Race & Reconciliation: Maggie Childress
Maggie Childress is a graduate student pursuing her masters degree in Curriculum and Instruction, focusing on History and Social Science Education. She and other students and faculty from Virginia Tech just returned from South Africa on a trip entitled "Race and Reconciliation: An Immersive Case Study of South Africa and Apartheid."
The purpose of the trip was to participate in a culturally immersive case study in South Africa and to become acquainted with its history and potential, including challenges associated with racial injustice, economic development, governance, and education.
Though the team has returned to Blacksburg, read on to hear about Maggie's experiences in South Africa!
Today began with an extra early start due to the length of our drive to reach Kruger National Park in the far northeastern corner of South Africa. As we departed Johannesburg, the difference between this the hustle and bustle industrial capital of the nation and Cape Town, the “crown jewel” of Africa, struck me. Johannesburg reminded me somewhat of Pittsburgh; a large city that seemingly breaths hard work. “Joburg,” as the locals endearingly refer to it, seemed to be a sleepy industrial giant. The evidence of industry was everywhere throughout our drive across the province.
To fill in the multiple hours riding along, our tour guide shared some interesting facts along the way.
One that I personally enjoyed was the background and meaning of the beautiful new South African flag. After the democratic government took control in 1994 and with the new constitution in 1996, the nation needed a new national symbol. The black triangle symbolizes the African fight for equality, highlighted by yellow of the gold that makes South Africa prosperous and the year- round sunshine. The green tells of the prominent role of agriculture to the nation, while the blue depicts the oceans. Finally, the red is for all the bloodshed, balanced by the white of purity and a clean future. This seems to be a flag all sorts of South Africans can be proud to represent.
My main interest as we traveled east were the differing landscapes we trekked across to reach our destination. We first crossed the Flat Lands, known for the three C’s: cattle, corn, and coalfields. Interestingly enough, South Africa is the fifth largest producer of coal in the world. Coal is yet another issue that South Africa and the United States are comparable. In the US, pollution from the coal mines (and the drying up of many eastern US coal seams) present difficult and divisive problems, especially for Southwest Virginia and the surrounding states. One big difference I noticed for South Africa is they do not have to do mountain top removal or surface mining to reach their coal seams. South African coal is seemingly right under the surface, so miners push the sand over, extract the coal, and immediately replace the sand, to somewhat minimize the soil and ecosystem destruction that plagues American mining operations.
Cattle, the other prominent industry along the Flat Lands, also interested me in particular as I grew up on a family beef cattle farm. I quickly noticed the cattle I was seeing as we drove along was not the Angus I grew up next to. Since the game animals South Africans enjoy aren’t really all that “fatty,” the country enjoys a good hearty steak. The Afrikaners introduced their own cattle to the country that is more resistant to sickness. These are big and red with huge horns (the most visible difference from the cattle back home, almost none of ours have horns). South African ranchers use other breeds as well, including the Drakes Berger, Hereford, Brahman, and Aberdeen Angus.
As our elevation continued to rise, we entered the Highland Meander, a rocky mountainous stretch that resembles the Scottish Highlands eerily. We began to see our first wild game sightings here, including zebras, rhinos, and buffaloes. We passed a couple of cemeteries and flag posts that remain from the Anglo-Boer War at the turn of the 20th century. After reaching the mountain peaks, the elevation begins to fall rapidly down closer to the Mozambique coast. Here, we saw the Tauter Waterfall, one of the few waterfalls in the world that continues to get bigger.
We made a delightful pit stop in the middle of the mountains to purchase curios and jewelry from local African women. They were all delighted to see each of us and claimed one of each of us as their “new friend.” These ladies were very gracious and welcomed us warmly into their shops, and I left with more souvenirs than I had originally intended.
After close to six hours, we reached our safari lodge. This was a tranquil little spot in the middle of the bush that matched my expectations for our stay much more so than either Cape Town or Johannesburg. We were greeted warmly by the staff with a cold towel for our face and with refreshing beverages, before being led on an afternoon bush walk by a local guide.
We had discussed the continued need for the “decolonization” of knowledge, in that what is deemed valuable knowledge for too long was decided by Europeans. Walking through all the trees and bushes and coming across different animals and fauna, it became clear to me that our guide has more wisdom and “knowledge” than I do, regardless of how our formal educations might differ. He was full of useful knowledge on how to survive, which is especially essential here.
The night concluded with a wonderful dinner prepared by the lodge chef, as we were spoiled to yet another wonderful example of South Africa’s superior beef and meat offerings. Overall, even though a large portion of the day was spent driving to the bush, it seemed like I learned a lot about the geography and culture and was fully prepared for the safari adventure that awaited me bright and early at 4:45 the next morning.