Amy Biehl

While we were visiting the townships in South Africa, we drove along the street where Amy Biehl was murdered in 1993. Amy was an anti-apartheid activist. She was a white woman who graduated from Stanford University and studied at the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town. She was driving one of her black friends back to their home in Guguletu when she was stoned and stabbed to death by a group of black men. Amy was only 26 years old at the time, not much older than I am now. It was impossible not to picture the very scene happening right in front of me—how afraid she must have been, and yet, how brave she had to be for even putting herself in such a situation (being a white woman in South Africa & doing the work that she did) while knowing the risks that were involved.

Hearing about Amy’s death from our cab driver was sad and moving. However, her story was particularly meaningful to us because just a few days earlier Linda Biehl, Amy’s mother, had come onto our ship and shared Amy’s story with us from her perspective. When Linda spoke about the day she found out her daughter died, I could feel my heart break—not because she cried or sounded depressed—but because I could only picture my own parents at home and how they would feel if they had to receive that phone call that Amy’s parents did on that day in 1993. But Linda made it clear that the point of her story was not Amy’s death but about what Amy’s life stood for and what happened after her death.

During her time in South Africa, Amy had expressed to her parents the situation that was going on regarding racial violence and explained the anger of the black people, particularly after one of their young leaders had just been assassinated. (I am writing this mostly from memory so I don’t know the name of the person but I believe he was thought to have the potential to be the next Nelson Mandela.) So when Amy died a short time after this, her parents knew that this issue was much bigger than Amy and they understood that it was not personal. If they chose to hate the people who killed her, they would only be contributing to the hatred that Amy spent her life trying to end. Instead, Amy’s family decided to set up a foundation in her honor that helps disadvantaged communities, particularly members of the youth, in the townships of Cape Town. Not only do they work to help the community where their daughter was killed but they have also made peace with her murderers and two of them currently work for the foundation.

I chose to share this story in my blog because it touched my heart and has continued to inspire me throughout my journey around the world. I believe that Amy’s story is the perfect example of the way that one person’s life can impact the world. However, I also believe that it holds a message that is quite the opposite. And that is that there is a love that is so much bigger than any of us human beings—a love that has the power to forgive even the most hurtful of acts, a love that transcends time and doesn’t know race… a love that is so much bigger than this planet. As I travel around the world, I get to know this love a little bit better every day. Every person I meet and story I hear brings me back to my heart and closer to this great love.