From the slums to the “Beverly Hills,” the town of Soweto has it all. Soweto, outside of Johannesburg, was the starting place of the young people’s riot against the apartheid. We visited the square where 600 youth were shot in one day. We also passed Nelson Mandela’s house and saw the 10 parts of the new constitution that has brought equality and freedom to all. Our tour guide shared that she had grown up at the time of the uprising and in the black schools liberty was much more important than education. After apartheid was resolved and freedom was granted, the values remain the same, thus education for the black population continues to be terrible. 
In a conversation with Leslie, one of our community life advisors, she pointed out that America has the same problems. She was an immigrant from Cuba and went to elementary in San Francisco. Because the API score was a 2 there was no funding and the education was worthless. She didn’t even learn English until 7th grade when her mother fought for her to go to a better school. Once a family is stuck in uneducated poverty, it is hard to break the cycle. That is why the blacks here remain in slums: they cannot afford a better education for their children, so their uneducated children grow up without hope and bring more uneducated children into the world. Without a better education system, the cycle will continue endlessly, even in the US. There is much work to be done. Exciting moment of the day: amazingly delicious meal including guava, ice cream with mangos, and codfish accompanied by amazing zulu children dancers.
Just a random thought… a napkin today asked me to draw true love. I drew a peanut butter and jelly sandwich: the peanut butter is the guy who is sometimes a little rough around the edges, but compliments the sweet jelly girl and the relationship is enveloped by God the bread who sustains the true love.
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