18.04.18

Wednesday 

Today we enjoyed teaching a Grade 7 class (12 and 13 year olds). We looked at where different foods come from and plotted them onto a world map. Tomorrow we are going back to calculate how many km a typical plate of food has travelled to reach Tembisa. Year 5 at Bruche have already done a similar lesson so it will be really interesting to compare the results. 

After school, we were taken to the township of Soweto. Here we visited the Hector Peterson museum which was named after one of many school children who were shot by police in 1976 during a peaceful protest about the Education system in South Africa. 

We then visited the house which Nelson Mandela and his family lived in until 1990. Nelson Mandela fought for the rights of black people during a regime known as apartheid. This was a time when black people living in South Africa were not treated fairly and equally. The South African authorities didn’t like the fact that he was campaigning for equal rights for black citizens and he was put into prison for 27 years. However, he kept on fighting to end apartheid and eventually succeeded. He became the president of South Africa from 1994 - 1999. He died in 2013 and is now regarded as a hero.

His wife, Winnie Mandela, was also a freedom fighter. She died recently and her funereal was held last Saturday. We also visited her house this afternoon to look at the floral tributes. She is called ‘the mother of the nation’ by her supporters.