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| Women's Memorial at The Boer War Museum |
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| Emily Hobhouse |
Today we took a tour of Bloemfontein. Our first stop was at the Anglo Boer War Museum. The site recognizes all the women and children that perished in concentration camps in the war that lasted from 1899 to 1902. There was a statue commemorating Emily Hobhouse, an English woman who worked to change the deprived conditions of the concentration camps in the war. The residence hall we are living in is also named after her. We also watched a film that explained the significance of both white and black soldiers in the war and how the museum commemorates all the soldiers that fought for their country. On our tour we also saw Bloemfontein's first hospital in passing. We also visited an art museum on the tour, which used to be the South African President's residence. We drove through many townships in Bloem, where many people still do not have electricity and running water and they reside in shacks. In 1947, the British King set up RDP homes for the South Africans that lived in these town ships. Many of these houses are still lived in today. We also made a quick stop at the Lebone (meaning 'light' in Lesotho) Village, an orphanage for children living with HIV/AIDS. We were unable to see any of the children because they were attending school, but we took a tour of their premises and learned about their self sustainability. They grow their own food, have a bakery, a wood working shop, and a shop to make clothing. Many of the people that work the fields at Lebone are unemployed volunteers, who work for two meals a day and food to take home to their families. Our last stop was at Naval Hill, a small nature reserve that overlooks the city. There were many hiking trails, and once we reached the top we saw ostriches, a wildebeest, several zebras and a giraffe.
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