OK, going to any museum save one specifically designed for children (like Gateway Discovery) is a challenge with six little kids in tow (it isn’t really fair for me to be calling Mason a “little kid”, he is big, and getting bigger all the time. He is turning into a “guy”, but because he is MALE-yes I am gender generalizing here-and because he is 12, he counts as a little kid when entering a museum. Snot bubbles and body noises are intriguing to a 12 year old, not really museum stuff). But, sometimes you take them anyway, because you really want them to GET something out of it, even if that something is little. As their years increase and they really begin to ponder the world they live in you hope some of what they are exposed to will come back and –click-it will mean something and make their thoughts deeper.
For these reasons we ventured out to the Apartheid museum. It is a beautifully yet starkly designed experience which tries to speak in depth and detail to the rise and fall of apartheid. A fascinating place full of amazing information and a wealth of the human struggle in this land, it is something not to be missed by anyone traveling to Johannesburg.
It is also a very vast museum. The exhibits are large and informative. There is a lot to learn about the centuries which brought about the separation of whites from all others in this nation for so many hard oppressive years. It speaks also to the vibrancy and hope of a new democracy, one that is frankly still struggling to find its way and make its place in this world.
It takes hours to drink in all that is offered here.
My children do not last hours in museums. Sadly, they lasted just long enough to begin to see the resistance years; those years when apartheid was opposed through peaceful and even not so peaceful means. The part where people were harmed and killed for standing up against the hard law that separated them from the hope of a better life.
That is how far they got before they were finished.
We left the museum with kids in a puddle of tears, dropping baby wipes and pretzel snacks (I do not encourage taking pretzel snacks into any museum, but my little daughters are my alaby) in our wake. We ran through the joy of the fall of apartheid, the relief of Mandela’s release, the excitement of his election to the presidency. These highlights of the human struggle were seen at race pace, very literally, as we rushed Molly out of the huge metal doors that bid us to remember the struggle, her screams (have you heard her scream?) echoing through the smooth cement and stone corridors.
As we rounded the corner to the carpark, I looked back at the museum and wondered if they got anything from it. I did. So much so that I was a little resentful we were leaving. It’s o.k. of course. I live here, and I can come back and soak in the victory over oppression I long to see concluded. And I’ll bring my older kids. They’ll act bored soon into our second visit, but they’ll witness it. And hopefully they’ll remember it when those thoughts come years from now questioning the hope of our ability to rise above our base humanity. We’ll enjoy Mandela’s victory and watch his release from Robin Island. And hopefully they’ll take some of it with them.
But, Molly will clearly be staying home.
3 comments:
No e-mail contact available for you, so I'm using this space to thank you for your kind comment on my blog. If I could just be sure that my "efforts in teaching morality and respect" were being effective, I'd agree with you wholeheartedly. But I have a teenage girl, whose behavior would seem to indicate that nothing I did in her first 13 years was of any consequence whatsoever! So I guess that has knocked the winds out of my sails a bit. Still, no choice but to keep on keeping on and to hope that things right themselves in the end. Did you or any of your sisters have difficult teenage years with your family? You all seem so close now. And, of course, that's what I would like for my children as adults.
My profile has an e-mail contact listed.
Have I heard her scream? Oh dear, have I. *sigh*
I kind of miss hearing it, sometimes.... mostly because if I could hear her than I would be near the rest of you too! The days are ticking by - see you all soon enough I hope!
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