continued our Johannesburg tour. This is the soccer stadium where the world cup was played in 2010. 

We ended the day with a visit to a sqatter's village in the slums of Johannesburg where we were able to see first hand the extreme level of poverty in this area.  The houses are just PACKED into this one street, and about 36 houses will share one bathroom and water-pump. 

This little boy ran up the entire road to come say hi to us. 

The smiles, hope, and resistance that these children have is astounding. 

I instantly made friends with these two little boys.

My heart aches to think of the love that these kids need, that most of them don't get. Looking at these photos over and over again just makes me so anxious to go back.

We went back to the guesthouse where we were treated to a South African Braii, or barbecue, with every kind of meat imaginable. Wildebeest, warthog, impala. All of it delicious, however it was hard for me to enjoy such huge overabundance of food after the things we witnessed earlier in the day. I was caught between a desire to share with the children, and an obligation to our hostess to eat my fill of what she'd spent all day preparing. Uncomfortable encounters like this happened frequently throughout the trip. I just took so much of what I had for granted before I came here. It was really overwhelming at times to realize just how ungrateful I've been for a majority of my life.

This experience continues to be life altering for me. Every single day.  Thank you to everyone who donated and took part in this amazing opportunity.

Stay tuned for our drive to the beautiful kingdom of Swaziland! Hopefully I'll be more quick about posting these.