Thursday, April 19th, 2007
Robben Island
Yesterday Sam and I visited Robben Island, the famous prison island that held dozens of political prisoners–among them Nelson Mandela–during apartheid era South Africa. I have long been fascinated with the stories of South African freedom fighters, especially Mandela, whose autobiography A Long Walk to Freedom is on my list of all time favorite books.
Though I have visited Cape Town twice before, I had never visited Robben Island, so I was glad that we finally made it out there. After a 40 minute boat ride to the island–a mere 12 kilometers around, we docked and were ushered into tour buses which took us on a tour of the island. It was interesting to see the island and the various buildings–many of which were built by prisoners–but we were most interested in seeing the prison and hearing the stories of the former political prisoners who now work as tour guides.
The last stop on the tour was the main prison where we met our prison tour guide, a former prisoner who was held for six years and two months. It was very powerful to have this man lead us through the same prison where he was unjustly held and repeatedly demoralized for six long years. He commented that he “feels happy” every time he leads tour groups through parts of the prison that he was once forbidden to enter. At one point, he whistled a tune as we walked through the prison corridor–something that he was once absolutely forbidden to do.
Eventually, we ended up in front of Nelson Mandela’s former cell–a tiny room that once held a great man.
Visiting a place such as Robben Island, I wonder what I can take away from seeing a place that once represented some of the greatest human injustices.
Our tour guide, who was once treated as a sub-human dissident for believing that he and other black Africans had the right to freedom in justice in their own land, is now free and has the opportunity every day to share his story and the story of South Africans overcoming apartheid with dozens of tourists from all over the world. How does he see Robben Island today? As a symbol of the strength and perseverance of the human spirit in the face of oppression.
Learn more about Robben Island.