31 days till takeoff!
I am excited, nervous, and excited! Three weeks is a long time, and not a long time. Not nearly enough time to explore one country out of 53 amazing countries in Africa. This trip will be full of emotions, fun and adventures.
31 days is not that much time to register for classes, figure out my summer schedule, go home for Easter, try to catch up on some sleep, have a ton of fun with my two amazing sisters, finish a 8-12 page paper due on Monday, prepare a 15-20 min presentation for Monday, pack for home, finish my stats homework by Friday, and get to class on time. So I am little stressed by all this, but then I remember the book I just read. “Country of My Skull: Guilt, Sorrow, and the Limits of Forgiveness in the New South Africa” by Antjie Krog. It is a recount of some of the stories compiled by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. These stories are unreal to me. About the torture, rape, and murder of thousands of white, colored and black South Africans during the Apartheid. Apartheid ended in 1993, and Nelson Mandela was elected in 1994. I was three and four years old during that time. This is mind boggling to me. The recent history of South Africa is engraved in their minds. Not only will I encounter a complete culture shock, but also the stories and faces of people impacted by this cruel and violent period.
One last thing I am worried about is trying to explain everything I saw and experienced into words when I return to the states. My words I imagine will not do the trip justice. It will be hard to describe to someone who was not with me every step of the way. The fifteen other people that are going to be present with me on the trip will be the only ones that can attest to what I saw. I know my family will believe me, but will they understand the history and implications of their past and present and future?
AIDS/HIV- What a humongous subject in Africa. Did you know that out of the 49 million South Africans, 18 million of them have AIDS/HIV? Now right now to you and me this might just be a gigantic number, but by the end of my journey, I will have faces to put to that number and names to associate with that number. Part of my trip will be compiling and delivering 250 food parcels to just some of these 18 million people infected with AIDS/HIV. This will be emotional and I am not sure what emotions I will be experiencing, but many more than I can think of right this moment. I hope you will read my thoughts and follow me through this three-week journey of South Africa.
~Riise
