What a Day! Another Great Cape Town Experience by Palmer Elzen (June 17, 2023)

Today we woke up early, not sure if we would be going to Robben Island or not due to weather conditions. We then found out it had been canceled and we would be going to an indigenous tribe here in South Africa, named the San tribe, in order to learn about their past experiences and struggles. We learned about how Europeans had come in and began to colonize South Africa by means of pushing out and killing the natives there. Fast forward many years and the Europeans began doing inhumane studies of the tribe members with the idea that they were a different subspecies of humans, often forcing them with the threat of death. Most were also forced into work and would be killed if they questioned why. Now the San have claimed a piece of land in South Africa close to Cape Town where they welcome visitors to help teach and prevent the evils of the past from happening again. Although they have begun to bounce back, their original language has been widely lost.

Afterwards we got on a tractor and saw their land. Here we saw many animals we have never seen before, like Guinea fowl and zebras, which is pronounced with a short e, as we were often reminded. Although it rained and some might have gotten somewhat wet, it was still an extraordinary experience.

Lastly, we went to V&A Waterfront, which is perhaps the biggest mall I have ever been in, to meet up with the Kidz Africa kids we had met on youth day. A noteworthy event while there is Alex and Ryan getting under 1:40 on a 500 meter erg challenge to help raise money for a local collage crew team. Meanwhile some others went into the Rolex store to learn about watches, transforming Eamonn into a “watch guy”. To end the day we took pictures and said goodbye to the Kidz Africa kids and had an excellent dinner at the hotel, where I had some of the best soup of my life.

For me, today was an incredibly impactful day where I learned about how even though they have face immense hardship, the San tribe continues to live on and share their story to all that will listen. It also gives us an insight into things we may be doing today that are doing more harm than good. We need to realize that we must try to look at everything from a view opposite of our own. As an example of this, the scientist responsible for the brutal experiments on the tribe thought that they were doing the right thing, “saving the tribe from extinction.”  In reality, they were only furthering the problem. As we move on and finish our trip to South Africa we should consider how to try and see from the other side’s point of view, rather that be with friends, family, or politics.

Quote of the Day:
“You got a lot of security in here, huh?”
-Alex to the very armed security guard inside of Rolex