The visit to Soweto was a very powerful experience. I had never witnessed poverty that extreme before. The gap between the rich white areas we had already seen and the poor black township of Soweto was so unbelievably apparent immediately. However, the people we saw in Soweto seemed very happy and warm. I do think many were genuinely happy to see us there, but I also think many people put on the happy face to make things seem like they are much better than they really are.

Our tour guide was overwhelmingly optimistic and refused to mention much at all about the violence and drug use that goes on there. It all seems like a cover-up to me. Similar to the way race is taboo and people think things will get better by ignoring them, people think that if they act happy they will be happy and that they can forget about the hardships and the years of oppression they suffered under apartheid. South Africans are reluctant to address important issues about race.