Day 5 - Wednesday Oct. 5th

Greetings All,

The Song “It’s A Small World” keeps ringing in my ears!   One of the things that keeps coming to mind is how similar the social issues are around the world.  We came to learn from church leaders about how a country that was so bitterly and legally divided by economic and racial segregation has dealt with the wounds, only to find that the healing will probably never be complete.   The issues that divided the country 50 years ago are now being seen from a younger generations perspective with different ideas of what healing means.   We met with a couple of young leaders from the “Institute for Justice and Reconciliation,” who are working to help build an “Inclusive Society.”   One of the young ladies spent time in the United States studying the history of the Civil Rites movement in the southern States to learn how the United States overcome racial segregation.  As we know from the struggles our country faced this past summer, racial segregation in the United States is a wound that continues to be painful and will probably never be completely healed.   It’s a small world because it seems all people struggle with an innate bias and prejudice, whether we like to admit it or not.  Opening the conversation is one of the most powerful ways to help heal the divisions.

This morning we met with a very joyous Jesuit Priest at the Catholic Cathedral in Cape Town.   He leads a group called the “Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office” which helps get good laws passed in the Government.   The CPLO is similar to our Indiana Catholic Conference office.   One of the striking statements that he made was that violence kills conversation.  His mission is to allow open conversation among all people of good will so that all people can enjoy their God given human dignity.

In the afternoon we took a gondola (cable car) to the top of Table Mountain.  The top of the mountain is over 3,000 feet above Cape Town.  The views from the top were spectacular!  

The 4^th graders asked some great and practical questions about what life is like in South Africa.  Since we are in the southern hemisphere it is springtime in Cape Town.   The schools are on Spring Break this week so we have not seen schools bustling with children.   We have, however, seen several school groups touring the different places we have visited.   Many of the school groups do wear school uniforms.    I hope we get a chance to visit a school to learn more about them.   Since we are right on the ocean, seafood is popular.  Last night I shared a seafood platter with another person in our group.   It had fish, shrimp, lobster and clams.   Very delicious!!!    For the “meat eaters” there are lots of things that we don’t see in the United States like Alligator, Zebra, Springbok (which is a small deer), and Warthog.  I tried the Springbok, which is very good (doesn’t taste like chickenJ).     In Cape Town there are not any dangerous animals that we need to look out for, but next week we are going on a Safari, so hopefully we will get a chance to see some exotic animals.   Transportation in Cape Town is just like any big city.   Most people ride in cars, buses and taxi’s.    Thanks for the questions.   I look forward to sharing more pictures and stories when I return.    Hope you’re having a great week.