Harrison's+Memoir

= 27 Years on Robben Island = by Harrison

Imagine living in a 7x8 foot cell for 27 years knowing you did nothing wrong. This is exactly what happened to Nelson Mandela. He was in jail in South Africa, and while we were in South Africa on vacation, we stopped by the jail on Robben Island. I was 9 years old when we visited South Africa on a vacation and I saw Mandela’s cell. This was an amazing and interesting trip.

Robben Island is off the coast of Cape Town. We boarded a boat that would take us from the dock to an island that had only a jail on it. There was tall concrete walls with barbed wire on top. It was a really boring place because there was nothing on the island except grey concrete buildings. It was really windy. It felt like I was being pushed whenever I walked. This is the jail Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in. The jail wasn’t huge, but each room housed a lot of people. I think this because I saw how many bunk beds were in one room.

Eventually, we saw Nelson Mandela’s jail cell. He was separate from most of the other inmates. It was shocking how small the cell was. There was a mat on the floor with a pillow as a bed, and a bucket in the other corner as a bathroom. It was horrible to see the circumstances he had to live in. Despite these oppressive conditions, I think the worst part of it all is knowing you did nothing wrong and having to spend 27 years in a box. It was life changing to see what he went through to help make the world how it is today. I learned so much on this trip.

This trip was interesting because I learned a lot about Nelson Mandela. He was a brave man who helped free Africans from apartheid, a system of government that enforced segregation between races. I learnt that people should fight for their rights if they are not being treated equally to help others even if it means they have to sacrifice their freedom.

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