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WIC News

Students and Teachers Experience an Unforgettable International Journey to South Africa – March 2020

Our Secondary III, IV and V students and teachers returned safe and sound from South Africa this past Monday. The first of WIC’s two International trips has wrapped up and is filled with memories that will last a lifetime. This unique adventure and cultural experience took students on a very memorable journey.  Some of the highlights included exploring the city and beach of Cape Town, a tour of Robben Island where students saw some African wildlife and visited the Maximum Security Prison where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for 18 years. 

Our travellers also had the opportunity to attend a Cape Town Stormers vs. Auckland Blues Super League Rugby match. Some students also enjoyed an amazing tour at the KhwattuSan Culture and Education Centre! They saw artwork and archaeology from the First People learning first-hand about encounters and the colonization of Africa. They even practised speaking some new languages and tried medicinal tea!

On another day it was a cable car up to the flat mountaintop of Table Mountain for some incredible views!  The group searched for daisies and geckos while appreciating South African biodiversity. Midway into the trip, our South Africa international students learned about the history of Apartheid. Their visit to the Apartheid museum was a time for true self-reflection.

Then it was a visit to Soweto and a look at the struggles Black people endured in this neighbourhood especially during the uprisings in the 1960s and 70s. The stories were shared first hand by Antoinette Sithole, a tour guide at the Hector Pieterson Museum. Her brother, twelve-year-old Hector Pieterson, was killed in the riots of the Soweto uprising.

And finally, what would the adventure be without the safari experience? Students and teachers saw 4, excluding the leopard, of the Big 5 Animals (lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo).  Welcome back all and many thanks to the teachers accompanying our students―Mr. Fequet, Miss Santamaria, Mr. Thompson and Mme Lauzière.