End of week 2

14 February 2009
The rest of the week has flown. No journal since Monday and here it is Saturday.

The French students stayed Monday might. John, a Congolese refugee was new and shared the apartment with me. It was an education about the history of the tribal and Belgium imperial politics of his country. Having fled in 2002 he has been fortunate in being able to undertake Post Graduate study while working in the hydrology area. The downpour the previous evening continued through the night eaning they were unable to get to the field site so they moved back to PMB and will return for a few days next week.

The rest of the week was focussed on reviewing documentation as part of my main task with AAF Australia. Wednesday was memorial service day. I have done a separate blog about this and posted photos as well as communicating to those overseas who knew Masondo. Thursday was meant to be a visit to Isibani but this was postponed the previous night as Christine had Health Dept officials visiting at short notice. “African time” is as I am learning very flexible. In the morning we learned at staff devotions of some family unhappiness about the memorial service and discussion about Masondo’s cause of death. While I focussed on my work lots of activity in the office. Nthombi the Finance Officer is the person all staff refer to for everything. It is amazing that she gets anything done. She also has the scanner attached to her PC which doubles as a copier. The new photocopier I had ordered arrived as we were going home. I had time to set it up. It will transform Nthombi’s life as well as the office functions (and make my task easier).

Dinner Thursday night had prickly pear as a desert. As I explained to Carol in NSW we have a Prickly Pear Commission charged with eradication of this cactus based weed. Here it is harvested and sold! Read a few chapters of Obama’s book. Reading it in the midst of being in South African culture and politics helps to understand some of the issues I am confronted with daily.

Friday morning is posted separately under funeral.

The rest of Friday was fairly chaotic. Masondo’s brother was in as he had been on Thursday and discussions were held with staff about assistance with the funeral. TK had prepared the order of service and was printing out twenty colour copies. The new copier came in handy to provide the black and white additional copies required. I had a meeting with Zosia the Canadian wanting some feedback on a proposal she had been working on. Quite an impressive document, well researched but needing some editing. I did comment that it was not only Australians of her age groupwho had difficulties with the English language and spelling.

John Green came by the office and had an English clergyman with him – Howard Worlsey who is Diocesan Director of Education for Southwell. An unexpected and serendipitous discussion. He has 70 schools in his diocese. I spoke to him about my leave and what I was doing here. He was on a flying visit but he was interested in the school to school partnership being established between St Peters Campbelltown and Intumbane and how that might work. I gave him details of School Trade. Who knows what may become of that discussion. I like the 4.30 office closure. Local staff have buses to catch (called taxis but really 15 seaters) and some live up to fifty kms away and then have up to 15 minutes walk to teir villages.

Friday afternoon was spent relaxing. Dinner tonight at the Bowling Club where a film about Hansie Cronje was to be shown and the choice was steak or tripe! This is unlike Australian Bowling Clubs. An old building told of the former glory of its membership. There are no pokies. Dinner was prepared by some of the women. Everyone knew each other – possibly forty people in all, mostly senior and retired citizens and all white. I spent some time talking to a guy who had Super 14s tickets for 21 March to watch Waratahs and Crusaders.. Divorced he is pursuing a relationship with a SA woman living in Sydney. His three adult children liv overseas and as I am learning that generation are doing so to pursue a career unavailable to them in SA and will never return. The white population has declined by 1 Million in the last five years.

A discussion with a farmer reveals he harvests 8 tonnes per hectare of prime hard wheat annually. Last harvest was 700 tonnes. In Oz we are struggling to get 2 tonnes/hectare. In addition he runs 800 Santa Gertrudis cattle and organised the SG International Conference in SA some years ago.

The overwhelming account from white South Africans is of the need for enhanced security with crime out of control and of a fear of the future. Zimbabwe’s economic decline looms large in the psyche of many whites. And yet many of these people are generous in spirit, donating to social support programs for the poor and expressing support for the economic uplift of black South Africans. Still they watch from the sidelines, the economic powerhouse as government services and infrastructure decline as their priorities are not the priorities of the current civil administration. Apartheid’s legacy affects all SAs in different ways.

I came away tonight conscious that I am living, walking and observing two worlds. The Zulus at Philakahle and elsewhere have accepted me as I clumsily try to learn a difficult language and try to understand their world. Tonight my white skin was a passport into the world of a diminishing minority, who shared some personal matters as well as their concerns with me. The question is how do these two worlds reconcile their differences? Perhaps our meeting with Masondo’s widow provides some clue.

The dinner of braised steak was delicious. Straight off the farm. I declined the tripe (politely)