Tuesday, October 5
We got to sleep a little later (but not much) today, since we weren’t going on the early morning game viewing. After packing, we headed to breakfast, said goodbye to staff, and were picked up by Excellent – that’s his name…a little awkward on the initial introductions. “Hi, I’m Excellent.” Me thinking, but fortunately not saying, “OK…I now know your condition, but what’s your name?” We drove through several African villages on our way to meet Ethne (our tour planner) at a school that she supports (more on that later). Excellent pointed out the village where he lives now; the village he grew up in is where the school is located.
A few observations:
Africans get a lot of exercise walking, as cars are expensive to own, and there is no public transit (but lots of informal transit methods). Everywhere we drove (other than the drive out of Kruger National Park) there were people walking – school children in uniform, mothers with babies, people bringing water home, old people, etc.
While there are paved main roads (highways), most of the side roads in this area, and all of the village roads, are dirt.
The basic homes in this section of Africa are far superior to the basic homes in the Cape Town area. While the Cape Town area I would describe as shanties built out of anything you can find – wood, sheet metal, corrugated paper, etc., crammed together – the homes in this area are constructed of concrete bricks made into nice looking houses with sturdy roofs, on larger plots of land. They even have glass in the windows, and many have ornate wrought iron designs on the windows. Excellent said that homes are expensive, and people here usually start by building a very small home, and then add on to it as finances allow. Many homes looked quite nice, but all the village homes lack amenities that we take for granted, such as indoor plumbing. Water is brought home by wheelbarrow in plastic containers. Huge plastic tanks are being purchased by those that can afford them, and water is delivered there via truck. I’m guessing you need to be relatively well off to afford that service! There is electricity available in the villages.
Women carry all sorts of things on their heads; the locals said that
men don't have strong enough necks to do this!
They even have radar patrolmen in South Africa!
One village that we passed on the way to meet Ethne
Some homes appear to be more affluent!
But this is more representative
Gathering the family's water supply
Walking, and walking, and walking!
More heavy lifting -- by the women!
Roadside stand
Excellent said that these living conditions are vastly improved over what they were under Apartheid, and that is why the people in this area are so optimistic about the future.
We passed two strip shopping centers that (other than the store names) could just as well have been in America. (I wonder when a Wal-Mart will pop up here!)
After a drive of a little more than two hours, we arrived at the Hlau-Hlau Primary School (also known as the Zwelisha School). Ethne and her sister-in-law, Anne, were waiting for us, and we were introduced to school staff.
A little information on the school…it started in 1981, after residents were forcefully removed from another location by the Apartheid government. The original school was in two temporary shacks, where they stayed for two years. The current facility has 20 classrooms and 1,150 students – do the math for the student-pupil ratio!
The children all wore the school uniforms (and quite proudly, I noticed). Books sometimes are Xeroxed for the students, as there isn’t enough money to purchase all the books needed. (I didn’t ask if it wasn’t more expensive to copy than to buy, but certainly wondered.) We were taken into several classrooms and introduced to the class, who got to ask questions. (Most were too shy, but a few did.) In one classroom, Sarah talked about expressing feelings through art. In one class, Chuck mentioned that he and Sarah had grandchildren the same age as the students, then took out a photo to show them. You would have thought that they were giving away free seats on the 50-yard line for an Indianapolis Colts game! The kids all swarmed around to have a look, as it was passed around the room. What fun!
The school choir performed for us. They sang well, and were joined by teachers in several of the numbers.
The students were quite anxious for us to take their pictures and, of course, wanted to see the results immediately…and giggle (only the girls).
The children were loving, with hugs to Ethne and Anne, and to all of us! It is sad to know that many of these children are orphans, many in families with an older sibling as head of household due to AIDS, and otherwise not living in ideal conditions. Professional counseling is rarely available.
We thought that this school visit was one of the highlights of our trip, and were glad that we had an opportunity to meet the children and staff.
After lunch with Ethne at a local restaurant in White River, we headed to Cameron Downs, Ethne and Malcom’s beautiful home in White River. The home is more than 100 years old, and was renovated by Mal when they bought the property years ago. Mal keeps busy with macadamia nut farming, which is on land that is part of the estate. Anne also lives on the estate, in a separate home. Ethne and Mal’s “children” are two bearded collies. The grounds were beautifully landscaped, with a large covered outdoor patio and a swimming pool. They also had the loudest frogs I’ve ever heard, who serenaded us most of the night! Here's a video clip -- not much to see, but you can hear the serenade!
Ethne and Mal had a small number of friends over to meet us, and then we had dinner afterwards – a delicious chicken pie! True southern hospitality at Cameron Downs!
Ethne with Rita, Sarah, Chuck and Larry
(Don't remember which dog this was!)
No comments:
Post a Comment