Monday, October 18th--Robben Island

Today we went into Cape Town and took a 30 minute ferry ride to Robben Island. Of the 27 years Nelson Mandela spent in prison, 18 were served on Robben Island. After a bus tour, an ex-prisoner led us through the prison and shared a bit of his own story. He had arrived at Robben Island in 1977 as a young man of 19 while, in contrast, in 1977 I started my first year of college at U.C. Berkeley. What different lives we have lived, and how different would my life be today had I been an African teenager living in South Africa during apartheid?

Near the end of the tour we had time to walk through the cells. In them were posted pictures of some of the men who had been sentenced to prison on the Island, along with a part of their story and, in some cases, a personal possession. Most of the stories were of abuse, but one story spoke of kindness. Sazi Veldtman served time on Robben Island from 1987-1991. During the time he was there he developed a bad case of arthritis, and often wrapped bandages around his wrists, elbows and hands to protect his joints. During this time, he was given a pair of shoes that were lined with rabbit fur to keep his feet warm. Next to his story was a wooden box containing the shoes: a symbol of God's love in the midst of a place that, for 400 years, was  a place of banishment, exile, isolation and imprisonment.

--Janet Eadie

                                Nelson Mandela's cell on Robben Island