2014-01-10
【Aiden in English】
Johannesburg, South Africa looked like an alien planet. It was only a step ahead of the other large cities of Africa, but the difference clearly could be seen. There were more modern technologies in the central business district. The houses were displayed extravagantly in European styles and the lavish neighborhood was built with high walls on leafy streets in the northeastern suburbs. The streets seemed so clean that a piece of trash would stand out. The late president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, remained in his mansion winding back through the affluent Houghton. The place Mom and I were going was quite the opposite of Johannesburg. It was named Soweto Township and is famous for its striking history. In America, we all know segregation in the past. In South Africa, however, it was called Apartheid. In the dark days of "whites only" privilege, the natives were forced to forget their own language and learned Afrikaans, a language made by the Dutch. Hector Pieterson was a child who hated Afrikaans. At the age of 13, he was shot along with 60 others during the Soweto uprising of June 16, 1976. Hector was always remembered because he was one of the first casualties and the youngest hero. After his death, the students gathered in the catholic church of Regina Mundi, or Queen of the World which was the only public place Soweto people could meet and discuss the banned political issues. There were over 4,000 young people at the time when the policemen came, forced them out of the church, and killed 600 children later. In memory of "the People's Cathedral", the stained-glass windows were decorated with scenes of the Virgin Mary's life and donated by Polish President in 1998. A painting entitled "The Madonna and Child of Soweto" became well-known as "The Black Madonna" depicting a black Saint Mary holding the black Child Jesus. The gallery upstairs had a memorial wall where visitors from all over the world signed their names to honor the Soweto people.
Now Soweto became actually pretty nice. The houses had either two or four rooms and could fit a maximum of four people in a family. Each had a small lawn in the yard. But there also was a bad side to Soweto. Poverty and the unemployment rate were off the charts. We stopped at a neighborhood of "match-box" houses made of trash and tin metal. In winter, it was freezing, getting the temperature down to 25oF/-4oC. In summer, the heat of the sun could fry an egg, and the temperature shot up to 110oF/43oC in the shanty. Worst of all, most of the people there were illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe and Botswana. The houses used to be homes to the slaves who went to work in the gold mine for half the day non-stop. Each room is about 50 square feet/15 sq. The meter had 35 people living inside. Many of them died of disease, which sounded horrible.
Johannesburg had two different populations of the super-rich and the very poor. There was no middle-class in between. That's why no other big cities like Johannesburg.
【紅霞譯文】
南非的約翰內斯堡好像一個星外來客，雖然比非洲其它大城市僅領先一步，但彼此之間的差異卻顯而易見。東北郊的房子敞亮經典，綠樹成蔭，深宅大院，用現代精良技術打造歐洲建築風格，街道顯得格外乾淨，沒有一點垃圾雜物，南非已故總統納爾遜‧曼德拉舊居也建在該區山脊莊園。
與約翰內斯堡相比，我和媽媽要去的索韋托城則是另外一種景象，其過往歷史更加不堪回首。在美國，我們都知道什麼是種族隔離﹔在南非，黑人貧苦百姓從前同樣遭受“白人至上”不平等待遇。當地人不得不放棄自己本土文化而被迫學習使用由荷蘭人發展起來的南非語，年少的海克特‧彼特森痛恨這種語言，因此在1976年6月16日舉世聞名的索韋托暴動期間，連同其他60位同胞一起慘遭當局殺害，死時僅有13歲。人們懷念海克特，因為他不僅是最早獻身革命的烈士之一，也是最年輕的民族英雄。海克特就義後，大約有四千人學生無畏生命危險，以敬拜天主耶穌為名聚集“世界女王”即人民天主教堂討論時政。在白色恐怖時期，這裡成為索韋托民眾唯一能夠聚眾集會的場所。政府聞訊出動大批警察實強行鎮壓，驅趕民眾離開教堂，隨後槍殺了600名少年。為了紀念這所人民聖殿，1998年教堂內部裝飾完善由波蘭總統特別捐贈的彩色玻璃，形象地再現了聖母瑪利亞生活場景﹔一幅題為“索韋托聖母聖嬰”畫像揚名天下，描繪“黑聖母”瑪利亞懷抱“黑孩子耶穌”﹔樓上畫廊紀念牆上來自世界各地的遊客紛紛簽名聲援索韋托人民。
如今索韋托大有改觀，新建不少2～4室民居，可以滿足一家四口基本需求，而且每棟樓房前都有帶草坪的小院。當然，貧困和失業率攀升等社會疑難問題一直懸而未決。我們參觀一處“火柴盒”居民區，那裡的房子全部由垃圾和金屬鐵皮組成。冬季屋不遮寒，室內溫度可低達華氏25o／攝氏零下4o﹔夏季濕熱難熬，華氏110o／攝氏43o幾乎能把雞蛋悶熟。更為糟糕的是，住在那裡的居民大多來自津巴布韋和博茨瓦納的非法移民，往往被社會遺忘。他們蜇居早年開採金礦奴隸留下的破爛房屋，35人共同生活在僅有50平方英尺／15平方米大的空間，不少人因病而去，聽起來實在可怕。 約翰內斯堡兩極分化嚴重，富的流油，窮的淌水，不富不窮的中產階級沒有什麼油水，這就是為什麼世上沒有地方像約翰內斯堡。
Today in History(歷史上的今天): 2013: Rio de Janeiro the Marvellous City, BRA(巴西里約—神奇之城) 2010: 澳洲商業中心悉尼(Sydney, Australia) 
Departure from Victoria Falls Airport, Zimbabwe (津巴布韋·維多利亞瀑布機場離境)
From VFA to JNB (津巴布韋·維多利亞瀑布至南非·約翰內斯堡 01-09-2014) 
The Smoke that Thunders @ Victoria Falls (維多利亞瀑布·雷鳴般的煙霧) 
Greater Johannesburg (大約翰內斯堡地區) 
Northern Johannesburg (約翰內斯堡北郊） 
Witwatersrand Gold Rush (白水嶺淘金熱) 
Open-Cast Mining (露天採礦) 
Johannesburg Gauteng (豪登省金城·黃金之地) 
Johannesburg Agricultural Area (金城·農耕地)
Johannesburg Hwy (金城·高速公路) 
Central Business District (中央商務區) 
City Hall @ CBD (中央商務區·市政廳)
Rissik Street @ CBD (中央商務區·里西克街) 
White Flight from CBD (白人群飛·遠離中央商務區) 
Kago ABC Le Kay Motsepe @ CBD (中央商務區·金礦大廈) 
Bus Terminal @ CBD (中央商務區·汽車總站) 
One Eloff @ CBD (中央商務區·一號零售商城) 
Houghton Estate, An Affluent Suburb (山脊區·富裕郊區)
Munro Drive @ Houghton Estate (山脊區·玫瑰河人大道) 
Upper Houghton (上山脊區) 
Nelson Mandela Residence @ Lower Houghton (下山脊區——納爾遜·曼德拉別墅 01-10-2014) 
Well-Wishing Mementos @ Mandela Residence, Lower Houghton (下山脊區曼德拉別墅·祝您留下美好的回憶) 
St John's College @ Houghton (山脊區·求主榮耀男子私校)
Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital (非洲最大的醫院) 
Univ of Johannesburg Soweto Campus
(金城大學索韋托分校 01-10-2014)
Natl Football Stadium (國家足球場) 
Hector Pieterson Museum (索韋托起義期間被槍殺的南非男孩博物館) 
The Oldest Residential District of the Black Twp Soweto @ Kliptown (石頭城區·黑人城鎮索韋托最古老的居民區 01-10-2014) 
The 10 Pillars of the Freedom Charter @ Kliptown Walter Sisulu Sq. (石頭城區·南非反種族隔離活動家廣場—自由憲章十大支柱 01-10-2014) 
The Pillar of the Freedom Charter @ Kliptown Walter Sisulu Sq. (石頭城區·南非反種族隔離活動家廣場——學習與文化之門即將打開) 
Regina Mundi Catholic Church (人民天主教堂) 
The Nave of Regina Mundi (人民教堂·主殿 01-10-2014)
Stained Glass of Virgin Mary's Life Gifted by Poland @ Regina Mundi （人民教堂·波蘭捐贈的“瑪麗一生”彩色玻璃窗 01-10-2014) 
Outside View of Stained Glass about Virgin Mary's Life @ Regina Mundi （人民教堂·“瑪麗一生”彩色玻璃窗外觀) 
The Madonna and Child of Soweto @ Regina Mundi (人民教堂·索韋托的聖母聖嬰) 
Gallery @ Regina Mundi (人民教堂·展覽廳 01-10-2014) 
Famous Visitor Log including First Lady of the US Michelle Obama @ Regina Mundi (人民教堂——包括美國總統夫人米歇爾·奧巴馬在內的著名來訪者名單) 
Orlando Towers @ Soweto (索韋托·奧蘭多發電站 01-10-2014) 
Sentech Tower (聖特克塔) 
Sculpture of Black Angel (黑天使雕塑)
Statue of Miners (礦工雕塑)
Sculpture of Soweto (索韋托雕塑 01-10-2014) 
Taxi Hand Signals @ Vilakazi Street
(維拉卡茲街·出租車手勢) 
Nelson Mandela Residence @ Soweto (索韋托—納爾遜·曼德拉別墅) 
Soweto Shanty (索韋托棚戶區 01-10-2014) 
Slums @ Soweto (索韋托·貧民窟) 
Public Restroom 201 @ Slums, Soweto (索韋托貧民窟·公廁201號) 
Housing Development Project @ Soweto (索韋托·住房開發項目)
Craft Shop @ Rosebank Market (玫瑰河岸跳蚤市場·工藝品店 01-10-2014) 
Craft Shop @ Rosebank Market (玫瑰河岸跳蚤市場·工藝品店 01-10-2014) 
Johannesburg, the Radioactive City (金城·放射性城) 
Water Ground & Mine Dumps (地表水與礦山垃圾場) 
54 on Bath (五十四沐浴酒店 01-09-2014) 
The Suite of 54 on Bath (五十四沐浴酒店·套房 01-09-2014) 
The Bar of 54 on Bath (五十四沐浴酒店·吧檯 01-09-2014) 
The Dining of 54 on Bath (五十四沐浴酒店·餐廳 01-09-2014)
Lounge of 54 on Bath (五十四沐浴酒店·休息室 01-10-2014)
Rash on Chinese Homework @ JNB Intl Airport (金城國際機場·趕寫中文作業 01-10-2014) Crosslinks(相關博文): South Africa(出遊南非) Across the Indian Ocean(穿越印度洋) Africa (漫遊非洲) 5th Grade(小學五年級)
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