I was disorientated for about 4 days. I apparently kept waking up in the middle of the night asking of the rest of the group were following; but can you blame me? After six weeks with the group the herd mentality really starts to kick in. I keep wanting to take my passport with me wherever I go; it feels strange not having that little convenient flip phone with me all of the time. It took me about half a day to realise that I could now use my smartphone outside of Wi-Fi areas. I don’t know how I feel about not having the weekly program mapped out for me. These are all just the simple things. How long until you start questioning the larger things, the different ways of life, the conflicting institutional philosophies?

Everyone keeps asking how the trip was, as if there is a short answer which will live up to their expectations. There are a plethora of things which I could say at that moment, none of which will necessarily satisfy their curiosity or do justice to the grandeur of the experience. Sure the experience was fantastic, and yes I would do it again (who would not?); but there are elements of the experience which are nearly impossible to convey.

I saw things which I would never have had the opportunity to experience and I grew in ways which were not possible before. There is no one moment, or lesson which I learned from going to Washington. Rather it is the culmination of several moments, experiences, lessons, sights, smells, observations, conversations and thoughts which will fundamentally change who I will become one day. If you were to ask me in which way, I would be unable to tell you.

I do not know where my life was heading before SAWIP, or where I will one day go. I do however believe that this change which I have noticed will be for the better. I have a renewed sense of hope and patriotism for South Africa. This of course is not enough. The willingness to serve goes a long way but it is not complete without the ability to do so. As I understand SAWIP seeks to create real change agents who will one day influence the course of communities, peoples and even the nation. For this type of change we need the SAWIP Alumni to be equipped with the ability to do so, and this is precisely what the DC leg of the trip aims to achieve.

Even if I never used any of the umpteen business cards which I picked up in Washington, the networking, not the cards, was the valuable part. I will (probably) never work at C-SPAN, yet working 9 to 5 in a professional environment influenced what I think I would want to do one day. The US president Dwight Eisenhower, who was responsible for planning the invasion of France and Germany while still a general in the Second World War is famously quoted as saying: “In preparing for battle, I have always found that plans are useless but planning is indispensable”. While the trip to DC is in itself invaluable it is rather what you take from it that will one day make the difference.

This weekend I traveled with my host family to the Finger Lakes in upstate New York. I could not have asked for more of a contrast between the two consecutive weekends which I spent in the Empire State. New York City was frantic at almost every hour of the day, while time itself is almost irrelevant in upstate NY.

We stayed in the small town of Glenora on the Western side of Seneca Lake. There is some humour in the classicist getting the opportunity to go somewhere named after a great Roman philosopher and statesmen. The whole upstate New York is in fact littered with references to the ancient and European world. Seneca Lake is flanked by the towns of Ovid and Geneva while the nearby town of Ithica is on the way to the city of Syracuse. They say it’s the only place in the world where you can go from Sicily to Egypt in under half an hour.

While Washington gives you some insight into the inner workings of the US, it does not really give you perspective of what is happening on the ground. It’s comparable to someone seeing Cape Town and then being content with having visited Africa. This is even more so in the US; a country so vast and culturally diverse that you would not be able to experience all of it in many lifetimes. Glenora granted me the opportunity to open the door a little wider.

I was lucky enough to visit a Mennonite farm stall. They are a fascinating people worth reading up about. Historically the Amish community is an offshoot of the Mennonites and thus there are several parallels between the two denominations. Like the Amish they shun many forms of modern technology and prefer to live in their own tight knit communities. Their tractors have wheels made of steel (because rubber is somehow taboo), and they are dressed as if they came straight out of the 19^th century (hipsters have a long way to go). The experience was almost surreal. It wasn't what I was expecting as part of my ‘Murica adventure, but it added to it in a way another impressive skyscraper never could.

A country is more than just the aggregation of its infrastructure or natural resources; I firmly believe rather that a country’s success is a function of its people. It’s the American people who made America great. It had advantages in terms of its vast tracks of land and resources, but so did many other countries. We see how resources in these countries have become a curse rather than a blessing; we see how corrupt and illegitimate governments have spurned the same opportunities which the USA had. There was a period during the 18^th century where the Cape Colony was the third richest area in the world, behind only London and Amsterdam. During the mid 20^th century (shortly after decolonization) Africa had a higher average GDP per Africa than South-East Asia. We faced the same struggles and Africa arguably had far more opportunities.

Despite all our struggles South Africa is still the largest economy in Africa; it’s almost baffling when you consider our past. Even if Nigeria overtakes us, our GDP per Capita is still more than double what theirs is.South Africa is still the beacon of hope in Africa. With all this opportunity, where is our country going?

I was requested tonight to speak about my South African story, which in all honestly is quite a daunting task. Asked to open up as to what makes me South African, but also what makes me different?

In many senses my South African story is really not the typical South African story which you come to expect at an evening such as this one. It is not necessarily a story of victory against all odds in the face of adversity, or the type of tale which South Africa has become famous for since its transition to democracy.

In some senses though my story is one of the struggle for identity and recognition, and for the achievement of excellence in a country which sorely needs it. Most of all it is a story of a profound sense of duty. South Africa is at a crossroads and it does not need mediocrity or subpar leadership. It does not need another lost generation brought up in a broken education system, a job market where nearly every second youth is unemployed. It does not need more empty rhetoric and false promises. It needs a generation who are prepared to take ownership of their future.

My name is Wiaan Visser, I am a graduate student in Ancient Languages at Stellenbosch University. But don't worry folks; I also have a degree in Economics so I will probably be able to get a job one day.

I grew up in what would be, at least by American standards, a small town. Paarl is the hinterland of the Cape, it is the homeland of Afrikaans, snuggled between the mountain ranges not too far from Cape Town. If you happened to drink some of the nice Red Wine tonight, it came from my hometown. I travelled nearly 8000 miles to drink wine from my hometown with people from my country. I always joke that when all of the Dutch Afrikaner people trekked away from the Cape to try and escape British Rule, my family did not get too far. They threw their bags down when they were barely out of sight from Cape Town.

Even today it still is a bastion of Afrikaans and to some extent the Afrikaner people. Change comes slowly. People are stubborn most of the time, and you would expect nothing less from a bunch of Dutch Colonists exiled to Africa mixed with some religiously prosecuted Frenchman thrown into the African sun.

I remember fondly growing up in Louvre Street, in the suburb of Courtrai. About 10, 15 years ago, maybe even in a previous millennium. It might not sound like a long period of time for some of those here tonight. Albert was already in the US, and then again some of our team members had barely been born. South Africa had become a democracy a few years ago. Mandela was president, and after that Mbeki's first term. We had won the Rugby World Cup, the African Cup of Nations, been accepted to the UN and re-entered the international community. It seemed that there was no limit to our potential. But then as now even though apartheid is over its consequences were still very much alive.

My street, and basically my whole neighborhood only had white residents. The town itself was and is still very segregated. In my opinion one of the worst consequences of apartheid was the social stratification which occurred due to policies which dictated where people of different races could and could not live. It must sound like such a ridiculous concept in hindsight. An arbitrary line, a river, a neighborhood a beach being demarcated as black or white. As if some beaches and benches are inherently racist and dislike some people sitting on them.

Yet despite everything my heritage is one with which I still identify. Don't all of us feel strongly about our family, our culture and even language? You can't exactly escape where you come from. You can fly to Perth or trek over a bunch of mountains but a change of scenery won't make your problems disappear. Like anyone it is a heritage which I want my children to be proud of, and their children. Most of all it is an heritage which I am afraid of losing.

This has been the biggest challenge in my South African story. How do you reconcile being a white male South African, who received all of this unjust privilege with, on the other side the profound sense of duty and an obligation I feel to make a difference in South Africa?

The South Africa Washington International Program has given me that opportunity. It has given me a platform to grow and become the type of leader which my generation will need. More than that it has given me an opportunity to interact and grow with 16 other young leaders as well as several leaders of industry in various fields, such as the political and the financial sectors who are both present here tonight.

Lastly and and maybe most importantly it has given me a new community to form part of, and identify with; A community of leaders and change agents who want to make a difference no matter who they are or where they come from; A community of leaders which I am proud to identify with.

In a period where South Africa will soon have to deal with a future without the father of our nation, one cannot help but reflect on his legacy. That I can stand here as a white Afrikaans male South African from Paarl, and declare my willingness, along with the rest of this group of young leaders to serve, speaks volumes about how far our country has come. I cannot help but think that Former President Nelson Mandela, Tata Madiba himself, would be proud of this SAWIP team if he could be here.

The French slogan "liberté, égalité, fraternité" is such a powerful and striking phrase because of its simplicity. It is one of my favourite slogans since it encapsulates such a universal concept in only three words. Some would say the concept of fraternite is outdated and almost contradictory to equality in a modern gender neutral world, but I would argue that it is our understanding of the term which is lacking rather than its worthiness.

Like so many other words fraternite loses a lot of its beauty in translation. I don't think you truly understand language when you only understand what a word's meaning has become and not where it comes from. Another striking example is the word virtue, which comes from the Latin word Vir, literally meaning "Man". Virtue is the art of being a man or manliness, yet the word encapsulates so much more than just that; In the same way fraternite means more than just Brotherhood. Fraternite implies a common goal, a shared sense of being, an appreciation of the value of others and mutual care. When we understand it in this way we can now see it goes hand in hand with both freedom and equality.

The struggle for equality imposes both a negative and a positive burden on all of us. We cannot fight for equality on one side and yet fight against it on another. Maybe I'm being a troublemaker when I say it but I think it's hypocritical to fight against discrimination on the basis of race or gender, but not against discrimination on the basis of sexuality or nationality. How is the one arbitrary, unjust and unfair but not the other? I fundamentally do not understand a phenomenon such as xenophobia in South Africa. Should a country such as SA not be acutely aware of the dangers of "othering" and what it leads to? With our past you would have thought that people understood the wrongfulness of such an act.

Some would argue it's easy to say from a western perspective of middle class privilege since it does not really affect me. I can afford to fight these issues. I would argue that whether or not an issue affects oneself is the worst possible basis to decide whether something is good or bad. You should fight inequality in principle even when the inequality is to your advantage. Principle should transgress any circumstance. Even though I'm heterosexual I can fight for the rights of homosexuals. It doesn't even have to be altruistic desire which drives us. I know that while everyone isn't equal everyone isn't free and vice versa. I know that as long as there are certain restrictions placed on what I can or can't identify with then I'm not really free am I?

It is the same dogma which perpetuates racial discrimination which underlies xenophobia sexism, homophobia and all other forms of discrimination. Until we destroy the dogma we won't eradicate any of them. Doing nothing simple is not enough since it just perpetuates an unequal status quo. We need leaders who are willing to say that they are against inequality no matter and even despite their race, culture, heritage and dare I say it religion. Hiding behind any of these while knowing the wrongfulness of the act isn't leadership, it's cowardice. Until you are prepared to make that step, you are no more free than any of the others.

I could keep on writing about what I consider as the anomalies of South African and US society for several blogs (and I undoubtedly will in my next one), but I thought that for tonight I would share my views on something a bit more serious and maybe a bit more tangible. The Snowden saga has the potential to turn into one of the biggest international relations headaches the US government has faced in the last few decades, and we happen to have front row seats.

At a very normative level it is a fantastic example of the trade-off between individual liberty and collective security. In order to protect you from the bad guys we need to search through all your data in order to make sure that it isn't you were looking for. We face this tradeoff on different points of the spectrum every day in countries all over the world. The classic example is that that of a police state which although very effective in promoting security, completely erodes individual freedom. The question then surely is to what point we must accept that we have a benign government acting in good faith.

Why Edward Snowden, a security contractor for the US government, did what he did in bringing to light the methods which the NSA were using to collect metadata on the communications between individuals, is doubtful at best. The media seems torn between portraying him as either a hero or a traitor, as if there is no middle ground. If he was seeking fame, or infamy he has certainly achieved it. If what he did was out of altruistic concern for the future of his country he sure did not choose a fantastic way if doing it. On some level he does not believe that the government was benign in their actions.

Snowden has 4 Laptops and several external hard drives or flash drives with him (according to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange). The US authorities and the worlds news agencies are essentially playing a game of where is Wally. Apparently he boarded a plane to Russia from Hong Kong on the way to either Venezuela or Ecuador. His seat was empty on the flight from Russia onwards which probably means he's still in Russia. When someone is carrying as much sensitive information as Snowden presumably is it makes sense not to let him go through international transfers and on his way. He presents an unique opportunity in the East-West power play.

Someone carrying a briefcase full of sensitive documents would be considered dangerous. Snowden potentially has hundreds of gigabytes if not terabytes of data with him. Assuming the average file ranges from a few hundred kilobytes to a megabyte or two Snoden is potentially carrying a million briefcases full of files. That amount of information was incomprehensible a few years ago. It further provoked it could turn into the wikileaks saga all over again.

I don't think Snowden is a traitor; I don't think he's a patriot either. There is an obvious irony in complaining about internet freedom and then running to China and Russia for assistance. He is a very misguided individual at best, on the most basic level he's an oath breaker. He swore to protect his nation, and then severely undermined that very same mission. Yet what he did is not only bad. We are yet to see the extent of what he has brought to light and the effects thereof. Many heroes were labelled traitors in their times. I guess it is up to history to decide the legacy of Ed Snowden.

When travelling, almost without fail, one not only gets a perspective into another culture, but also a new perspective on your own. This was one of the really interesting phenomena discussed at our last session before we left South Africa, a reverse gaze you get on your own culture. Every time I see something that works differently in Washington I ask myself the question why? Why does the system, the train, the cool drink work differently in South Africa? Is there any inherent reason this difference exists and is there something we can learn from it?

These differences occur on a large institutional scale, but also on an everyday scale in the smallest things. Every time one of the doors to the outside in my host families' house opens, an automated announcement commences informing the whole house which door just opened. Knowing the neighborhood we stay in it probably also isn't for security reasons. It's the smallest thing yet it is perplexing to me. Never have I seen a house in SA with this feature, even though it is really simple and probably easy to install.

I was watching a TV advertisement when one car company blatantly lambasted the a few similar companies ("This car is clearly better than the Camry. Toyota and Nissan never even saw it coming"). I almost wanted to switch the channel in protest (possibly the laziest form of protest imaginable), surely this isn't allowed? For some reason advertising regulations just differ between the two countries. When driving late at night on a big road you encounter very few red lights, only flickering orange ones. Apparently these mean that you are allowed to drive through with caution. You are also allowed to turn right (our left) at a red light. The eggs here are as white as a sheet of blank paper. These are all differences which can’t be explained by cultural reasons or socio-economic disparities. They are just small incremental differences in almost every sector of life.

These small differences mount up however. They become part of the institutions and conventions which dictate what we do and how we do it. History has taught us that like anything in life there are good and bad institutions. These can have a ripple effect despite the fact that they seem inconsequential. The English drive on the left side of the road because mounted soldiers used to wield their weapon in their right hand. This probably causes several deaths a year of people like myself who still can’t get used to first looking to the when crossing roads in DC.

The Americans spell words differently because Noah Webster decided that language should be simpler. Fortunately some of his more radical misspellings never caught on (such as “wimmen” for women). Inadvertently he made the English language even more complex than it ever was. Not only do we know have to cope with seemingly insensible grammar rules but also several different spellings of the same word. This led George Bernard Shaw to famously quip that: “The United States and Great Britain are two countries separated by a common language”.

The challenge will be to seek out those differences which have the most meaning and relevance for South Africa. People differ vastly but in the end we are all still people. Problems and their solutions are not exclusive to one people of country. Ultimately we are only here to learn.

I thought it would be a good idea to not beat around the bush with my first blogpost in Washington DC. By the look of things it can only get more busy from here on. These are merely random thoughts I made note of during the day rather than a coherent reflection.

The city is unlike any I have seen before. It is a crossroads between the splendour of an old European city and a modern day conurbation. I feel big in relation to the people and small in comparison to anything else. Some of the architecture seems quite imperial, as if the colony never really outgrew its roots in the motherland. I am not so much bemused by the size of the Starbucks coffee or the servings at McDonalds as a am at the size their public infrastructure. Subways and busses are impressive, and I've send them all over the world, but nothing quite matches the national mall and the sheer size of the Smithsonian. The people are wonderful though (but after one day isn't everything).

I have seen more different denominations of different church groups in a day than most of my adult life. It seems the need to secede stretched farther than just the political spectrum. In a way it also reinforces the idea that there is a niche for everyone, no matter how obscure your belief. We don't just cater for everyone's dietary requirements, we do it for their beliefs as well.

I can clearly see how one can get caught up in the whole idea of the American dream (when did the Americans claim upwards mobility for themselves though? Why is it their dream?). Being in the heartland of the richest country in the world gives you a new perspective on what we should aspire to. On the way from the airport we didn't drive past a sprawling informal settlement but through woodlands dotted with industrial technological complexes. I think the show of opulence manifests most in the size of their cars. I feel you should need a professional driving permit to drive those things. An aspiring entrepreneur in South Africa could fit at least 15 people in any of these SUV's. I think they compensate by making them all automatic since they must be absolutely impossible to park.

About 15 seconds after we landed Phillip sniffed the air and commented: "America, the land of the brave and the free" or something like that. He was joking, but it is almost as if everything just screams it at you. One cannot help but appreciate the magnitude on an almost constant basis. The fear of missing out is strong here. Every moment is an opportunity to experience some other aspect of this amazing country. We will barely leave Washington in the six weeks to come yet I feel that what I've seen in one day is enough to suck any man in for a lifetime, and there is a place for everyone.

With Anna-Marie being the first team member to touch down on US soil, the Washington experience is becoming more of a reality every day. As the excitement is building up and the big moment is looming, I thought that I would share some of my more light hearted thoughts regarding going to live in a foreign country for six weeks. And please do take all of this with a pinch of salt; most of it isn't serious at all.

In less than two weeks I'm basically going to have to forget that the letter “U” exists. It will feel positively barbaric to spell words such as colour, flavour and humour without it. As a second language English speaker you always try to avoid making simple errors (such as the different between teach and learn which gives great amusement to my SAWIP counterparts). Purposely misspelling words will just feel as if I’m betraying my bilingual education.

My Afrikaner heritage brings another interesting conundrum since my parents were so kind as to bless me with a very Afrikaans (or Dutch) name. Wiaan derives from Willem Adriaan while Visser quite obviously stems from Dutch for Fisherman. Trying to explain this is going to be quite the challenge. I foresee six weeks of clarifying to every barista at Starbucks that my name isn’t pronounced “why-anne” or something similar. It brings back memories of when I had the privilege of touring England in my second year, when my counterpart, Wynand Spruyt and I eventually just gave up and told everyone my name was Dutch Fisher. It’s also just a lot more amusing having people call you Dutch. I’m contemplating William, but I also don’t want everyone to call me Bill.

Driving on the wrong right side of the road is going to be fun if the opportunity ever arises. I’ve also already decided that if anyone were to question how a blond white male with green eyes comes from Africa I will question the 1^st world educational system. The beauty of cultural relativism is that there are also several stereotypes that I hold which will be debunked.

Another strange challenge will be moving into a house with a bunch of people who come from a very different culture and background than you. This is my fourth year out of my parents’ house, with only the occasional vacation spent in Paarl. I think one becomes used to living fairly independent of others. Suddenly I will be staying in a big house (with 6 other people mind you), sharing everything with a family on whom I am completely dependent! Don't get me wrong, my host family seem fantastic; it’s just going to be quite a fun exercise.

And that is how I’m planning to approach the whole experience. Even if I believe that there is a right or wrong way of doing things, it really is all relative. Metres become yards and litres become gallons. We’re going to have to hold the measuring cup in our left hand to see the metric system, but that’s okay, I’m sure we will all survive. The value of experience does not lie only in doing the same thing over and over again, but being able to adapt to all the different walks of life and hopefully gaining new perspective on where you come from on the way.

On leaving the Holocaust exhibition I immediately jotted down a few thoughts and feelings since I did not want to lose that gravity of the moment. There is a heaviness which weighs down on you like few other things in life. One cannot even start to imagine the vastness of the Holocaust, the actors involved and the impact it had on our world. My view is at best uninformed but I thought I would try and share my thoughts anyway. Please bear with me.

In debating one is thought try and not use the holocaust as an example to support your argument. This is in one aspect out of respect for those involved, but it also runs a bit deeper than that. The complexity of the situation and the sheer abhorrence of the act make that it can’t be analysed in rational terms. To try and deconstruct how a modern civilization can become complicit in an act of genocide on such a large scale is something which cannot be done in one blog post. In a sense it baffles the mind, it is almost unreal.

If I were to guess I would say that is the only reason why Holocaust denialism still persists in our society. To think that over 10 million people were killed in a mass genocide by other people is beyond my understanding of humanity. Some estimates range to upwards of 30 million people killed when you include all racially motivated crimes by the Germans including the persecution of: homosexuals, Roma, Slavs, Poles, the handicapped, Soviet Prisoners of war, religious and political dissenters of all races, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Freemasons… The list goes on and on. A prudent estimate would put the number of victims at between 11 and 17 million people.

One of the things which are striking is the large discrepancy between the figures. This suggests that despite the fact that it was the most well documented genocide in history we still do not really know the extent of it. Any form of genocide goes against all laws of humanity. It should not matter how many died or exactly how institutionalized the act was; yet one gets the feeling that in this case the scale of the act cannot be ignored. In trying to comprehend it, one should not lose perspective on the “realness” of it.

It happened far away more than half a century ago, yet these were not soldiers; They weren’t conscripts who had willingly signed up for war, or had been drafted to defend their fatherland, these were normal people, every single one of them (I am in no way suggesting that soldiers aren’t people, or that they all die willingly; I’m only trying to emphasize the absurd nature of their relationship between victim and perpetrator). I say this with all sincerity, but there was nothing admirable in their deaths, it did not serve a cause or achieve some goal – It was nothing more than senseless murder.

It leaves me despondent while typing this; it leaves me at a lack of words, the feeling is best described for me with the Afrikaans phrase “Dit laat my koud”. It’s an ironic phrase given it’s loaded past, but maybe it’s the heaviness of the phrase is that which draws me to it.

2.) On blaming apartheid and its legacy.

This blog forms part of a series of I will be writing on the idea of a born free generation.

*Also I promise I wrote this blog before reading Jess' piece on our political imagination. If you haven't please do as the two blog posts touch on a lot of the same issues, although we differ on a few points. http://www.sawip.org/sawip-team/team-blog/entry/our-political-imagination-

In my previous blog post I wrote about the lack of appreciation I believe my generation has for the wrongfulness of apartheid. It is quite a provocative stance to take when taking into account exactly how obviously unjust apartheid was. We often talk about our generation as a post-apartheid generation, a generation of "born free's". While apartheid is most certainly over we are, in my opinion, everything but born free.

It seems that despite the atrocities of apartheid we have not learned our lesson. The wrongfulness of apartheid did not lie solely in the fact that the segregation and unjust discrimination were institutionalised. Racism and structural discrimination is always wrong whether institutionalised or not. We see the same injustices being perpetuated in an inequitable status quo and yet there is a distinct lack of willingness to achieve redress. This is the part that baffles me. If you realise that something is wrong, surely you would be willing to make reparations in some form?

This redress doesn't necessarily have to take the form of material reparations; it can take the form of a willingness to integrate, to commit to the building of a united South Africa, to acknowledge the injustices of the past and to support the transformation of our community. Most of the initiatives are intangible; some might require you to give something of yourself. Apartheid isn't over until we have dealt with its consequences, something which will take many years. This does not mean that we should blame apartheid for our failures, merely that we should acknowledge the role it has played in getting to where we are.

Some would argue that in our effort to achieve redress we are creating a form of reverse apartheid. Such a view is naive and uninformed at best. When you have experienced many years of structural oppression, where your movement is inhibited, where your workplace and home is determined for you, where you are prosecuted for expressing your views and live under a brutal police state; when you are stripped of all human dignity, only then can you call it reverse apartheid. Someone else getting preference above you for a job due to the massive amount of privilege you had in life does not equate apartheid, it equates a form of redress.

We recently visited Robertson where our community research project for SAWIP will be taking place. The community we are to work in is more broken than anything I have ever imagined. The community experiences high levels of alcoholism and domestic violence. It has one of the highest incidences of foetal alcohol syndrome in the world. There are several scholarships available for children of the local school to go to University; the problem is that no student achieves high enough marks to gain access. The top scholar in 2012 achieved an average of 68%. More than 2 thirds of the students tested were positive for illegal substance abuse. There is a general lack of resources despite illegal drugs being readily available.

This community isn't in the rural Eastern Cape. It isn't in faraway Natal or Limpopo. It is less than 2 hours drive from the Cape metropol, yet is different world. Redress has not reached this community. It is trapped in a spiral of abject poverty and if we are not going to blame apartheid, then who is to blame?

This blog will form part of a series of blogs I will be writing on the idea of a born free generation.

Over the course of the last few weeks I have had the opportunity to experience several different perspectives our country and how far we have come since 1994. Transformation, reconciliation and the promotion of social justice (call it whatever you wish) are concepts and in fact ideals which lie quite close to my heart. I come from a middle class Afrikaans upbringing which was in all honesty quite privileged. I say this not neccesarily because I have some guilt to get rid of, but rather because it has influenced and to a large extent determined my perspective on our beloved country. Literally it came from quite high up on Paarl mountain, figuratively it was even further removed from reality.

My family originally comes from a town not far from the Winelands called Robertson. Neither of my grandfathers had a University education (quite standard for the times), both if them in fact didn't even complete high school. My dad studied law on a bursary while my mother's side of the family still reside as farmers in the Robertson region; the same region which we recently visited for research as part of our SAWIP community service projects.

One of my friends commented about six months ago on a blog I had written that we should have a term called an "Ad Apartheid". The term refers to the fact that in any argument or conversation in SA, someone will eventually resort to bringing up apartheid. They said it tongue in cheek with reference to myself blaming apartheid as one of the primary causes of the unrest which lead to the farm workers strike. It all feeds into some form of apartheid fatigue where people (especially those from the privileged part of our community) groan and turn away whenever someone mentions apartheid. Apartheid ended 20 years ago, we all acknowledged that it was wrong, lets get on with fixing the country, right?

While I believe that by far the majority of my generation admit that apartheid was wrong, I'd like to question their volition in this regard. Because the apartheid system was so obviously untenable due to social and economic reasons we often don't grasp just how morally abhorrent it really was. How could one tenth of a population oppress the majority? The homelands system was fundamentally flawed while sanctions crippled us economically. From a young age I've been told and taught (or learned as they would say where I come from) just how wrong apartheid was; so much so that I've never had to question it for myself. I'm opening up a bit of a Pandora's box by saying it but I don't think my generation (and maybe our society in general) fully appreciate how wrong it was, especially in those facets which are the closest to us.

It is easy to admit that the system was evil, it is more difficult to admit that when it touches you personally. It is not that we are personally liable (of course not you were barely born) but that does not exclude some type of general (and sometimes involuntary) complicity. Apartheid was wrong, but would you admit that your fathers job was unfair? Would you admit that the home you grew up in is was unjust? Are you prepared to admit that your heritage is littered with injustice, with wrongfulness and with a distinct lack of humanity?

I am not asking you to be racked with guilt, or to burn all of your material possessions in repentance; I'm just asking you to know yourself, and think a bit deeper where you come from.

In the same vein as the blog from Cara I want to write about my experience of SAWIP outside of the formal program. The formal part of SAWIP is fantastic, and credit where credit is due in that regard. Some of the most profound experiences I have had due to SAWIP, however, have come from the spaces between activities rather than the program itself. SAWIP’s real strength lies in the fact that it brings together an amazingly diverse group of student leaders from three different Universities, all with different backgrounds, and gives them a common goal to strive toward.

In creating this environment it is almost inevitable that the group of leaders will have a profound influence on each other’s lives. Testament to this is the way in which many of the Alumni are still very involved with the program despite many of them coming from as far back as the class of 2009 (when most of the current team were still in High School, except Matt of course). You see a willingness to plough back into the program which doesn’t stem from any formal obligation but rather from a shared sense of duty and loyalty to the program.

Often the part of the program on which I reflect the most is the dead time in between where other members of the team are forced to spend almost obscene amounts of time in my presence. Sometimes you learn really silly and non-consequential things about members of the team (such as Luamba’s firm belief in conspiracy theories), while other times it feels as if the course of the country is being determined right then and there. These conversations range from discussing the role of culture and identity in the process of reconciliation to ideology, white guilt, the Boston Bombers, whether Elon Musk or Jan Smuts was the greater man, the UN, and sometimes even to baboon hunting stories (mainly from Edyth).

The youth are often accused of being apathetic; this isn’t a new phenomenon either. To quote Socrates:

“Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers.”

When looking at the conversations I have had as part of SAWIP it’s clear that the youth aren’t apathetic. As someone who firmly believes in the value of discourse and dialogue, I want to question whether society isn’t failing the youth by not creating the spaces for that dialogue to take place. The 14 other members of my team, and the wider SAWIP Alumni community can’t be the only young rascals who care this much about their country. They’ve given me new hope for South Africa and our role in its future. Now it’s time to go out there and inspire the rest of the youth to join us as well.