I've spent quite a while trying to work out how to end this travel journal (I despise the word blog) but for sure I feel it needs some good closure. The problem for me comes from this: before I left I printed out all my entries and it came to some 22,000 words. That added to my personal journal, which estimate at about 28,000 words, means I have some 50,000 written words about my five months in South Africa.
How precisely do you write something to draw a close to so much?
I have been back a week now and naturally when people ask me how it went it's very hard to know what to say. But one tactic I like and sees to work is when people ask me for my highlights. So I figured that is what I'd do here. This will however mean I may repeat some of the things I've written about before but this time you'll know are the things that have survived the sift of time and remain strong in my mind and heart.
So first, 'what was the most fun time?'
'Um, I think I did have huge amount of fun out there and many of you have noted from the photos that get posted by myself and my friends. The only bad thing about that is that from the outside world it looks like it was a big grand holiday and was your typical student travelling venture! But for sure among the hard work was a lot of fun, and the pinacle of that was the skydive. I never thought it would happen but when it finally did it was incredible. I don't think I'll feel an adrenaline buzz that strong for a very long while!'
Second, 'what was the most challenging time?'
'I think the hardest part was living with six other people in such an intense and oftentimes tiring environment. My team were fantastic but I know more than a few of us will agree that some of the greatest challenges came from that environment. But for sure it taught me a lot about patience, about having mercies anew each morning, about putting other ahead of yourself, and for me, about what it means to truly lead. Leading is not a part-time job but rather gives a new perspective on each choice you make. The balance between team well-being and personal well-being is not one I found easy at all.'
Third, 'what was the most inspiring time?'
'I don't think anyone who has read this journal will be suprised at this answer; Robben Island. I am wearing my Robben Island t-shirt now and I cannot stress enough how challenged, focussed and inspired I was by seeing in the physical quite what many men, but one in particular, were willing to do to fight, endure and perservere for what they believed in. I cannot stress enough how obvious it is to me that if each person in the world picked one value, ethic or virtue, and gave it their all, on whatever scale or in whatever setting, the world would be transformed in an instant.'
Fourth, 'what do you miss the most?'
'Another easy answer but probably one I've not spoken about much here. While I was in SA there was a family I stayed with from time to time. They consist of Rob, Debbie, Marcel, Georgia-Mai, Ellie-Jo and Caleb. Being at their house was so much fun, all the kids are young and just had so much joy and energy. It was a God-send in terms of a getaway from the stresses of working at Gateway. There was only one goodbye that got me close to tears and that was saying goodnight to the kids for the last time I was going to see them. I don't miss anything about South Africa really, and they are the only people who perhaps qualify into that bracket!'
Fifth, 'will you be going back?'
'For sure I have the Africa bug and want to go back one day. I hope to go back and visit people within a couple of years, 2010 is looking hopeful, I hear there's some football tournament going on then...
But I think the best thing about my time there was the crystallisation of what I want to do in the future. Before I went out I was still torn between aid work and pursuing my study and work in the Psychology of work and well-being. However I never realised the two could go hand in hand. Gateway was such a large and ambitious project, focussed on serving and empowering the poor but in a intelligent and sustainable way. I would love to go back to Africa one day and help to run and organise such a project. So yeh, I think it's safe to say I'll be back there one day!'
As I finish I'm watching some BBC program searching for the UK's best choir. They are all singing 'Never Forget' by Take That. The chorus goes:
Hello again. I hope in the haitus you went to fill up your tea or get some popcorn or other stereotypical sustinence line (Incidentally, I never understood why people eat during films. I just don't see the connection. Can people not go two hours without consuming energy? It's not like sitting in a chair staring forwards could be that energy draining. I mean think about it, if you stood in front of a cinema audience and just watched them, all you'd see is a load of people sat there staring forward and making little or no movement or sound yet still being wide awake. Crazy.)
Anyways, a heads up here that a) I'm in a writing mode, and b) I'm about to write about something I'm passionate about. So this means one of two things i) what I'm about to write could potentially be very good and worth reading and ii) what I'm about to write could be very long. I'll let you judge the former and the latter is probably a given!
Ok so what I'm about to write about comes from two sources. One, just being with people around here is enough to see what drives them. Some people have no drive, some people are deeply driven but keep it deeply hidden and some people are so driven by something that it doens't only come out in their observed behaviour but also in what they say. Not that any of those are better than the others, but people here often fit the last type.
The second source is the calendar work I did. I spoke to people about how they came to work here at Gateway, why they still work here despite salaries being affectionately known as 'sacrificial salaries', and what Gateway means to them. So here goes:
#1: Z (not his real name)
Baba Z works on site as the driver, working each night in the overnight shelter and general handy guy. Before he began working here he was in prison for murdering a prison warden. However in prison he became a Christian and every day works in the shelter looking after 70 people a night. I asked him why he does it and he said in his broken English, 'because many of these people have absolutely nothing and that was exactly where I was when I came out of jail.' He now gives everything to live his life in another way and out of love.
Just thinking about Z blows me away. This is no middle-class white guy who was kinda nice and kinda good but then decided to change his life a wee bit here and there. He was in jail for murder and somehow, by his own admission through becoming a Christian, has had his heart and life flipped over and is now seeking to uplift those who have nothing. He has not forgotten where he came from but rather after being lifted out of the mire has chosen to get back into it and help out others.
#2: Edith and Rene
These young sisters (Rene is 80 and Edith just behind here) began working at Gateway AFTER retirement from a life of nursing all over Africa. Rene told me that when she was younger she had a vision to see the young look after the old and the old teach the young. However that vision laid dormant for a number of years until ten or so years ago when they came to Gateway and began their ministry known as 'Rural Home Industries'. This is basically a little programme where they link into poor communties and go in to teach them in sewing, cooking and gardening skills. Things which younger people, especially in poor areas, have no way of learning but skills that will enable them to lift themselves out of poverty.
I mean, who does that?? In our culture, you work hard all your life and then you retire and enjoy your retirement doing whatever you like. And not that there is anything wrong with that, but these guys, at 80 odd, are still doing all they can to work against poverty in Africa and keep up the work they've been doing their whole lives. Ridiculous.
#3: Michael
Michael is one of my favourite people on site actually. I don't see him often but I when I do he's always got a massive smile on his face. I know his kid from the school and he's just the same. And what is the situation of this family? Well they run the Pregnancy Crisis Centre here at Gateway and are incredibly poor and struggle for money both personally and as a project.
I spoke to Michael about why he works in his ministry and he said at first he just came in to tell people about Jesus and offer them a hope, but soon he became envisioned by a more holistic service and wanted to help the women physically as well as offer help spiritually. He soon took over the centre and the phrase he used when I spoke to him was that he wanted to 'give a voice to the unborn'. That has stuck with me ever since. What a thing to say, and what a vision to uphold! He believes so strongly in the value of mothers and unborn children that he works in very trying circumstances to try to bring relief and hope. I don't see that kind of life as natural at all.
#4: Jabu
Jabu is Chairman of Gateway and is so busy with being the public head of this place. He's always in meetings yet when you see him he's the most down to earth and humble man you'll meet. I had a long chat with him last week about various issues and ideas and he just loved listening to what I had to say and would love to keep in touch. I mean I'm sure that won't happen because he's so busy, but he was still genuine in his desire. But this is the CEO, why the heck is he genuinely interested in learning from me?
Oh and he drives 4hours a day to get in to work. He's that dedicated both to his family and to the vision and desires he has for Gateway that he will give that much for it. Crazy.
#5: John (not his real name)
John is an amazing story. This guy did not get a good start in life. He was in drugs and sexual molestation from a young age and unsuprisingly that has significant impacts on someone's mental and emotional state. However one day he, through a friend, happened to come to church and heard about Jesus and the gospel of grace and was immediately changed. He is now still affected by his past, but the real story is that he now works with his girlfriend with drug users and other inner city people. People who he used to be like and can relate to in a way no one else can. He works hard and is always helping out wherever he can. Jonno and I had the honour of working with him and he is one of the most accepting and naturally peaceful guys you'll meet. A far far cry from his children and adolescence.
#6: Mark (not his real name either)
Mark was left with his father after birth when his mother left him, and then at the age of seven saw soldiers drive into his village and shot his father dead. He then grew up mostly on the run and as he got older soldiers made not one but two attempted on his life. The second was in hospital as he lay recovering from the first attempt. Only the Red Cross got him to safety. He is now a refugee in South Africa and works as the security guard at Gateway. While in South Africa his wife died in childbirth. You'd think this would be a very angry, bitter and disillusioned man.
'Mark' is actually always smiling and whenever we see him in the mornings he will grin, clench his first and say to us 'be strong'. He calls me Baba which means 'father' and is a huge honour for me. He now leads a church of refugees and works very hard to bring them food and shelter where he can. In the midst of the outbreak of xenophobia here two months ago we saw his leadership in action and he is as wise as he is brave. He relies on his God fully and draws his joy from Jesus. That's inspirational.
#7: Lorne
Lorne is bi-polar and has spent time in a mental institute and yet here at Gateway she has found a home and a community and is so much more stable and happy. She works in DMPR and is so valuable and helpful to people here. She works so hard and brings such joy to the place and you really wouldn't know anything was amiss in her mind.
I just find is so unlikely that any other sphere or organisation would've found room for her or been able to see who she really is and her true value beyond the disability she has.
#8: Di
Di is a lady of many many years of fundraising experience and skills. She has the gift of persuasion and can talk forever and immediately be likeable to anyone she meets. She knows the ins and outs of the business world and especially the fundraising world. She trains and speaks on various topics and has a true entrepenuerial spirit. Her ideas are fantastic and she is more than capable, with her talent and contacts list, to make them happen. Put simply, this lady could be earning so so much money in the private sector as some form of consultant.
Yet she works here at Gateway on a very small salary and does pretty much a bit of everything. She works harder and is busier than almost anyone here. All because she believes in the vision of Gateway and what we are doing here to empower the poor and downtrodden.
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So as I learnt from these people it's a bit like them taking me the top of a mountain, putting a hand on my shoulder and with the other hand pointing out a beautiful vista and saying 'that's where I'm going'. For sure it makes your spirit soar, just the idea of that place inspires you to set your own sights there or somewhere similar. But that inspiration rarely gives you the drive to get there. That person can show you their map and inspire your own, but their engine stays in them. The engine that drives you has to come from within you.
I have been taken to many vistas here and now it's up to me to use my drive to get to my own.
It's just gone midnight here in South Africa and I'm likely going to be up for a while because I'm in one of those moods. I find that in my life particularly I am fueled by emotion. Thought, understanding and reason may well be my trademark to many people but in truth, and I believe this to be a truth to most people, those things are best used to set one's direction. The power behind your movement and drive must be emotion, passion and a deep desire to see your goal achieved. Tonight I am full of emotion. Right now there's a touch of sadness, joy, honour, humility, thanksgiving, regret and probably a few more, all burning inside of me, creating something like a fire that is going over the last four months, refining and showing things to be as they truly will remain.
And what crazy fool would go to bed with all that happening eh? jokes.
But yeh, there's a lot going on inside of me so I will likely be up for a while yet. I suspect I will speak to Ru and tell her about the last two days, I will catch up on some journal and prayer (the two go hand in hand very nicely), write this blog entry, plan a number of letters to write to my team and other friends here, and muse over all these things as I plan the final team devotional that I will leading in two days time. This my friends is what the heart and mind of Phil gets kicks out of!
Right, let me go finish making my cup of tea and I'll be back...
...and back. As I write I'm wearing black suit trousers, a white shirt, a black tie with the button undone but not enough to see Jonno's white t-shirt I borrow underneath. It is probably my favourite thing to wear in the whole world. I am wearing these things because tonight was our last church home group. We had a sit down meal so we got everyone to dress up. Naturally I took this as an excuse to wear my favourite clothes ever and have not yet taken them off. We just did Izzy's final devotional and all the guys were in their pjamas (how the heck do you spell that??) and there was me still looking like I could do a set in the Copa (thank you Aaron). Anyways I ramble, sorry. I am just trying to set more of a scene than I normally do in these entries.
Ok so my plan for this entry is as follows. First I will briefly summarise the last 10 days or so, something I will affectionately called the 'Wildcat leaving tour', and second I will do something I've been thinking of for a while. I want to try to give you guys a flavour of who I work with and around here so I'm going to write some testimonies and thumbnails of some people I've spoken to both on personal time and work time. I hope you will be as inspired as I have been by them, or if not that, see that I have been inspired and send yourselves or your kids out to this place one day.
So first off. I don't remember if I mentioned that we had a lot of social engagements lined up, but as of tonight we've gotten through 9 of them. It's gone so fast but they've been great.
#1: Baby sitting the best kids in the world. All hail the Ng-Yu-Tin family!
#2: Church home group. I led the evening and shared a message on the need to overcome the barriers that life puts in our way in order to have God's love and truth truly come to fruition in us. It went very well and I enjoyed it muchly.
#3: Actually turned out to be a night off because only the girls went out to our scheduled event!
#4: We went into the community and to a church there. We had traditonal Zulu food (which wasnt half as unsual or scary as we'd been warned) and then in the service I ended up doing some Zulu dancing and giving an encouragement in front of everyone. In Zulu culture there is still a sense of male protection and standing up and looking after the group so as the male leader I get looked to a lot for this kind of thing! But I enjoyed it and was yet another move to increase my comfort zone!
#5 & #6: We spent the weekend in an area known as the Drakensburg which is a national heritage site and has lots of green, mountains and hills. We went with the school we work in and with fifty 13 year olds. It was a lot of fun and it was actually a really nice last weekend here.
#7: Last church service. We went to the church we'd been to most and said goodbye to our friends there. It was very sad actually and felt like only yesterday that we'd first come.
#8: Big meal for our staff friends. We cooked for 30 staff friends and kids to say thank you for all they'd done for us. We made Lasagne becuase it's our speciality ('our' meaning Abby and Jenny's). It went so well and I go such a kick out of being a waiter. Plus I got to speak many people I have come to love so so much. And got a genuine offer of accomodation for when I come back here, which will be asap!
#9: Big mea for our cell friends. Only 15 this time and we had fajitas. However this was so very sad. I think it was the first goodbye where we won't see people again. Other goodbyes have been at times when in all likelihood we'd see people before we went. This one wasn't. When it came to goodbye I felt sick inside and I felt so close to my team because we all felt the same. One of the most amazing thing about being part of Church is the speed at which people become part of your social family, meaning people who you might not know all that well but you still value so highly and would do so much for. We'd met so many people in cell who obviously didn;'t know us, had little to gain in welcoming us, but who gave so much to us and whom we love now so so much.
Ok so that's an update. I will post this and start a new one with part two. Stay tuned. I promise it'll be worth reading.
Two weeks sure goes fast when you're not paying attention to it eh? The joyous thing about writing an online travel journal is that when you're not busy you have lots of time to write and nothing to write. When you're busy you have a lot to write and no time to do it. These last two weeks have very much been the latter so I'll try to fill you in without getting too bogged down in dull detail. As you may have noticed from my posts, I detest dull.
So the show went pretty well. pretty well being an understatement. very well is closer to the mark. the day began at 8am when we headed down to the school to help preparations for the 10am opening. To be honest I was suprised at how organised they were. You see Africa might have the heart that the West has lost, but it's not yet got any vestage of organisation or efficiency sadly. It makes life frustrating at times. Anyways, the run up to the show had been scattered with comedy fits of disorganisation and last minute rabbits out of the hat, so it's fair to say I didn't know how it'd turn out. But, like I said, at 8am on Saturday morning things seemed in pretty good shape, and it actually continued that way throughout the day...mostly.
The show itself took place at 11am and the first show was fantastico. We had it all recorded onto DVD so I'll have a copy when I get home. It includes a comedy event where I nearly face planted into the stage because the makeshift step up to the stage elected to sneeze as I glided across it. However I did manage to both stay on my feet and grin and wave at Jenny and Izzy at the back, unfortunately I forgot there were 500 people sat between me and them so they all saw my stupid wave as well. Score. They loved it. Anyway, less about me, the kids were amazing. They sung songs including Jonah Man Jazz, Twinkle Twinkle and High School Musical (oh yes), did a prodigal son adapted play, and also did some traditional Zulu singing and dancing. For sure Izzy and Jenny were delighted at the results.
However in Africa not all goes to plan, so the second show didn't go quite so well because a number of the kids were taken home after the first show and so we couldn't do much but put on a semi-capacity second show!! Oops. But hey, the first show was amazing and had the biggest crowd.
In other news, work has been slow. I've found in increasingly hard to balance working in the office at DMPR and the school. DMPR work is requiring constant and regular work sessions however with PE lessons and other school show prep it just didn't happen. So I have two or three projects that are 90% done but I just can't find sufficient time to finish them off. Muchos frustrating.
It is also fair to say that the goodbye section of our time has begun. Last time I said that one of our friends had left, these last two days two of my best friends here have left. It's been pretty sad to be honest because they were great to have around and helped out our team a lot with their experience of living here and being on Oasis team two years ago. They've been a massive part of my time here and I will miss Naomi and Ru a lot.
The other way we know we're leaving (aside from looking at a calendar) is that we're having to organise and invite people to leaving dos (that's the plural of 'do' not the Spanish number). I think we have four planned so far and also a last church and more goodbyes here and there.
A lot of people ask us how we feel about leaving and its hard to say. There are a lot of emotions going on...excitement, sadness...ok so there's only two but still, they don't get on well. I think I know where I'm going next i.e. my MSc and I know why I'm doing my MSc i.e. because I want to become skilled in the effective organising and management of people in order to use those skills in the charity/church sector (you could argue that both those things fall under the title 'kingdom building). So I feel happy that this has been a splendid step towards that but I know where my next stop is...
However, again, it would be amiss of me to finish on a low so I shall finish by talking about the fact that I jumped out of a plane 9,500 feet last weekend. Oh yes. I was strapped to a man and he was strapped to a parachute. The common name for such a feat is a skydive. Abby on our team is a qualified skydiver and has been on about us doing it here, so amongst other conditions, I would do it if she organised it. She did. Originally me and Kat were due to go but after we came back down intact, Ru, Jonno, Hannah and Izzy all went up (and down).
Its very hard to explain how it feels to fall 4000ft at 127mph. It's impossible to take it in at the time. Someone said that it doesn't really feel like you're falling but rather just being suspended in the air with the air rushing past your face. I tend to agree. I think if you did it more and more you'd take more in but your head just doesn't come to terms with the whole experience quick enough. Well mine didn't anyway. It was however, if indescribable, amazing. I wasn't actually very scared, I think partly because I'd abseiled 107m down a waterfall two months ago and that Kat was a wee bit 'tentative' about it shall we say, and in fact that calmed me down lol. The only uncomfortable bit was the speed at which my guy said 'right we're going' and ushered me into position. They move you so fast that you really don't have time to be scared. One minute you're on the edge the next your falling.
Kat had a DVD made of her fall but because I went first I am on it as well and you see me fall away from the plane. It a scary thing to see trust me. Kat said after I went was the time when she was most scared.
After we got back down we watched the other guys and watching it adds to your own experience simply because you see what you actually did. I remember watching Jonno and Ru fall and thinking 'surely now they must open the chute' but they fell and fell and fell. We actually feel for 30-35seconds but for me anyway I lost any concept of time.
It was a phenomenal experience, not sure I'd ever had the free money to do it again but for sure I'd like to. The more I look back on it, the fuller the experience becomes and you realise more colourfully what actually happened to you. Interestingly the same can be said of my time here in South Africa.
The memory of annoying everyone with my facebook countdown to coming to South Africa is still fresh in the memory so I shall skip the return gesture and simply say that its just over four weeks until I return to the UK. That's 31 days. Or 738hours 52minutes and 58seconds (as I write). Thank you iGoogle counter for that info (other internet giants are available).
So I thought I'd hit you all with an update on how things are post-holiday (interestingly, I think if you plotted one's IQ across your lifetime, you'd find that each time you use a latin pre-fix in your lexical selections, there would be a small but significant rise...). Put bluntly, IT'S ALL GOING DOWN.
We got back knowing that six weeks, while being a third of our time remaining, would be very busy and speed past faster than you can say sh-
That's fast.
And right we were. I was in the cinema last night with my cell group (we were watching a film, not hiding from the feds or anything) and my leader, who came on holiday with us, said 'it's been four weeks since we left for holiday. It doesn't feel like that'. After not so gently reminding him that it probably didn't feel like four weeks because it's only been three, I was still amazed at how quick time flies. I think one day someone will invent a plane that gets from London to Beijing in only 20mins, fueled only by time. There's a solution to fossil fuels right there. It's hard to beleive I'm not paid for these ideas.
Since we got back we've begun the run down to the musical show we're putting on the school we work in. I say 'we' are putting it on, but really Izzy and Jenny have worked like...like something that works a lot...and have taught each class (thats eight classes, 247 children aged under 13) a different song, poem or play. It's hard enough teaching kids relay races (trust me) so goodness knows how they've done this. Anyways, in the last week they've gone into overdrive and had us all helping out. This weekend we were all making costume, props and scenery.
I was PARTICULARLY proud of my free standing long grass that I designed. When I look at it I often think I should go into a grass making-related job. And then the last two nights we've (again, I've done nothing in this but sit around and watch) painted two massive backdrops, one of jonah and one of a jungle scene. And I mean massive. Like even I couldn't touch both sides if I stretched both my arms out reaaaaally wide. It's mega.
I've also been working on the 2009 Calendar I'm designing (you should all buy one) which is nearly done. As part of it I've been interviewing a lot of people about why they work here. It's been very inspiring actually. To hear the hearts and drives of people and why they work for little money and little praise to help whose around them, yet they all do very different jobs.
However the goodbyes have begun and it's beginning to dawn on me how much it's going to hurt to leave this place. One of our friends who was here over the summer leaves tomorrow and she said goodbye to us yesterday. She'd only been here 2months but she wasn't exactly overwhelmed with joy at the idea of leaving. I think I always thought that because I know what I'm going back to (my Masters) and I know I'm doing that to get back to a place like this one day, that I'd be fine with it. I don't think that anymore. It's beyond my imagination (which is quite saying something you will agree) to see how I will feel driving out of the big gates of this place for the last time.
But poor show from me to end on a bum note, the last 31 days will be fantastic. The show is on Saturday, we are finally having a meal in one of the black communities which will include some intriguing foodstuffs, we've going to a beautiful area known as the Draconsburg with the grade 6s and 7s for a weekend, there's three new Oasis volunteers coming out in August, and there's plenty of hard work and fun to be had doing PE at the school and working at DMPR!
On my recent trip to Cape Town I had the joy of visiting Robben Island (Robben meaning ‘seal’ in Dutch); the island off Cape Town that was used as a prison from the 1920s up till the end of apartheid in South Africa. It is most famous, naturally, for being the place that Nelson Mandela spent 18 years of his imprisonment in his struggle against white oppression in South Africa.
While the tour was not long, the memory of the Island will, I hope, endure throughout my life. I bought a t-shirt which depicts Robben Island as the centre of the sun, shining light out across the rest of Africa. They say that some of the greatest experiences happen not in the outside world but in the human heart and mind, and if they don’t say that then they should because I’ve just said it and believe it to be true. I certainly had a big experience on that Island.
What struck me most was the bringing to life of a story I’ve read about. In many walks of life you have to experience something to truly know about it. After being to Robben Island I feel I truly know about what Nelson Mandela and others were willing to do and go through for what they believed. From the large and unsheltered lime work quarry to the unjust and oppressive wardens, and from the small cramping cell rooms to the year after year of captivity of once in a lifetime hearts and minds; he fought daily against these things and come 1990 his passion and commitment to the fight was still strong.
The question that both laid me low and raised me up was this: after four score and ten years of life, will I be able to say I picked a battle and fought for what I believed in no matter what?
Hello friends and welcome to the first part of my three-part Cape Town blog (although there could well be a linked fourth part later on because I’m going on a game weekend tomorrow but we’ll see), this first extolling the beauty and majesty and legendary status of Cape Town.
So yeh, I just got back from Cape Town yesterday as part of our team holiday. Out of our 4months working here we have two weeks holiday built into our budget and timescale. If I’m honest I didn’t really want to go on holiday when we first arrived, mostly due to an ignorance of how tired one gets working in another culture, pretty much non-stop and with a recurring inability to say no. So when it came to leaving for the Cape I was more than looking forward to it.
We had decided on Cape Town a while back and although there was quite a lot of stress in booking things thanks to us not having a credit card blah blah blah, we booked 9 nights stay at a backpackers in the middle of Cape Town and boarded our Mango flight. That is, a low cost airliner called Mango. After all, mangoes themselves are yet to evolve the ability to fly.
After a two hour flight from Durban we arrived into Cape Town at 23.30 and in comedy fashion upon arrival there were some people sleeping in our room and were promptly asked to move. We chuckled to ourselves as these two accommodatory misfits (see how the italics long word and unusual consonant combinations make it look like an original Latin word) were shown the correct room and new sheets etc. placed onto our bedding arenas.
In the morning we discovered the marvel of walking. You see when you’ve lived on a prison site for 2months and not been allowed to walk anywhere outside due to safety reasons, walking is no longer a lengthy chore but rather an extended blessing; sort of like what the hand written letter now is when held in the same light as the e-mail. We probably walked for 30mins up to an area known as the Waterfront. We would go on to spend a lot of evenings here. We did however nearly die on the way due to a potent combination of the ridiculously short length of the green man on the crossings, the six lane traffic and the frankly moronic traffic ruling that cars can turn into streets even when there is a green man and people are crossing. You’d think they had overpopulation issues or something.
Anyways, the next nine days were glorious in all but weather, and here are the highlights. Read it as a travel guide, an open journal or just don’t read it. The choice is yours.
Highlight #1: TableMountain
I don’t think I can stress this enough. TableMountain is a-maz-ing. Since we began talking about holiday, Kat insisted she was desperate to get up TableMountain. I didn’t really know why and wasn’t that bothered but by golly was it worth it. I think I’d go to Cape Town just to be up there again.
We went up on the first full day there. Thankfully that day was sunny and clear (and trust me that was a real ‘thankfully’, we never again saw Table Mountain fully due to the cloud and rain in the other eight days). We only decided to head up about 3pm and so there was no time to hike it and we got the cable car up.
There is little point in my trying to describe the views and experience of being up there so I won’t. Just look at these photos and know that if you ever go to Cape Town, go up TableMountain because it’s phenomenal.
Highlight #2: Cape Point
Commonly held as the meeting of the two oceans and the most southerly point of Africa (both of which are factually erroneous), Cape Point is the base of the CapePeninsula and a beautiful place to go. We took a tour bus down from Cape Town and it was a lot of fun.
We first went on a little boat ride to SealIsland (clue is in the title) and saw hundreds of seals just hanging out on a large rock area or floating in the water. It’s pretty funny because apparently they have a concentration of blood vessels in their flippers hence why they were lying upside down in the water with their flippers in the air to warm up. They look a lot like dead flies. Only larger obviously. And without wings.
We then stopped at a Penguin Colony on the way which was worthwhile if not a bit dull. In the words of Jenny, ‘they smell and they all look the same, it’s a good job they’re cute’. I wonder if penguins could say the same thing about us.
We then headed to the main reception of the Cape Point nature reserve and had a picnic lunch and then used bikes to cycle around to the Cape of Good Hope. If anyone’s has seen the music video to ‘love generation’ with the little kid cycling through loads of beautiful places, then it was just like that. Jonno and I headed to the front of the group and soon managed to lose everyone entirely. However it was just so much fun cycling by the coast on these massive open roads with big turns and long straights. We also played the waving game where you get points for getting people in passing cars to wave back at you. Jonno won 4-2 (I did also nearly fall off my bike trying to regain ground on him). On our journey we also saw a Porcupine and some Ostriches. I think that 30mins or so was some of my best time in Cape Town.
After the cycle we then hiked from Cape of Good Hope (which is the most South Easterly point in Africa) over the mountain to Cape Point. It was a lot of climbing at times and it did decide to rain on us during the walk, but it was enjoyable nonetheless and the views were once again awesome.
At Cape Point we went to see the lighthouse although it was raining a lot then and wasn’t much fun. We did however see a Japanese tourist wearing oven gloves as standard hand warming utensils. We showed our cultural sensitivity by laughing and trying to take a photo. Sadly we failed because he hid from the rain and ran away.
On the way back we stopped off at an Ostrich farm and they ate seed from our hands. They are crazy animals.
All in all it was a very informative, enjoyable and fantastic sight-seeing day. Thoroughly recommended by myself.
Highlight #3: RobbenIsland
We were very fortunate to get to RobbenIsland on more than one count; three counts in fact. Firstly was that when we arrived on the Waterfront on the first day we happened to walk past the ticket office and saw that they were booked up until our last day so we made the decision to buy there and then. A good decision. However had we walked another route, we probably wouldn’t have gotten les billets (that’s French of ‘the tickets’ FYI).
Second the weather was not good in Cape Town while we were there. I have never seen that much rain in my life. It literally poured with rain for at least a few hours each day. This meant that we heard some RobbenIsland tours were canceled due to unsafe sea voyage. Gratefully ours was not and the weather held for that morning we went (it did however tip it down again in the afternoon).
Third was that I didn’t read the ticket and the taxi was late. We were meant to be at the quay 30mins before leaving time (11am) and I booked the taxi for 10.30am because it was only a 5min journey. However the taxi did not come until 10.45ish and at that point, when looking for the refund policy, I read the 30mins thing. Oops. So we told the taxi man and responded as all responsible taxi drivers should. He ran three orange lights and a red light and we got there with an ample 6mins to spare. And the whole 30mins thing was obviously just a fragrant and blatant lie to get people there early and avoid last minute passengers. Didn’t work on me BECAUSE I DIDN’T READ IT. HA.
So yeh, we headed to RobbenIsland on our worthy sea vessel, the ‘Sea Princess’. There was however nothing princess-like about our jerky, rainy and uncomfortable 25mins ride. There was a few cases of ‘vomit-ahoy’ among the hundred or so passengers. But we did arrive in one piece and got on a coach which took us around the island.
The island is actually quite big; much bigger than I expected. I think the man said it’d take about an hour to walk around. We went to the lime quarry where Nelson Mandela and the other political prisoners worked a lot, and to the other prison areas that people were held in. It was strange for me because I’d read A Long Walk to Freedom (Mandela’s autobiography) before I came out so this was putting colour and shape to stories I’d read.
We then went into the prison block that Mandela and the other high-risk political prisoners were kept in. We were taken round by a guy who had spent 7 years captive in there. It definitely added a lot to what he was saying. He told us all about the living conditions and daily life. We saw Mandela’s cell which although was obviously just now a clean and empty cell, you knew in that moment you were looking deep into a long enduring twenty-six year battle between oppression and freedom (there’s a nice bit of rhetoric for you, but you see what I mean).
It wasn’t a long tour of the Island, but was definitely worth every Rand spent.
Highlight #4: Restaurants
One thing I definitely learned off my parents in family holidays is that it pays to go cheap with lunch and breakfast and then eat out really well in the evenings. Thanks to the exchange rate ‘really well’ eating turned into ‘first class’. I think we had three big meals out, one for Izzy’s birthday, one for Jenny’s birthday and one for our last evening in Cape Town. In those meals I had two of the best steaks in the history of the world (it was the same restaurant so I know it wasn’t a one off!) and I ate crocodile. Oh yes. I wasn’t sure whether to have it but I thought it’d make a good story one day…
‘What’s the weirdest thing you ever ate?’
‘I ate crocodile in South Africa’
‘Wow, South Africa, what were you doing there?’
‘Well...’
Genius I am.
The places we ate in were the nicest restaurants I’ve ever eaten in. We looked totally out of place and it was great. I don’t think anyone has eaten better food, or probably ever will, than we ate in Cape Town.
So there are my four highlights; TableMountain, Cape Point, RobbenIsland and Restaurants. Other things we did do included the Castle of Good Hope (which is actually a fort, much to our annoyance), go on an open top city tour bus (it rained), go to the Aquarium (not as good as London's aquarium Megan!) and had a windy day on the beach rock scrambling.
It was a fantastic time and one of the best holidays ever, certainly in recent times. Cape Town is for my part and from my experience, the most beautiful city in the world, for sure.
I realised that I don't often write about the realities and day-on-day activities of what I do here (mostly because it's pretty much the same all the time and would be incredulously dull) but yesterday something very real happened.
It began a pretty normal, and in fact, wonderful Saturday morning. I was awoken by my boss on our day off at 8.30am (thanks Di) who had panicked about something the night before. Annoyingly the thing she was panicking about was neither necessary nor was it even about me. It was about Jonno. So while Jonno slept serenely across the room, I was awake on my only lie-in day.
However I thought I'd make the most of time alone so headed off to the internet room to finish my tala blog entry and begin writing another piece on my other blog. After a couple of hours there was a build of people on the site, but I didn't think much of it because Pastor Samson often has gatherings of his refugee church on site on a Saturday. About an hour or so later, Jonno walks in and says that Samson has told him that 900 refugees are expected today because they're giving out food.
About 12 midday I head out to find some breakfast / lunch and there is a LOT of people there. And I feel somewhat convicted that I am walking through them all with my nice-ish clothes (they weren't especially but still nicer than theirs), ipod and mobile phone, and having just sat in a comfy room for 3hours on the internet. So I went to find Samson to see if he needed any help. He said he did. So I was like 'oh ok, I'll just go shower and eat something quick then I'll come help'.
I went off to shower thinking that this would be just like the other feeding scheme I do. It would be very simple and everyone would be polite and we'd all clap our hands and sing happy songs etc. etc. Oh how wrong was I.
I wandered back and found Jonno already there. He'd obviously asked Samson to help independantly of me. I was ushered through the crowd of Africans and into the middle section with the mountain of beans and maize. By the time I'd got there Samson had already got 900 people silent to pray, something Jonno says was a sight to see, and seperated them all into their respective nations. It seems relatively civil when I arrived and I set about opening up all the packets and sorting them for the people handing them out. Each person was allowed one bag of beans and one pack of maize. They were supposed to wait for their names to be called. Sounds very organised, no?
I think it took maybe 10 minutes for the first fighting to break out. And then it pretty much repeated every 20mins or so. Unfortunately it is fair to say that it was most the Zimbabweans who were being so disruptive. I was working on the South African line and Jonno the Zimbabweans. I know Jonno on more than one occasion genuinely feared for himself because being surrounded by big, hungry and angry African men is not the best place to be.
One more than one occasion Samson had to stop the food giving to try to get everyone to stop fighting and sort themselves out. Unfortunately this usually came when the people stormed the tables and began to try to steal the food in whatever quantity they could get.
I can't explain to you how it feels to be sat on a large pile of food and surrounded by hundreds of people who are desperate and who don't want to line up and wait their turn. It wasn't so much fear for me - I actually really enjoyed getting involved and stopping fights starting - but rather disbelief and dismay.
There were three things I think that struck me most, and when I say struck, I guess I mean it in the damaging sense.
First, and something Jonno said to me, was the transformation of the news from abstract to reality. Both in the UK and over here there is a lot of talk about what is going on in Zimbabwe and all the refugees. At one point when Jonno and I were sat in the internet room and he was reading on BBC News about the refugee situation in SA. He goes 'I'm just reading about the refugees and I look out the window and there they are'. He was so right.
Second was the xenophobia. If you hadn't known, there is a lot of xenophobia over here at the moment. It's not as bad as it was a few weeks back but its still there.
I suppose I neither understood why this would happen nor thought it would ever happen near me. I didn't understand how you could turn on someone just because they are from another country. Especially if they've fled their country for fear of their lives. Once again I was wrong.
Samson had asked me to bring my camera so that I could take photos for him. However this turned out to be a poisoned chalice. Each time the Zimbabweans stormed their food area, the South Africans would cry out and shout anger at them, and these three guys would say to me 'take a photo, take a photo! Look what the Zimbabweans are doing!' They also said 'Zenophobia is going to break out soon'. Thankfully nothing actually did, but I could very much now see how it happens. That article I linked says that a lot of it is due to scare resources and I can very much vouch for that. As the food went down, the anger and tension rose. And as the tension rose, people first looked to blame and fight groups of others i.e. other nationalities, and towards the end they just blame and fight anyone who isn't them. It was pretty depressing really, while at the same time very understandable. Desperation leads to poor judgement in all walks of life, hunger must be one of the worst.
The final thing was just this cavernous contrast between the peace, good fight and love within Samson who was trying to serve and help all these people, and the war, violence and hate that was being handed back by the people gathered. I don't quite know how Samson keeps going when people are trying to cheat and steal whatever they can. It's not that I can criticising the people. I am sure that if I was in that situation i would do precisely the same. And I mean that. I was just completely dismayed by the depths of corruption within the human heart. These people are just like you and me, except that their situations are a million miles away from ours.
I said to Jonno, why is it that when desperation and need sets in, the human heart turns straight to selfishness, and to the point of violence and stealing? Few times before have I more seen the need for a new human heart.
I would however like to include a more positive note and say that I am well aware that there is hope. There was one guy who was there all day, waiting patiently, helping out stop fights, taking things back off people who had stolen and giving it back to us. He constantly encouraged us and prayed, looking to help out wherever. Towards the end he had not actually got any food, but all he said was this, 'It's better to be a beggar than a thief'.
Right at the end there was enough left over from the staffs materials to give him food.
In the Bible the Pslamist prays 'Create in me a clean heart, O God'. Until I can say 'it's better to be a beggar than a thief' in the face of life threatening need, I will sure be praying that prayer over and over.
Ok so before you jump on the spelling error bandwagon (or the SEB as I like to call it in my freetime), I did not misspell cities but did indeed mean citis aka Citi Golf. This is a fine tale involving a Citi Golf and an Audi Saloon (not sure which kind because the number after the A had fallen off. Classic.) hence the ‘nearly’ title. It happened a few weeks back.
If you’re sitting carefully then I shall begin…(and if you’re standing then gee, sit down because you’re looking like a muppet standing which at a computer AND you’re probably hurting your back. Physical and emotional pain there. Double whammy.)
*note: timings given are inaccurate because I wasn’t looking at my watch much but I promise the facts are correct*
11.07: It was a splendid Saturday morning when Phil set off for a trip to Tala Game Park with his venerable friends Kylie, Izzle, Hannah, Kat, Ru, Naomi, Jules, Jenny, Abby, Ellie-Jo and Caleb (note the male-female ratio. The only other dude was 4. I love you Caleb). So they trundled down the motorway (FYI: called the N3)
11.32: Arrived a short 25mins later. After having quite enough estrogen for one journey, Caleb and I were both out of our respective cars and heading towards the braai (South African for BBQ – I’ll hit you up with some more of those translations another time, they’re comedy) area and rock pool (a pool shaped like a rock, nothing exciting). We soon connected through our testosterone and without saying a word Caleb hid behind a large rock (large meaning taller than mine, it came up to my knees. Role reversal would’ve been tough) while I told the girls I’d lost Caleb. Turns out women don’t find that all that funny. What was funny however was the shock on Hannah’s face when Caleb jumped out. Caleb and I bonded in that moment. Amen.
11.45: People begin to get into the pool shortly followed by screams of agony akin to death by fire. Only this was perceived death by cold. Some South African’s remarked ‘you must be British, no South African would get in there.’ Some pansies did get in with wet suits but by and large that man was correct. I had not planned to go in the pool because I was wearing my contacts and therefore also did not bring a towel. Unfortunately my easily baited instinct took over and I was soon in the pool. It was cold. After about 10mins you got too numb to feel a thing and at that point the experience resembled something close to enjoyable. I think at one point it even touched the line between enjoyable and ‘kill me now’.
12.11: Turns out it’s a bad idea to stand around in cold soaking wet swim shorts and ‘dry in the sun’. Note to self: bring towel.
12:46: Braai time. Great stuff. Meat. Fire. Tongs. Genesis 1.
14:00: Time to take to the game trail. Our intrepid explorers pile in the two cars. Phil, Kat, Izzle, Hannah and Kylie get into the Citi Golf. The other pile into the Audi.
14:06: Eagle-eyed Phil exclaims as he spots the first Springbok. Turns out it was not an antelope-related-animal but rather a bush VERY CLOSELY RESEMBLING ONE.
14:24: Citi Golf begins to struggle on the dirt tracks. Audi cruising.
14:28: We spot a lion king tree. ‘Now we’re in Africa’ remarks someone, they’ll probably go on to fail they’re degree.
14.34: As Citi Golf finds it harder and harder to overcome the tracks that are best described as ‘rural’, the Audi takes a left down a negative incline.
14.36: After two minutes deliberation and peering, Citi Golf travelers elect to part ways with the Audi and take another route. Wisdom.
14.41: Citi Golf travelers fail to see much game. The odd Springbok appears (and actually was an antelope-related-animal this time) but then runs back into the bush. Resulting photos look more like an animal version of ‘Where’s Wally’ than actually game photos. They wonder how the Audi is getting on with the animal hunting.
14.52: Citi Golf gets entirely lost. The map we were given is rubbish and look more like Mr. Messy (from Mr. Men fame) than a device for geographical knowledge transfer. We soon find a small hut and what appears to be a large rangers’ car. Aside from it blocking our path, we delight in maybe finding someone who knows where we are. After a quick realization that none of the girls are going to ask him, Phil climbs out of the ride and goes to find him.
14.56: Phil makes a glorious return clutching his map in his right paw. He feels he now knows how Prime Minister Chamberlain felt when he stepped off that plane with the piece of paper saying Hitler wouldn’t start a war.
14.57: Armed with the map that now included expert opinion on where all the big animals were and our present location. The Citi Golf sets off at a pathetic pace to hunt the game.
15.03: En route, the Citi Golf team wonders how many animals the Audi has found in the time they were lost.
15.23: Animals ahoy! Up ahead the Citi Golf spies a herd of Buffalo. Expertly Phil feels like David Attenborough himself as he spots what he thinks is a Giraffe up in the hills. However after realizing that Giraffes don’t walk like that nor does his ‘Giraffe’ have a long neck (thanks Hannah for that info) they realize it’s actually just a Springbok.
15.24: Oh how the mockers are mocked. Phil’s erroneous but beady eyed observation leads Kat to notice a large slowing moving grey object to the right of the ‘Giraffe. Said large slowing moving grey object to the right of the ‘Giraffe turns out to be none other than a Rhino, and its child.
15.25: Kat lives up to her name as she begins to have kittens over seeing the Rhino. ‘I’ve seen the big five’ she chants mercilessly as if her entry to heaven depended on it. What Kat was referring to is the so called ‘Big Five’ animals in Africa; the Elephant, the Leopard, the Buffalo, the Lion and the Rhino. In Kenya Kat had seen the other four. It’s almost hard to believe the fifth was now not running away at its top speed of 60mph at the shrieking Kat was now exuding.
15.26: I previously have talked about how much a like the word juxtaposition. I get to use it again here. A large metaphorical brick with JUXTAPOSITION hits me in the kidneys. Ouch. A phonecall from the Audi. Turns out that they had gotten stuck on the road they had turned down, the same road we had declined. They had been stuck for a while so had called out the emergency park guys. Naomi, who rang me, sounded somewhat panicky. In a mix of confidence in her and ignorance of the true severity of the situation, I told her it would be fine and she could do whatever was required to cope with the situation.
15.27: Upon hanging up, I attempted to inform the guys of the Audi’s predicament and their request for prayer. It’s safe to say my message was lost in light of the Buffalo and Rhinos.
15.32: We pull up towards the Buffalo and stop. Many photos are taken. Buffalo comes with 2m of my open door window. Man was it ugly. I would not marry one of those. It was however quite humbling to know it could take me even if I formed a tag team with a locked Citi Golf door.
15.37: We edge towards the Rhino who was, along with its baby, coming closer to the road. Kat is suddenly a lot quieter as we come within 10m of the beast (I mean that in a respectful way. Kind of like how Duncan Bourne is a beast among men). I feel very safe in my Citi Golf. Only later would I found out that only last week that Rhino ran at and turned over a Citi Golf. Turns out they can get to 60mph in just 6 strides. Good job I didn’t know that really.
15.45: I check on the Audi. The emergency people had just arrived. Audi team feeling a lot safer.
15.57: Citi Golf team is on the trail of the actual Giraffes. Armed with the whole long neck info, Phil feels a lot more confident of finding them.
16.06: Phil checks on the Audi. The sun is beginning to set and the emergency guys can’t get the Audi out. Tension rises.
16.10: Citi team finds a wedding. Phil thinks he sees a giraffes. Hannah says that just a dude with a long neck. Phil learns more.
16.13: Kylie spots a hidden path that might lead to the giraffe area. The adventurers trek on.
16.24: Citi team are a bit too full of animal excitement and take a few roads they shouldn’t have. Only God knows how we got up and down some of those hills.
16.28: Wild boar frolic in the long grass. Pumba was a lot cooler. No giraffe.
16.35: Update from Audi team. Car still stuck. Trying new ways of getting it out. Darkness on its way.
16.42: Citi team see Giraffe! Five of them! They are about 20m away in the trees eating leaves. Quality animals. The pictures were right, if they stood with legs apart all you’d need is a good quality blanket and you’d have a great tent. Bear Gryllis and Ray Mears combined couldn’t think of this stuff.
16.46: Citi Golf in trouble. We pick a bad path to go down. A large rock smacks against the underbelly of the car. Oops.
16.48: It’s not looking good as the path gets worse and worse. In comedy fashion some fat ranger-tourist-4x4-carrier-thing comes the other way. He tells us not to go down there. So we do a genius three point turn in the middle of a bush. In absolute comedy, the tourists in the 4x4 monster chuckle and take photos of us. I kid you not.
16.54: Audi update. Audi still not out. Sunset upon us. As the Citi team take amazing photos of the sunset, the Audi team see are still pretty much the same place as the two cars parted ways some two hours ago.
17.01: Citi team head back to the entry gate expecting the Audi to be out soon. They spot some Zebras on the way back, however the Zebras soon run away so if you want any photos of a Zebras butt give me a shout.
17.10: Citi arrives back at base. Rings Audi. Audi is still not out and they’ve called out another car, this time a bigger Land Cruiser. Dusk has fallen. Tension is high. Phil stands out of the car in the hope that the Land Cruiser rides past and he can get a lift to be with the others. Sadly upon seeing headlights it is just the same 4x4 thing they saw earlier. This time the tourists laugh at the Audi situation. This time it was not funny.
17.11: The Citi team re-enter the park to park by the Hippo pond.
17.23: Hippo watching is not so much fun. They tend to sit below the surface a lot. Not especially photographable.
17.24: Audi still not out but big car has arrived. Darkness now envelopes.
17.30: Citi team wait by the gate. Blankets come out of boot to keep warm. Audi team finding things hard again. Much prayer.
17.31: A quality game of ‘one day I went to the beach and brought an apple, a ball, a c…’ ensues in the Citi. Also we ask to use the gate man’s toilet and we find he is drunk. Confidence inspiring. And then Hannah falls into a pothole on the way back from toilet and can’t walk her ankle.
17.44: Audi team report that they are out and on their way back. Amazingly the Audi is drivable and largely unscathed. They arrive back at base to much jubilation and huggage. They tell us what actually happened.
The Audi had taken a path with took a very steep downward and angular turn. The everyone but the driver got out. The car began to slip down the hill. Thankfully it did not lose all control. The guys who got out looked on in horror. The Audi then got totally stuck in a large hole later on could not get any grip. When the emergency guys arrived Jenny asked ‘I bet a lot of people get stuck here’. The man simply replied, ‘no, people die here.’ Turns out that four rangers (that’s people in 4x4s who know the park) had died down that path, known as Devil’s Neck, by losing control and flipping their cars down it. A number of tourists have also died and been injured.
The guys could not explain how their loaded Audi Saloon survived that road and nor could the rangers. Call it luck, call it providence, call it what you want. It was outrageously improbable to have no damage to either the people or the car.
How are you all? I don't really know why I'm asking that but it seemed like a good idea at the time. 'The time' being 3 seconds ago. People often say that communication is a two-way process, those people didn't account for travel blogs. Idiots.
Anyways, it's been about 11 days since I last wrote to you fine people and it would be very dramatic to say that it's felt like either 11 minutes or 11 months but I'll be honest. It feels like 11 days ago. Time is a funny thing. Deja vu.
So what have I been up to? Well quite a bit actually. I said before that my boss in admin had been away so not much happened here (as if anything ever happens in admin. Admin is just a synonym for steady as she goes. I prefer 'admin' as a phrase because whenever I say 'steady as she goes' I feel like I should have an eye patch and say 'Arrrrr' after it) however the school was all systems go. We had a special founder's assembly at the school because Pastor Jabu (the head honcho of Gateway) felt very strongly that we needed to be remembering our founding fathers at the present time. So they had a set of awards made and invited a lot of old principals and teachers along and honoured them. It was a very impacting time simply because although we 'knew' the school had begun with nothing, when we saw the tears of happiness in some of the original teachers' eyes, it was only then we truly knew. I will get some photos of the school in due course, either on this or on facebook, but suffice to say it's very impressive considering it came from nothing and has had no major financial backing. Some people call that good work. Others call it God work.
You see, crazy ass stuff isn't that crazy here. In the last few weeks the following three things have happened:
1. Mama Dorah's Comrades Ticket. This thing is entirely non-understandable and I still don't know what happened and what the outcome is going to be. Anyways, there is this Zulu lady who lives on site with us called Mama Dorah (all Zulu ladies of ripe age are called Mama) and every year she runs the Comrades Marathon. However 'marathon' is a deceptive term. This is no London marathon. This is a double marathon. 50 miles. Between Durban and Pietermaritzburg. It's insane. And of course during the day it will likely hit 25degrees here and clear skies aka hot weather for running. I suspect you are imagining Mama Dorah as a slim twenty something. Nope. She's between over 40, pretty short and pretty wide. Anyways, Comrades is her life. And last week she got a call from the Comrades people saying they didn't have her qualification details. Oh dear. I've never seen her not smile until now. She was proper devastated. Like seriously, you can tell from other people's faces how upset someone truly is. She was upset. So Lorne, another lady who works in admin, asked Jonno andto investigate and so we did. I personally spoke to her club manager to told me she had run the qualifying race but not in the qualifying time. I asked if there was anything we could do. He said no. I put the phone down. Not good. I told Lorne and she told Dorah. Dorah was evenmore devastated than before. There was genuinely an awful mood over the admin block that afternoon.
Cut to two days later. Mama Dorah comes towards me waving some post and grinning. I assume it's some amazing mail for me from my amazing friends (hint hint). She showed it me and I didn't have a clue what it was. Someone with more braincells than me pointed out that it was her details for her entry to the Comrades Marathon; start time, jersey number, starting place, the works. Makes no sense at all.
2. School fundraising. I said already about this assembly that the school did. Anyways they also mentioned that they are looking to raise R100,000 (about 6 thousand pounds) for a sports field for the kids but didn't actually ask for it. The assembly was about honouring those who had built the place. But by the end of the assembly the school had two thirds of it, from only two sources. One was a R50,000 donation. That's insane. That's a LOT of money in this country. Much more than the 3000pounds it equates to.
3. The Community Care House. This one is particularly crazy. Basically a project that use to be under the Gateway ownership is going solo because it's gotten so big, and they need to move buildings. So these two guys went out to look, seperately and unbeknowns to each other, and ended up at the same house at the same time. But when they spoke to the lady selling the house, she said there were already two bids in above and beyond what these guys could offer. However she then asked what is was for and they said a church-based care project. She then testified that that morning she had felt God saying it would be a good day and she sold it to the two guys then and there for way under the bids already lodged. It's just non-sensical this stuff.
This place continues to amaze me. I have just finished this fundraising course my boss in admin was running and it's been a massive eye opener. This place, although very much Christian-centred, isn't a poverty-pleading and poorly thought out venture. This project has so much fundraising going on as such a high standard. We have a UK trust that gathers UK donations and we call it over in lumps so to avoid international charges, we have a crafts business that sells in New York and Europe to generate income, and are about to launch a massive tourism initiative that will turn our site, while we still work in it, into a tourist location. From that we are already on a publicised 'freedom route' which includes attractions of both Nelson Mandela and Ghandi (the latter being rumoured to have stayed in our very prison block). They may be Christian here and focused on aid and community development but we certainly do things to a very high standard of work!
Interestingly I asked Pastor Jabu (the head man) about the relationship between trusting God in and for all things, often a nice Christian catch phrase and excuse for laziness, and working hard at the practicalities of, say, fundraising. He told me that we write proposals for funding as if God doesn't exist and then send them off as if we didn't make any effort! He went a bit further and cited an example of Jesus back in the day. In the classic Jesus turning water into wine incident, Jabu said that Jesus didn't do it all himself. He asked the people to fill the jars with water, then Jesus did his bit i.e. we do what Jesus asks and then he (may or may not) do his bit. It's a very interesting balance to me, but I do beleive both in good quality hard work, and an ultimate trust in God and his promises. I plan to ask many more people the same question before I leave here!
In other news, I have just finished writing a newsletter for Project Gateway. It was a good learning experience for me. I worked out that in a month, we impact, through all our projects, over 17,000 people. That's 200,000ish a year, and nearly 2million since we began in 1992ish. And that's not including the 2million fed in a feeding programme that ended a few years back.
4million people in 15 years. And this place isn't done yet. It's growing and becoming self-sustaining (we hope!). This is no small fry. This is ambitious work. Ambitious work in developing the community to not just comfort the poor, but to develop people and communities and remove poverty altogether in Pietermaritzburg. This place is so me.
p.s. (and in saying this I am breaking my cardinal rule of writing i.e. when you've built a rhetoric, don't ruin it by changing tone. Oh well. My rule breaking will be very ironic when you read what I'm about to write) anyone who reads my blogs can probably see I love to write and people say I am good at it. About five years ago my dream job became a speechwriter (thank you Sam Seaborn, Toby Ziegler and Aaron Sorkin) and I have grown in my love for writing ever since. Today I finished writing that newsletter I mentioned and Pastor Jabu (the head of this place, you should know that by now) was so impressed that he's asked me to be his personal writer for all this letters and memos and important messages. I can't tell you how excited I am.
It’s been a while since I last updated this shindig so apologies for that but at the same time I don’t feel like much time has passed. Time is a funny thing. Not funny haha, but funny as in ‘it confuses me’. I wonder why we have come to use the word ‘funny’ to describe stuff that confuses us. Last time I checked confusion was pretty annoying. Anyways.
What have I been up to in the last two weeks or so? Well quite a lot now I think about it. Work-wise things are ticking over. My boss Di went away to England. That was pretty surreal. The goodbye conversation went something like ‘have a great time Di, send me a postcard…of where I…err…live…yeh…’ Although one of the weirdest things so far out here is how not far away we feel. I remember at the airport we all talked about when it’d ‘feel’ like Africa and nearly 7000miles away, but six weeks in and I still don’t ‘feel’ like I’m in Africa. It’s strange how big inventions like planes and the internet make big things like the world seem so small. Big + big = small. But back to my original point, yeh Di has been away for a week now and as she basically runs the whole DMPR department there’s not been a lot going on. We’ve got bits and pieces of work to be getting on with but nothing major really. It’s pretty frustrating to be honest.
When we came here a lot of people told us how great it is to have volunteer teams because we were so much more skilled through the UK education system and such like and we could do so much, but so far I think everyone feels like we’re doing bits and pieces, and a lot of it is proactive on our parts. African working life is very much slower than Western life which is nice in some ways, but more frustrating in others. I guess I’m used to the fast paced office style I worked in at the Met Police and that sort of environment brings the best out of me efficiency-wise. It’s hard when you are given a work style that you know is not making you be the best you can. When you know you’re only somewhere for a limited time yet can’t get out of 3rd gear. I think I’m still very much in that Western thinking of things things things. I mentioned before that we’re told it’s people people people here, and I am aware that we are all a massive encouragement to those around us. We get a lot of thanks and praise for the work we do, but if anything that makes me feel worse because I know I’m not working to my full capacity. So yeh, it’s fair to say work is frustrating at times. I hope it will pick up and I trust it’s heading that way as we get into it more but it’d be no fun if I didn’t talk about the journey would it?
Other work is much more fun though. P.E. is going from strength to strength, indeed last Thursday Jonno and I managed to see a record broken in our Grade 2 class. Unfortunately it was a record for most sets of tears. I think we had 8 sets, and two sets of blood, and I had to send to kids to the side to sit out for kicking other kids. I would quickly like to point out that neither me nor Jonno were the cause of any tears (and for that matter I do have my CRB so don’t go calling no police on my ass) but instead we had a variety of pushing, kicking, punching, falling over and more pushing that caused the incidents. On the plus side, kids would save a lot of money in court cases. I think if our kids went to court it’d go a bit like this:
Judge: ‘Today’s court case is kid 1 vs. kid 2' (ok so I don’t remember what judges say but I can’t be bothered to look it up. Just imagine I got it right). Prosecution Attorney (PA): ‘I call the defendant to the stand’ Kid 1 walks to stand, crying, snotty nose, and probably falls over again on the way and cries some more PA: ‘Please tell the court what happened’ Kid 1: (in a quiet voice while looking at the floor) ‘he pushed me’ PA: ‘Small child, is the child who pushed you in court today?’ Kid 1: (nods) PA: ‘Please point out to the jury who pushed you’ Kid 1: (looks confused) PA: ‘go on, tell the friendly jury who pushed you’ Kid 1: (points to Kid 2. Audible shock sound arises from likely packed courtroom*) PA: No more your honour. I would now like to call Kid 2 to the stand. Kid 2 walks up sheepishly. PA: Did you or did you push Kid 1? Kid 2: ‘I said sorr-’ PA: ‘ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION!’ Defense Attorney: ‘Objection your honour. Clear intimidation of the witness’ Judge: ‘Sustained’ PA: ‘Sorry your honour. Kid 2, did you or did you not push Kid 1?’ Kid 2: ‘Yes’ PA: ‘I rest my case’ Judge: ‘Well in that case I find the defendant guilty. Would the defendant please go and stand in the corner for 5mins?’ Kid 2: ‘Ok’ and walks off. Outside the courtroom, associated press gather around the defendant, Kid 2. Press: ‘Will you be appealing the decision?’ Kid 2: ‘No.’
(* Can I just say, I so don’t understand it when this actually happens in court. Surely everyone in the court realizes that the defendant is the one who is being taken to court for the crime so why is it a shock when he or she is pointed at??? It’s not like it’s a flippin’ murder mystery court room party! Now if the person pointed to the judge, THAT’D be funny…funny haha this time)
Point is that children are amazing at just admitting they’ve done wrong and accepting their consequence! It’s great! Makes it a lot easier! Interestingly we had a very unfortunate and horrible incident with a gentleman on site last week which led to him being asked to leave his temporary accommodation on site. On that occasion he most definitely did not admit to doing any wrong or happily accept his consequence. I am going to choose not to expand on that event for sensitivity reasons, but nonetheless clearly we teach kids morality well and then something goes wrong.
We also did an assembly last week which was pure comedy through and through. We were given the title of Peace and free reign to plan a 20minute assembly. We’d been told 3 weeks ago but still by the night before we’d barely sorted any of it! Mental note: seven people do not an effective planning committee make. So we wrote this drama which was good in principle and awful in execution. It involved five of us resolving various disagreements through methods that would oh-so-handily spell out the word PEACE later on in the assembly. It was comedy writing it but when we practiced it in the car park (can I just say, South African’s apparently have no respect whatsoever between cars and pedestrians in either direction. When we were practicing our drama in the car park, this guy literally just drove into us and didn’t even flinch. Then today we were leaving to go food shopping and there was a bunch of people standing in the car park but none of them moved in the slightest when we tried to get out. Even during the 13th phase of our 17 point turn they just stood there and stared at us, standing slap bang in the way, and then two guys just walked straight past the back of the car when we were reversing, then when we finally made a space to get out, this girl moves out wider and was in the way again! Such a joke! End of rant.) this girl shouts ‘you doing assembly tomorrow? Well good luck, you’re gonna need it’ Excellent. That is precisely what you want to hear on the eve of performing to 247 kids. Anyways, we shambled (I just made that word up but it seems to fit nicely) it together and went to bed feeling rather embarrassed. However in the morning we totally nailed it and everyone loved it! It was hilarious and we have a video of all the kids singing ‘Allelu Allelujah’ ridiculously loudly.
Ok this is getting long and far too factual for my liking so I’ll end with a deep insight into life. This last weekend we went abseiling down a 100m (yes metres, not foot) cliff face next to a waterfall. It was amazing! I wasn’t scared before I began because I’m pretty gung ho these days (hence the running into wall incident), but when I first had feet on the cliff face and 100m drop below me…oh my gosh. I’ve never been so petrified in my life! It took all the courage in my entire body to finally totally lean back on the harness and totally trust the ropes to hold me...but when I did it was the best feeling in the world! I was literally horizontal standing with my bare feet on a cliff with some 90metres of sheer drop below me. I so enjoyed the rest of the time, it was amazing! That night during devotion I couldn’t get that image out of my head. I saw a big parallel with my life and my faith in Jesus. Since I’ve got here and in life generally I’ve never been very good at trusting in Jesus fully. Believing in, yes, living for, yes, but trusting in? Heck no. But as I thought that the best time I had abseiling was when I trusted the guys at the top and the cement foundations (stuff I could not actually see) and just enjoyed using my legs and arms to control my movement, I couldn’t not see the parallel with Jesus. If I can ever fully let go and trust that somewhere Jesus has my back, maybe then I can fully use my legs and arms to walk this life and get the most out of it.
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