More Global Studies detail

We’ve been able to talk with Sarah a lot while she was in Cape Town. Two of the things that struck her the most were the healing memories speaker (she videotaped his speech to the group) which Whitney also talks about in her update. Below is the website and an overview. Sarah said it was one of the most powerful speakers she had ever heard.

http://www.healingofmemories.co.za/introduction/ihom_history.htm
Through his own experience of living in exile, losing both hands in a parcel bomb explosion, and listening to the stories of the survivors whom he counseled at the Trauma Centre, Fr. Lapsley realized the importance of giving people a space in which their experiences could be told and acknowledged. He became a driving force in developing Healing of Memories workshops as an alternative form of providing support for victims and survivors of apartheid violence.

The other thing she talked about was learning about Amy Biehl. See the link and summary:

http://www.amybiehl.co.za/about-amy On August 25th, 1993, Amy Biehl’s life was tragically cut short in an act of political mob violence in the Guguletu Township outside of Cape Town. Four young men were convicted and sentenced to 18 years imprisonment for her murder. When the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established, the young men applied for amnesty. Determined to honor Amy’s love of South Africa and her belief in the truth and reconciliation process, Amy’s parents participated in the Commission’s hearings and supported amnesty for the youths; the four were granted amnesty and released from prison in 1998. two of these men now work for the foundation and spread Amy’s message of social justice.

What strikes me is how much healing and forgivessness is going on over there that the girls are being exposed to and what a valuable lesson that is for them.

A science tidbit for the really nerdy that I learned today while listening to a TED talk (http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/juan_enriquez_on_genomics_and_our_future.html
White Europeans suffered the most from the Black Plague. Those that survived, their next generation had a gene mutation that someone made the race more resistant to this kind of disease. In Africa, there was no black plague and they never got the mutation. This is one of the reason that AIDS is spreading so fast across Africa and not as fast in Europe since they never had that gene mutation. Whoa. My head hurts. I need to get a glass of wine after that.