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I woke up on that morning knowing that I was going to miss a whole hour of Maths! Even though we were going to a museum, it was still something out of the ordinary. Something to liven up an average day at school.
We arrived bubbly and chatty, discussing weekends past and weekends to come. As we entered, we were split into two groups, Black and White. I was in the White group. We walked through separate doors. I wanted to be with my friends, but they were in the other group. This struck me and I thought ‘Is this how it was? Was it actually like this? If you had a perfectly decent friend that had a different skin colour, why would it matter?’ But it did. In the Apartheid era it did.
What struck me, was that this wasn’t just a tragic story, it really happened. I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. I had been exposed to Apartheid in many ways, but this museum shook me awake from my daze. As we left the museum, there was a still silence. Everyone walked slowly. All the girls that are constantly giggling were quiet.
Thank you Mrs Hindley, for opening my eyes, for opening all of our eyes.
Alice de Beer – Grade 7
A few weeks ago, the Grade 7 girls travelled to the Apartheid Museum with Mrs Hindley. We learnt about the seven pillars, the beginning of Apartheid and the ending of Apartheid.
Towards the end of the tour, there were some emotional hearts and minds. We now know as a class, of all the misfortune, pain and devastation that most of our parents, relatives and people we don’t even know went through.
Thank you to the mums who lifted and Mrs Hindley for organising this unforgettable historic event.
Melissa Mushonga – Grade 7
As the building came into sight, a feeling of foreboding rippled through us. At the entrance, we were separated into two lines ‘blankes’ and ‘nie blankes nie’ immediately putting us on edge.
We were greeted by steel cages with passes in them. On our tour we were shown Caspers, pictures, films and posters. They were as horrific as they were interesting. There was an entire room filled with nooses, showing us the enormity of Apartheid. It was a harsh thing to see, but I would definitely recommend going.
Our eyes were opened to cruelty, horror, racism, struggle, savage, unjust systems and bias in its purest form. Thankfully, in the end, justice prevailed. For some though, the internal scars will remain forever.
Giulia Vanzini – Grade 7
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