Robben Island

~Becca Lazinsk~ Imagine that You wake up in this small cell every day for weeks, months, or years on end.

A prison cell on Robben Island

Courtesy Photo/Becca Lazinsk

When you are let out of that cell for a small amount of time during the day, you hang out in this area below. Can you see the barbed wire?

Prisoners could spend time in this outside area when they were let out of their cells
Courtesy Photo/Becca Lazinsk

How about being imprisoned in that cell, or in that small courtyard area, for a substantial amount of time . . . then finally being allowed to leave . . . then returning by choice. Thats what the man in the blue sweater in this picture did, and he is not alone.

Our Robben Island Tour Guide

Courtesy Photo/Becca Lazinsk

Robben Island is a prison that essentially sits alone off the coast of Cape Town in Table Bay. The prison isolated its prisoners in ways much deeper than a regular prison cell can do. Over the years how many men looked over to the coast of Cape Town from this desolate place? Robben Island once held leprosy patients, and served as a hospital. Its main purpose throughout most of its time of operation, though, was to hold political prisoners. During Apartheid, prisoners stayed for as long as a quarter century in some cases, and the island held some men who would go on to overcome their imprisonment and help South Africa grow into a democratic society it has struggled to become. Tours of Robben Island are led only by former prisoners, which is both remarkable and haunting. Personally, I was very moved by my experience at Robben Island, because I felt like I was connecting with each person who had suffered at the prison. Due to my own strong emotions, I was amazed at how well our tour guide handled himself, as he calmly explained not only what happened at the prison, but his own experience. I am sure he has gone through his own inner turmoil over sharing such an influential part of his life with so many visitors, but the fact that he could do it at all says a lot about his inner strength -- and his determination to not let Apartheid define him anymore than it already has.

Most people who know about Robben Island, who are not from South Africa, associate it with its most famous inmates. This included the future first Democratic President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, and the founding leader of the Pan African Congress, Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe. Mandela spent 18 years of his total 27 years of imprisonment on Robben Island. The first picture on this page is actually of Nelson Mandelas prison cell; I can honestly say that being so close to it (and being on Robben Island at all) was one of the most influential moments of my life. I think I was truly affected by Robben Island because I simply felt tied to South Africas history in a way I had not before. By being there, I recalled all that I learned about South African history before even setting foot on the countrys soil, but I also felt the hurt as I walked around the main prison. I felt outraged that people lived like that for years, yet inspired that they did. In each corridor, every cell had a prisoners story posted on the wall, as told by that prisoner. My heart honestly ached for what these people had been through; there were stories of desperately missing loved ones left back at home, and others trying hard to make a fake key in order to escape. I do not think I could last in a situation like those prisoners did for more than a few days without losing my mind but they did it for years. And perhaps the most remarkable part is how many of them left Robben Island and went on to do amazing things for the country that had been responsible for putting them in prison. The fact that people were not only willing, but able to do that, stays with me on a daily basis as I struggle to fight my own battles in my life