Part 2: Johannesburg

Johannesburg was great but it was mostly the business end of the trip. We saw a bunch of agencies. The biggest problem in South Africa is HIV (it seems obvious, but in many African countries Malaria is an even bigger problem). It tends to kill the generation that's both actively parenting and actively caring for their parents. The scope of the problem is really hard to comprehend but it touches everyone. There are a lot of families headed by the oldest child of deceased parents. There are so many families lead in this way that they can't be put in foster care and so they're supported in other ways.

The first place we visited was an after school program for families like these. The trick in Africa is to give your camera to a kid and have them take the pictures. (Hint: Make sure your camera has a strap and strap it on the kid well.) These are my favorite pictures from the whole trip.

We saw some other important sites. This square is where Nelson Mandela was tried for treason. It's also at one of the other sites we visited, a drop in center for girls.



And this is what Johannesburg looks like to me. All I see is bananas.