The visit to Robben Island was amazing. I guess it is most amazing when you consider that it all happened within my lifetime. It is actually almost shameful.
We got there by taking a boat (obviously) over from Cape Town. It was 11 km and we rocked - literally! The boat that we took was an original boat that was bought by a politician of the day and named after his wife, Susan Krueger. I believe that it was to bring both prisoners and well as the workers at the prison.
Then we loaded a bus; a bus that was also used to transport prisoners. All the tour guides are men who had been prisoners. Shadrak, the guide on the bus, was amazing. We has able to identify ways that each of the countries represented helped in their fight. He didn’t disclose much about his personal experience, which made his joy even more astounding. We traveled around the Island and learned of his history.
The island was used before apartheid. It was used during the World Wars to protect Cape Town and it was used as a leper colony. He explained how the men and women were kept separate because it was believed that the disease would be transmitted to a new baby. In spite of their efforts, 41 children were born, free of leprosy. They were immediately taken to the mainland to be adopted. He explained the process of doctors from various countries contributing to the cure with such hope that the same thing will so happen for HIV/AIDS. There was a leper grave site full of people who were forced to be buried away from their families.
We also spent a lot of time hearing the stories of the work that the prisoners were forced to do; work that had no purpose other than to break their spirit. They would be forced to move limestone from one end of the query to another. The mined limestone for 8 hours a day for five days a week. The limestone was used to used to build the roads. They were required to go into the freezing water to pull out bamboo. We were told how they would move whole piles of sand from one place to another only to move it back to the original spot the next day.
Then we toured the actual prison. The tour guide had spent five years imprisoned. All he would tell us is that he was arrested when he was 16 for being a student activist. He celebrated his 17th birthday on the way to prison. Oh, there was still such pain as he spoke. As he put it, his experience didn’t end when he was released. At the same time, he talked about seeing former guards on tours and the decision to forgive. It certainly put a whole new perspective on what forgiveness and reconciliation really mean. It was a very powerful experience just to hear him talk.
Our guide, whose name I don’t remember except that it means “Shepherd”, told a lot of details, without going to far. The conditions that he was describing were painful to even hear. We saw the cell in a section for leaders. where Nelson Mandela was held for 18 years. The space was two by two and a half meters. Very small. They all slept on pallets that weren’t much more than a half-inch thick. Eventually, the International Red Cross was able to fight on their behalf to get cots.
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