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 Cape Town, South Africa
When I was growing up in Kenya, I thought of South Africa as a place of repression: barbed wire, guards, sanctions, prison cells and brutal violence. There wasn't much to counter that stereotype. Those of us who lived in Kenya were not allowed to visit a country that was so close, nor were South Africans allowed to visit Kenya. I was curious to see what the new South Africa is like... post-Apartheid. Visiting the townships near Cape Town, I came to see what Nelson Mandela meant when he said "the past still haunts the present." But the past informs the present as well, as I learned visiting Robben Island with a former political prisoner and seeing the art that came out of the Apartheid era. I also learned of a historic community called District Six, which lies in ruins today but offers clues to what a racially integrated South Africa could be like. Other clues can be found at a Cape Province vineyard, whose wine carries the first black-owned label and is aptly named New Beginnings. It's also a fitting way to describe South Africa as it tries to heal racial wounds, save wildlife, reduce violence and AIDS, and above all, celebrate the diversity that is at the heart of this unique African nation.
In GlobalTribe Amy Eldon travels to South Africa, Mexico and the Philippines, seeking out people who are finding solutions to some of the greatest challenges we face in the 21st century.
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