Crossroads Shantytown, Cape Town, South Africa, 1985

"This proud little man made me think of Mandela and his fight for the recognition of his people in an apartheid-ridden country.

Apartheid. The word still resonates like an insult in my ear. Until very recently, apartheid in South Africa was a value, the foundation of a white society that was convinced of its superiority, not only over anybody that was not white, completely white, but also over the rest of the world, which had abolished racial discrimination through the passage of laws. In those times, Mandela, the leading figure of the resistance against apartheid, was still behind bars. Bloody confrontations between blacks and white police officers were happening daily. There was no single day without riots breaking out in shantytowns. Everything in the streets emanated from injustice. As a matter of course, the South African Government had banned the presence of all reporters to prevent any stories getting out. Therefore, I introduced myself to the South African Consulate as an elephant hunter. I knew I did not fit the role but they thought I did. The anecdote is laughable when compared to the horror I discovered as I arrived."