I started
driving a week after arriving in Pretoria, telling myself constantly to think
“KEEP LEFT, KEEP LEFT” as I drove in the opposite direction I had driven back home. Here in South Africa, the right of way is on the left side of the
road. I had a whole set of new challenges,
except that I had driven on the left some twelve years back when we lived in
Singapore. Now, learning to dodge motor bikes and street vendors was a new task
I had to contend with! On that first day
I got lost in what looked like a Black Township (which I later found out was
Mamelodi) and was overwhelmed by the disparities I saw. Some type of workers’ long houses, perhaps;
lots of people waiting for buses; everyone going about their business. I didn’t feel threatened, just lost, but quickly
finding my way back. We really have so much in the house and lawns the embassy provided for us, I remember thinking.We have grass
and flowers; everything in the township seemed parched and brown.
Later during that first year once I got used to South
African life, I went to Mamelodi often to deliver clothing and school materials
as part of an embassy sponsorship program; in doing so I learned about the
disproportions between Black and White schools, the decay of township
classrooms and lack of teaching aids and materials. Black students had to go
without chalk, pencils, textbooks … I’d like to believe that I changed part of
all that, but really -- whatever I did and concerned myself with was but a
drop in a very large bucket of things to do, teach and improve. Years of neglect and government indifference cannot be scraped in only three years of guardianship! I know other people after me continued the project picking up where I left off as I pick up after the people before me.
During our three years in Southern Africa we drove to
several countries in the region, among them, Swaziland, a tiny nation
landlocked between South Africa and Mozambique. The countryside along the
highway was bordered by thick pine forests, the mountains … just breathtaking!.
There were cattle roaming freely and farms and arable land. I am told, by
friends still there, that in later years, a township has grown alongside the
highway with no running water, no city services … utterly poor. Other countries
we’ve seen: Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi
each and every one of them so different yet so similar. For me, most of the
Africa I know, including Kenya, brings the memory of awesome spring
thunderstorms, exceptionally vibrant sunsets, and enormous pale yellow moons. I
have read that Southern Africa is home to some 800 bird species (!) and it
ranks as one of the top birding destinations in the world.
Did I mention
the wild thunderstorms…howling empests that break-up the dry spell of winter? In
our first year the rains came in the middle of September, right after our
arrival in Southern Africa; on our second year the winter dryness -- brought on by
the bonfires from people trying to keep warm – was broken by storms in early October; the
most refreshing first rain of the season hauling away dirt and smog … so long
overdue. Generally, during the colder darker days
of winter (June through August) a medium weight haze, from township and veld
fires, permeates the atmosphere making breathing difficult and the air quality
sometimes intolerable. When rain finally graces the land with its soothing
quality, the countryside and the people take on new overtones.
On our last
year there, rains came in mid-July as we were packing out for our move back to
the USA, a kind of farewell from above, I felt, allowing us to see yet another
display of natural supremacy. Abruptly,
the heavens became gloomy as thunderous pitch-black clouds and brilliant
lightning bolts crisscrossed the sky. Almost immediately, vast and plump raindrops began playing their music
on our tiled rooftop … merging from a steady crescendo into a thriving deluge.
I recall our happiness as we graced the front lawn with dances and squeals --
my children in their bare feet -- appreciating the cleansing purity of rain.
As time
progressed, South Africa became ‘home’ in the disappearing shadows of the
Apartheid regime, a disappearance mostly in name really, as the situation for
the common Black worker didn’t seem much improved. We feel that our lives were
warmed indelibly by the South Africans we met.
As we prepare
to leave, I can’t help but think of the beautiful Ndebele women clad in alluring and colorful dress designs, their multi-ringed necks … will I not see them again
on route to their village carrying baskets proudly on their heads,
their babies wrapped 'round their backs?
As we depart South Africa, people of all backgrounds enjoy more
social equality, if not economic yet, certainly educational. There is still a lot to be done! The new
generation is positively harvesting the goods scattered during those historic
times at the end of Apartheid. South Africa is undoubtedly one of the most
beautiful and rewarding countries we have experienced life in. I hope to be back some day...
