Brenda Mashila (right) examines the place where her doll's leg used to be. Left is her cousin, Michael (7), holding a Santa Claus doll and center is Brenda's cousin, Katherine (10). Mashila and her siblings and cousins live with their mother in a rural area just outside of Johannesburg. Despite the fact that apartheid ended the year Brenda was born, her life is very much as it would have been under apartheid, with limited access to education and poor living conditions. Julia Cumes/Alexia Foundation
Today’s photo of the day comes from Julia Cumes’s 2001 student award of excellence project, “Transition from Apartheid to democracy in South Africa.”
The project looks at the lives of a variety of children from different races and socio-economic backgrounds. Looking at the project as a whole, there are two things one notices immediately.
Firstly, for many, although apartheid had ended around the time the children were born, it seems they are living a life very similar to that which they would have lived under apartheid.
Secondly, the lives of the wealthier children seem lonelier. The poorer children are nearly always with friends and family their own age. The wealthier children seem to be lucky to have a sibling with whom to play.
