After reading the brief history of South Africa and "people of south africa," it is obvious that SA is a country rich in diversity and culture but also one with longstanding social issues. The sheer number of languages and cultural backgrounds in the country is impressive; I can't think of any countries off the top of my head with as much diversity. This is where both the country's strengths and weaknesses come from is what it seems. What's interesting to me was the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. As I was reading about that I felt like the United States should have had something similar years ago. Another thing I found interesting was reading about Reconciliation Day/the gruesome battle of blood river and the fact that it took so long to instill a memorial of the 3,000 Zulus that died.
The current event that struck me the most was the one titled "women top the agenda at the AU summit," because it's always reassuring learning about the new focus on women and women's rights around the world.
A question for the guest speaker: a very broad one, but - in general, does U.S. aid (not only monetary aid) over the years seem to benefit SA, or is it just an unwelcome intrusion that only causes more harm than good?