Saturday afternoon, Britt, Emma (another COST student from across the hall) and I took a taxi over to the Red Location Museum in the Red Location Township outside of PE. The museum is a memorial to the South African apartheid and the people that fought for the rights of black South Africans during the twentieth century. It is a government funded project that is established right in the center of the township. The building is gigantic. It is made with steal, has tended landscapes, boasts an art gallery sans art and a library sans books. Surrounding the very modern, very sturdy museum is the Red Location Township. I can't really describe what a township is... here are some pictures.
P
A majority of the houses are without running water and electricity.
Here is a picture of some of the houses near Red Location Museum. I am standing on the patio of the museum while taking this picture... that is how close they are.
This is Red Location Museum. It is surrounded on all sides by township homes. The first time I saw it juxtaposed against the surrounding homes I thought, "How incredibly sad. Here stands this monument, right in the middle of this township: sturdy, fully equipped with electricity and running water, and funded by the South African government; a monument to testify to and honor those that fought for equality, while directly outside its walls the Zulu, Xhosa and various other South African people are living in poverty like I have never seen." I can't understand it.
The education in the townships reflects these conditions. According to one of my roommates (her source was a cooperating teacher), there aren't enough teachers to teach in the township schools so they often do without math and science and stick to reading as the primary subject.
Here are some photos from the museum:
This sign explains the establishment of the Red Location township. I hope you can read these... you can make them larger by clicking on the photo.
This board compared South Africa to the U.S.
Here is a photo of the museum-- you can see it rising up out of the township like a mountain.
There quilts were on display at the entrance to the museum. The one below was very big.
This is an alley between two of the museum buildings (there are three buildings in all).
This is the same shot, just a bit zoomed. You can see the homes nearby and some children in the street.
The red building is the art gallery-- sans art. The building was empty. You can see homes nearby.
This was the only art-- displayed outside of the gallery. I guess it confuses me why they would have a display of a township home when you can look just beyond this patio and see thousands of them.
Here is the view from the art gallery patio.
The third building is the Red Location Museum Library. The doors were locked; a security guard had to let us in.
This was a part of an enormous and beautiful tapestry hanging directly inside the library. The little white squares lining the bottom of the tapestry have the names and birth/death dates of a few of the activists who are memorialized in the museum.
We were very excited to see what was in the library; everything was so new and modern. It was a very nice place. And then we walked into the Archive Reading Room...
There were hundreds of shelves... but no books.
This could be such an amazing gift for the Red Location township and the schools here. We think that they are still in the process of putting the library together. Here is hoping that they have books to put on these shelves for the people of Red Location township.
I have some photos of PE that I will post later on. You will be able to see the drastic difference between the buildings, homes, roads, etc., of PE and the townships. Stay tuned!
I am off to the beach to search for treasures.
Later!
Sarah
