The Institute of Justice and Reconciliation: Connecting to Youth

The Institute of Justice and Reconciliation in Cape Town does work like the Center for the Study on Violence and Reconcioliation - in Johannesburg - in that they both see intergenerational and cultural dialogue and recollection of personal memory as key to empowerment and any positive long-term changes in the country.

Indeed, the Institute has some rather interesting youth programming. The Institute has developed a board game, for instance, that calls upon players to take on roles as either oppressors or prisoners on Robben Island, be they victims of leprosy or political prisoners of the Dutch and/or English. The goal of the game is for prisoners to get off of the island. Albeit, most will not and must determine at the end of the game if they will give amnesty to the oppressor. The game is unique in that it does not just focus on political prisoners during the time of Apartheid but also on cases going as far back as the time of Dutch colonialism. As discussed previously, the Dutch were known to forcibly remove political prisoners from their other colonies like Batavia (Indonesia) and to bring them to South Africa. The game, which also uses youth generated poetry and song, then spurs on dialogue, led by the Institute, on modern human rights issues of which youth today can relate. The District Six Museum in Cape Town also hosts a like simulation.

The Institute also runs diversity circles that bring members from different communities together to talk about different interpretations of the past as a means by which to develop a mutual understanding of differences. This has worked reasonably well between formerly Black and Colored communities, which are still disadvantaged, but not as well with more affluent communities. These communities are able to provide for their own security and may not see a "crisis" in needing to cooperate as fully. Further, former Model C schools (white schools) have been making efforts to integrate some disadvantaged and minority youth into their school communities.

I was also excited to learn about the Institute's interest in the youth-generated transcription of oral histories - particularly in the Northern Cape Province where over 100 oral histories of the native San and Nama peoples have been transcribed and edited. As these projects are community-based in an effort to foster self-identity, respect, and capability, these communities also arranged to hire a professional artist to train locally unemployed artists to illustrate these stories. Some of these artists have also been involved in the production of a series of works on migrant labor.

All of these programs connect youth to the previous two generations which is becoming of paramount importance as students today often do not know of the racial/economic struggles during and before Apartheid. While Apartheid is taught as part of the high school values curriculum, for instance, history (which includes geography) itself is not mandated after the ninth grade. Therefore, while being discussed, Apartheid may not be addressed in any deep, introspective way in the public schools. As previously stated, however, the Federal DOE is soon mandating Apartheid study in schools as a means by which to develop a more ingrained national identity.

The Institute stated that it would be open to participating on a NJ teacher/SA teacher and/or student exchange. For more information, please contact Valdi Van Reenen at the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation in Cape Town. Web site and further information can be found on Google.