Random Community Events

I am often mistaken for a missionary. This was the case yet again as Oros and I made our way, house by house, through the Lenyenye Township outside of Tzaneen. While Tzaneen is predominately home to Shangaan speaking people, Lenyenye is mostly Sepedi. This is a legacy of the Apartheid policy of keeping ethnic tensions high amongst black groups so as to channel anger and resentment away from white rule. Thanks to a certain church that has set up shop in the area, my presence made many homeowners rather suspicious. Apparently this church has been sending out white missionaries door to door for months now. After greetings, many homeowners asked Oros, in Sepedi, why our church was bothering them again.

 

After explaining ourselves, we are finally able to get to the meat of our survey, which is very short. We ask how many taps the household has and then we see if any of them leak. And that’s it. People are often disappointed. After perhaps 5 or 10 minutes of introductions and explanations, the survey itself takes maybe 30 seconds.

 

We’ve found some interesting things along the way. One woman had her tap running constantly, at full blast, for months. She couldn’t turn it off because of damage to a thin rubber washer in the faucet that had broken. I wondered why she didn’t bother to try to fix it, at least for the sake of saving money if not water conservation. The problem is that she already owes 10,000 Rand to the municipality for her water bill. 10, 000 rand is an insurmountable bill, one that she will never, ever, pay off. She pays 50 rand a month when she can; often skipping a month if the money is thin. She hasn’t got any incentive to save water because there is no relationship between the amount of water she uses and the amount of money she has to pay at the end of the month. This is something we saw over and over again. The poorest families often owe massive amounts of money to the municipality for their water.

 

As we conducted our survey through Lenyenye I noticed a long train of elderly women, referred to as kokos(with the ‘k’ sounding like a ‘g’), in bright yellow vests running through the streets. I was told that this was a charity event for children. After the koko run was over, we heard loud horns and drums coming from a few blocks away. We followed the sound until it lead us to a large community centre. Inside we found a stage and an audience, with kokos dancing and the music alternating between live horn music and incredibly loud, thumping techno music. Oros and I sat down near the back, hoping to observe the event in an unobtrusive way. Immediately we were approached by one of the officials for the event. After asking us who we were, she insisted that we sit on stage at the VIP table. We tried to get out of it, but quickly realized that to refuse would be impolite.

 

South African community events have a few necessary components. There must be food. If you want anyone to come, you must cook up some porridge, beef stew, cabbage and other traditional food. There must also be very loud music. The music is almost always techno or house music—the sort of music my mom couldn’t stomach for two minutes is joyously accepted by 80 year old kokos in South Africa. There must also be a VIP table. This is a table which faces the audience and is reserved for ward counsellors, chiefs, representatives from government ministries and other notables. Since Oros and I had literally wandered in off the street, we wanted nothing to do with the VIP table. We didn’t even know what exactly the event was for.

 

As I nervously approach the stage, the music suddenly turned off and all eyes were on Oros and me. We took our seats at the table and wrote our name, place of birth, and company on sheet of paper so that the MC can introduce us to the audience. I looked at the program and noted that the event was running about two hours late, which is actually pretty good for this sort of thing. Once Oros and I arrived, however, the show began.

 

The MC asked me my name and, as expected, couldn’t figure out how to pronounce it, “Al… Alfred?” he asked. The trouble people have here understanding my name confused me when I first got to South Africa. There are a couple notable Africans who are named Oliver that almost everyone knows. There is Oliver Mtukudzi, a well known Zimbabwean musician and there is Oliver Tambo, a former president of the ANC during the struggle against Apartheid. The problem lies in my pronunciation. I pronounce Oliver as “Ah-lih-ver” while the African pronunciation is more like “Oh-lee-vah”. They may as well be different names.

 

When the MC realized I am an American, his face lit up. Once the MC introduced me as such, the crowd was appreciative as well, actually giving me a standing ovation. After that, my duties as a VIP were essentially complete. For the next three hours I watched various groups of children dance, hula-hoop, and sing their way through the program. It was delightful. Even though I should be used to it by now, I was still surprised to see that almost every kid in the room had impressive dancing ability. Prior to each dancing competition, all the children in the room surged towards the MC to volunteer to compete. As the program continued I found myself glancing more and more at the women preparing the food that I was increasingly hungry for. At the end, the VIPs were showed to a back room with a private buffet and a table while everyone else stood in a long line to get their food.

 

Moments such as this present a problem for me. My instincts are egalitarian, and I feel funny coming from a place as wealthy as America so that the Lenyenye Community Center can pay to feed me better than I feed myself or the majority of their community. These sorts of dilemmas are strictly academic however. While I may feel funny walking out of the community hall with a full stomach as hundreds of children wait in line for food, to not accept the generosity offered to me would be self-serving and impolite. I can’t count the number of times people have flown out of their chairs so that I can have a place to sit, and I can’t count the number of mangos, papayas and bananas my friend Patrick has brought me over the course of my stay here. People are so generous here that I have trouble keeping up.

 

I’m visiting my host family, the Chaukes, this weekend. It is Dodo’s and Mamaza’s birthday (they are twins) and I wouldn’t miss it for anything. Beyond that I am now training for a 50 kilometer race in March. This is a daunting prospect, especially while training under the harsh African sun. 

I have added new photos, by the way.

I Think About This a Lot

This is a link to an article from the BBC that outlines some of the problems that foreign aid can cause or exacerbate: 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7740652.stm

Aid well spent is aid that makes itself unnecessary. Peace Corps South Africa has talked to its PCVs about sustainability repeatedly. Speaking of Peace Corps, here is another article that I read recently that gave me food for thought:  

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4295&page=2

I think that some of the criticisms in this article are overly strident for the sake of being provocative; not to mention the annoying straw man argument technique employed throughout. Still, there is much in this article that Peace Corps ought to address back in Washington D.C.

Development is a riddle with few easy answers and a myriad of trade-offs to consider. America has its own development problems: from crumbling infastructure (collapsing bridges, energy woes) to a classist, under-funded educational system. If we can't develop our own country properly, how are we supposed to design programs that will develop other countries?

Chess, Surveys & More Pap

Recently, a 30-foot section of wall behind my apartment complex collapsed. The sky had been growing progressively darker, and the wind was picking up, so I initially mistook the loud booming sound for thunder. Upon opening my door, I was confronted with billowing dust and a large semi-circle of debris emanating from a massive gap in the wall. Through the gap, I noticed a half dozen bewildered men who had previously been leaning stacks of heavy ceiling tiles against the other side of the wall. This had clearly been a mistake.

As my fellow apartment dwellers gathered to observe the spectacle, I wondered if this hull breach would compromise my safety. The complex is completely surrounded by a wall, and has only two entry points, one of which is a locked gate only for pedestrians and the other has a guard at night. The wall is topped with electric fencing all around. People are very serious about security here in South Africa. Interestingly, the owner of the lot behind my apartment perceived a greater threat from us than we did from him. For the next week, a guard sat by the whole-in-the-wall all night to protect the property from my neighbours and me.

The rainy season is finally in full swing. This means that every couple of days we have a torrential downpour on a scale rarely seen in my original Iowa stomping grounds. The rain is making Tzaneen greener and has brought out massive insects that never fail to entice me down on my haunches for a closer look. This behaviour alternately amuses or embarrasses whoever is walking around with me.

I have recently visited with a fellow Iowan named Bridget. Not only is she an Iowan, but she grew up in the same town and went to the same high school as me. I didn’t know her back in the States, but we were introduced through a mutual friend. She’s been living in South Africa a little longer than I have and works for an organization that trains women in journalism. I took her to meet Patrick, my entomologist friend who works at the Malaria Institute, and she took some photos which I have placed in an album called “Patrick at the Malaria Institute”. I visited her and her fellow volunteers as well. They are living in a currently defunct game park. The park is defunct in that it doesn’t currently admit visitors for a fee, but it is not lacking in animal life; giraffes, warthogs, springboks and a host of other animals roam the grounds. I could live here for 50 years and never get used to giraffes blocking the road, or baboons doing anything at all.

Speaking of animal life, there is a large elephant in the room and his name is Obama. The mood in Tzaneen after the US presidential election was generally positive. The Daily Sun, the most popular newspaper in South Africa, ran a cover story asking “Where is our Obama?” On the morning of November 5^th I was awoken by a call from one of my co-workers at Tsogang congratulating me on Obama’s victory. Since the election, when I say I am from America, whoever I am speaking with often grins and says “Obama”. When I found out the next morning, I wasn’t jubilant. Honestly, I was mostly just relieved. Phew.

Because I am petty, I made a point of visiting a butchery where I had previously engaged in a brief discussion with a clerk on the merits of an Obama presidency. He contended that Obama would let “the Muslims take over” the United States. My mind briefly considered the Muslim take-over of Spain in 711 and the glorious age of tolerance and learning that followed. However, instead of bringing Mediaeval Spain into it, I just smiled and agreed to disagree. I didn’t mention the election on my second visit, but the grin on my face said enough. I bought a Kudu steak. Isn’t that cool? Try buying Kudu in Iowa.

Last week I was treating myself to a nice meal at a restaurant. The restaurant was crowded so I ended up sharing a table with a family of 5. My food came first, and everyone at my table looked perplexed. “What is that?” one of them asked. I had ordered the vegetarian stir-fry, which is about as un-South African as food can get. Their food came next and it was pap, chicken & chakalaka. After they had dug in, I asked how it was.

“Very good. Do you like pap?” the woman next to me asked.

“Sure,” I say with a shrug and a smile, “Ni rhandza vuswa”, which means “I love pap” in Xitsonga. This is not technically true. I will eat it, occasionally I even have a craving for it, but love is certainly too strong. However, one must be careful what one says about pap in South Africa. People may take it personally. Besides, my limited Xitsonga doesn’t allow for much nuance.  

The woman’s face lit up at this. To my surprise, she immediately took her knife and cut off a whopping portion of pap and deposited it on my plate. She then began tearing off a piece of her chicken for me as well, but I insisted that pap was more than enough. I thanked her profusely and was sure to make lots of “mmm” sounds as I ate with my fingers. Surprised as I was at this sudden generosity, it certainly fits the pattern. I have been lavished with kindness and generosity since I first came to South Africa.  

There are a couple projects that I am currently working on. One is a survey commissioned by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF). The survey’s purpose is to identify leaks in the municipal water system and to collect general information on water use habits. While the survey’s purpose may sound a little mundane, I’m thrilled because it means I will be going door to door chatting with people. I will be accompanied by a Sepedi man name Oros who will act as a translator and social lubricator. Excited as I am, I am also bracing myself for the inescapable discussion about America with every single householder. While this won’t make it into my final report to DWAF, I will make note every time someone mentions Obama to me over the course of the survey.

The other project is my chess club. I had been kicking around the idea for a while and asking myself where I would get money, how I would recruit players, and finally who I would get to help me do it. The last question was answered first. A friend of mine from the complex, named Sammy, offered to help me coach over a chess game one evening. He knows a few other 20-something men living in the complex who also know how to play chess and can help too.

As for members, I have nearly 20 children at the apartment complex alone who desperately want in. I have taken to sneaking through the complex after work just to avoid the repeated pleas for more chess. I only have one board, so when I do play chess with the kids they always bicker over who will be first. So, with everything in place, all my chess club needed was more boards. The final piece of the puzzle came from the caretaker of the complex. He had previously mentioned to me how he wished there were some way to keep the kids occupied and out of mischief after school. They are, uh, a rambunctious bunch of youngsters—always breaking bottles, scaling the building, defecating in the parking and generally causing havoc. I explained that on Wednesdays & Fridays he can now rest assure that the only violence committed by the children will take place on the chess board.  

So, I am keeping reasonably busy. At the end of the month I will be attending more Peace Corps training. After this training, my NGO will be shutting down for a month over Christmas/ New Years. I intend to hike extensively. This will be my first December without snow. Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” has been floating through my head lately both out of a yearning for snow and in response to the Christmas decorations that began appearing in the Tzaneen malls over a month ago. The survey begins next week, and I will keep you posted.

Thanks for reading.

My New Flat, Visiting the Fam

My new flat is great. The apartment complex reflects the diversity of Tzaneen. While a majority of tenants are Shangaans or Sepedis, there are significant numbers of Afrikaners, Indians, Somalis and Pakistanis as well. The parking lot is always swarming with children engaged in various forms of play. It is extremely gratifying to see that children from all of the various ethnic groups play together with no regard for skin colour, religion or nationality.

Speaking of nationalities, I suppose I should add one more to the list: American. There are two Americans living in my apartment complex, and one of them isn’t me. One day as I was going out to do some grocery shopping I bumped into a couple of Somali guys, both of whom, I later found out, are named Mohammed. We got to chatting and one of the Mohammeds detected my American accent. After I confirmed my nationality, he got excited, “You have to meet my son! He’s an American too!” As it turns out, the family had been living in Arizona up until a couple of months ago and their son was born there. After eyeing me suspiciously for a few moments, the young man walked over to where his father and I were standing. My fellow American is just over one year old and apparently a bit of a handful. As we walked, Mohammed had to chase after his son three times. On one occasion he ran up to a group of older children, took their ball, and made a dash for it.  

So, abandoning my shopping plans, I found myself walking back through the complex to meet the family. I had seen them walking around the complex before, but had never suspected the connection. It was weird realizing that they had been in America more recently than I. They are still getting used to South Africa. “What do you think of South Africa?” the mom ventured. I said that I was having a fine time indeed, and yourself? “I miss Arizona” she responded immediately. She said this with such pathos that I wanted to leap off of the floor and hug her right there. I confided that I, too, miss America on occasion.

Obama came up in conversation. They love Obama. I promised to bring over my absentee ballot for a look-see when it arrives. We also talked about their mosque. I posted a picture of the Tzaneen mosque in a previous photo album because I think it is the most impressive and attractive building in town. I have been continually surprised that so few people in Tzaneen seem to know about it. My new Somali friends are very proud of it since it was built entirely with money donated by the Muslim community here in Tzaneen. I met another Somali man who had lived in Los Angeles for 20 years before coming here to Tzaneen a few months ago. Two decades as a cognizant adult living in America trumps whatever I’ve got; this guy is simultaneously more American than I am and more Somali than I could ever hope to be. Another Somali gentleman that I met was also a recent arrival in South Africa, but had come directly from Somalia. In four months he has learned practical English, Sepedi, and Shangaan. During my 8 months in country, I have made scant inroads on a single language. Eventually we got to watching Bollywood movies after it was explained that Somalis have a special affinity for Indian culture.

The aforementioned hordes of children running around the apartment complex have shown themselves to be apt chess pupils. I brought my board outside one day at one kid’s request and was immediately surrounded by a dozen or so children. What was to be a low-key chess lesson turned into a chess marathon that was cut short only by the failing daylight. Since then, I have brought the board out a few more times, always with the same overwhelming response. All of this got me seriously thinking about creating some sort of chess club. The exact shape of this club is not yet known to me, but it feels inevitable that it will happen.

After moving and settling in to my new place, I realized that I hadn’t seen my host family, the Chaukes, for a long time. During a bout of Peace Corps training a few months ago, we were given three hours to say hello to our families again. This amount of time was appreciated, but hopelessly inadequate. My host mom Lina told me that I needed to come back for a week long visit. In those three hours, however, all of the love they had shown me during my stay with them was re-affirmed. I vowed to return for a longer stay at a later date.

So, a couple of weeks ago I hopped on a Kombi that took me from Tzaneen to Polokwane, followed by another kombi that took me to Mokapane, and then my final kombi ride which took me to Mabula village. Even though I spent only two months living with the Chaukes, compared to my nearly six months in Tzaneen, going back felt just like driving home from college. I was going back to my roots, spending time with the people who taught me how to behave properly. As you drive from Tzaneen to Polokwane the landscape changes from lush mountains covered with banana plantations and immense pine forests in neat grid patterns to a dry, orange coloured scrubland with the occasional mountain jutting up from the otherwise flat earth. I somehow found myself in the very back of each kombi, which meant I was sharing a bench seat with 3 other fully grown individuals -- a tight squeeze.

My weekend with the Chaukes was great. I heard all about the Matriculation process that my brother Dodo was is going through. Matriculation happens during the final year of high school and involves a slew of government administered tests over various subjects. These tests scores determine whether you graduate high school as well as your eligibility for university. This is obviously a stressful time. Dodo even had to miss a soccer game that Mabula’s team played against a neighbouring village so he could study for his Physics exam. Since I no longer have to worry about physics (if only I’d studied half as much as I’d worried…) I went to the game.

My younger brother Comutcho, a family friend named Buti, and I hitched a ride to the game with the team. The team and various hangers-on were all jammed into the back of a pick-up truck, which they call a “backie” in these parts. Once the truck got moving, singing and horn-playing began in earnest. This jubilance was cut short when the engine died. We rolled over to the side of the road and lifted the hood. Somehow, after a few minutes of tinkering, the engine was brought back to life and we were off. The singing resumed. This portion of our journey last another couple of minutes before the next breakdown. After breakdown number five, the team had to hop out of the backie and make a run for the field so as to avoid the fine for being late. They got there just in time. The game was played on a field surrounded on all sides by a tarp, to encourage the payment of a five rand entrance fee. The field itself was mostly dust and sand, with a smattering of grass. Consequently wherever the ball went, a small cloud of dust followed, often obscuring both ball and player. We scored in the first 10 minutes of play. The remaining 80 minutes kicked up additional dust, but resulted in no additional points. I will always find this particular aspect of soccer bizarre, but at least we won.

In Mabula itself, I made the rounds; visiting various family and quasi-family members. These meetings consisted of a short English portion and a much longer Shangaan portion where I mostly listened. I have long since made peace with the fact that I have no idea what people are saying most of the time. I have learned to listen to the tone of voice, watch facial expression, and generally enjoy the way people talk at least as much as I enjoy listening to what people are actually staying.

Rachel’s 24^th birthday is coming up next week, and I have offered to cook her some traditional American food: tacos. She had never heard of such a food before, which I found astonishing despite the good sense that it makes. In fact, “American” has been the theme of all the meals I’ve cooked for her thus far: pizza, spaghetti & meatballs, hamburgers… Tacos are the most exotic to date, so I am considering making some pap just in case she doesn’t like Mexican food. She cooks for me too, the most recent meal being classic South African food: pap, atchar, chakalaka, chicken. This is eaten with the fingers, of course. While I am spilling food all over myself, trying to eat the least finger-friendly finger-food I’ve ever encountered, she deftly roles the pap into a ball and adds to it a pinch of veggies or chicken. I think eating with your fingers is harder than eating with chopsticks.

Thanks for reading.

Des & Mimi

Up until now I have made sure not to mention Des or Mimi, the elderly Afrikaner couple that I currently rent my flat from, much in my blog. While they have fascinating views about the world that would make for an interesting read, I find many of these views extremely offensive. If I go on about how kind they are to me, while leaving out the omnipresent paranoid racism, I am lying by omission. If I focus too much on their bigotry, I fail to give them credit for all the kindness I have received. To create a balanced view of Des & Mimi is difficult. Thus far I have avoided it. Now that they are kicking me out, I suppose it’s time to have a go.

One of the first things Des told me about himself was that he is not racist. Without the slightest sense of irony, Des then went on to explain how “they” are going to ruin South Africa with “their” corruption, evil, etc. “They” is code for black people, or roughly 80% of the country. He then provided me a number of colourful anecdotes highlighting crimes where black people maim or kill white people. He wrapped up our first meeting with a few bible verses that he felt supported his dire predictions for South Africa’s political and economic development. All of this plus Mimi washed (and pressed) all of my dirty clothes, made me dinner, and gave me a box of milk bones to feed the dogs.

I went over to their house, a 10 second walk across our shared courtyard, on many occasions. A few times we watched rugby; they shared many a meal with me as well. My time in their home was an unsettling combination of typical South African generosity with a healthy dose of jaw-dropping, racially themed diatribes. What do you say to a person when they have just said “Blacks are lazy”, especially when your mouth is full of eggs, bacon, toast, and hash browns? I never thought of anything especially profound to say. Sometimes I would attempt to subtly question their assumptions, but generally I confined my comments on such issues to “hmmm” or “ah”.

Even while there was no immediate problem, I knew that my living there was a ticking bomb. Though initially there was no outright ban on black guests to my flat, it was a safe bet what their preference on the matter would be. Part of the problem is my naiveté. While each meeting with Des & Mimi yielded nuggets of wisdom such as, “They’ll say hello to your face, then stab you in the back”, I still found it hard to believe that they would be so bold as to flatly deny me the right to invite black people to my flat. Even knowing South Africa’s history and a daily provision of clues were not enough to get it through my thick American skull.

The first time Des ran into me and one of my black guests, his displeasure was written clearly upon his face. He stopped dead in his tracks, made sure she wasn’t an American (which would have been OK), and then rushed inside. When he had met previous guests, that is to say other white people, he was cordial to a fault; chatting for 10 or 15 minutes, relaying recent news from America, and on one occasion even offering some snacks. The next day after he caught me with my black guest, he told me that I couldn’t bring strangers over to the house. Strangers are dangerous, he informed me. I wouldn’t know, since I’m a foreigner. Even though I knew that strangers were a feeble cover for his issues with black people, I took him at his word. I still hoped that there was some middle ground that we could find.

I haven’t had many people to my place since moving in over 4 months ago- a handful of locals, some of the closer Peace Corps volunteers, my boss and his wife. Since Des & Mimi generally gave me space, I was able to have visitors without them knowing. However, once I met Rachel this was impossible to sustain. Since we started dating, she’s been over quite a bit. Since she is black, this was a problem for Des & Mimi.

Des spotted us one night as we were entering my flat. As soon as she’d slipped inside, Des told me that we needed to talk. The talk was, in a word, ugly. If someone has a phobia, perhaps of heights or snakes, confronting them with that phobia is a sure way to get them to freak out. I am afraid of failure and large bodies of water. Des is absolutely petrified of black people.

When they called me into their living room, it was Des who did the talking, while Mimi opted for a silent reproach of my misdeeds. He attacked a number of my lifestyle choices, though the decision to bring black people to my house seems to have ticked him off the most. Why? Simple- it is not because they are black per se, but rather it is because of the inherent security risk that their presence entails. Or something like that. Frankly, it was a bit hard to follow. It was like talking to King Rainbow, but without the fun. Apparently, on one night that I had “hidden” Rachel’s presence from him, he spotted a person lurking about the backyard. This person was not “spotted” in the sense that Des “saw” him. Rather, the dogs spotted this mysterious personage while Des leapt to the rescue to fetch his flashlight. This person, who it may be assumed was black, was looking for either me or Rachel. From this conclusion, Des could not be swayed.

Beyond that, word will get around. Neighbours are asking questions. Rachel will tell her siblings, cousins, & friends about the wonders contained on Des & Mimi’s property. In time, there will be nightly home invasions of people looking to get a piece. Therefore, black guests can simply not be allowed. “Do you really expect me to compromise my family’s safety?” Des asked me incredulously. Getting Des to flatly tell me I couldn’t have black guests was surprisingly hard, but eventually I got him to say it explicitly. He kept dancing around the point by blaming crime rates and the general attributes of roughly 35 million black South Africans.

With comic timing, Des then went on to reiterate that he is not a racist. Des then informed me, yet again, how during last Christmas they had bought a sack of corn meal and a dozen frozen chickens for “some of the blacks that work at Kruger National Park”. He mentioned another oft repeated story where he spent some money on a charity for black orphaned children. He declared that he does more for black people than I could ever hope to do.

Fine. I’m not getting into any competitions over who helps black people more. My focus is on not being too bitter about the whole thing. Rachel, for her part, felt partly responsible for the whole mess. I tried to assuage that fear. It seems clear to me that this is Des & Mimi’s problem, not hers. I try to keep in mind that Des & Mimi come by their racism honestly. Every authority figure in their life and every social cue that they have experienced during their 70 odd years in South Africa has nurtured it. Not only did their parents, teachers, preachers and politicians promote it, but Apartheid itself was designed to keep whites ignorant about the lives of the black population. When Des says, “The blacks were better off under Apartheid than they are now”, he is speaking from a place of surprising ignorance.

I am moving into my new flat next week. It is in a vast, newly constructed apartment complex on the edge of Tzaneen’s central business district. The guy renting out flats for the apartment told me the complex is maybe 80% black, 10% whites, and 10% Indian. “That sounds like what you should expect in South Africa!” I responded brightly. The NGO that I work for, Tsogang, has been unwaveringly supportive of me from the beginning. This is essential, since they are the ones footing the bill for my room.

Despite Des & Mimi, I am happy. South Africa is still treating me well. I am meeting people. I met some Afrikaner gentlemen who sympathised with my housing woes and invited me to hit the town with them at my soonest convenience. They like talking to me especially because of my wacky American accent. I met an Afrikaner currently living in Ireland (home visiting his parents) as I was running. Specifically, he was running faster than me up a hill. He was about to overtake me, until I surged. He knew enough about Iowa to declare it “the middle of nowhere”. Not during caucus season, I thought to myself a little defensively. I even met a fellow American volunteer. He is from Guyana. I knew he was not from South Africa when he effortlessly threw me a perfect pass with my Frisbee.

Then, of course, there is Rachel. It is a shame that the first time I mention her in the blog has to be in conjunction with such an unfortunate incident. She is a 24 year old Shangaan woman who works at the local grocery store. Next year she is planning on completing her degree in Human Resource Management; then on to better employment. She shares my passion for long walks as well as a good book. She’s cool.

I am looking forward to having guests at my new place without the fear of being scrutinized. I’m also looking forward to meeting my new neighbours. It may not surprise you to know that I have mixed feelings about Des & Mimi. While leaving them was the easiest decision I’ve made in a long while, I will miss certain aspects of our relationship. After all of Des’s posturing and ultimatum giving, Mimi stepped in. “We’ve treated you like our son”, she said simply, looking me dead in the eyes. This much I think is true. After that, they reinstated their offer to take me on a day trip to Kruger National Park since I house sat for them while they were on vacation. I said sure.

So we went together. Mimi made sandwiches. Des bought me ice cream. It was pleasant. We haven’t really spoken since then. Clearly, we have a complicated relationship. I am learning that South Africa is a complicated place.

Meet King Rainbow, I get a haircut,

Greetings,

Last Friday I was on my morning run when a car pulled up beside me and rolled down its window. I assumed this was yet another person who spotted me and figured I could give them directions to someplace. Instead he said to me “You look like you’re in a hurry, can I give you a lift somewhere?” A little flustered and out of breath, I began to explain that I was on a run before I caught myself. He giggled as he drove away.

Just after my last blog entry I headed off to the In-Service Training put on by Peace Corps South Africa. It was great catching up with my fellow South Africa 17ers (we are the 17th Peace Corps group to come to South Africa). The experiences varied wildly—some people are living in a deep rural setting while others are living a much more urban lifestyle. Some are already knee deep in a project, while others have yet to sketch one out. Another upshot of the IST was the chess. For some reason, SA 17 is awash with chess playing talent. IST also provided some useful perspective on how to plan and monitor a development project. One of the key aspects of successful aid work is giving ownership of the project to the community it serves. If a volunteer does a whole series of useful, innovative things but fails to garner sufficient community involvement, the sustainability of her (or his) work is nil.

One thing I failed to mention in my last entry is that I am no longer the sole PCV working at Tsogang. Joey is an SA 16, which is to say he has been here six months longer than I have. He was transferred from his initial NGO to Tsogang due, in part, to a special interest in water systems. He can do magic tricks, including one where puffy red balls multiply and disappear before your eyes.

Speaking of wizardry, I have recently made the acquaintance of a sangoma who goes by the name of King Rainbow. A sangoma is a traditional healer—a sort of doctor, pharmacist, priest, and life-counsellor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangoma). In the last photo album I posted, I included a picture of a handout provided by another traditional healer that listed a whole slew of maladies that he promised to cure. These sorts of claims are common among sangomas.

King Rainbow is less common in that he claims to be the oldest man alive. He also tells me that he turns into a snake at night.

But I am getting ahead of myself. One day, when walking home from work, I spotted a sign on the side of the road that read:

“Father of Kings and Sangomas… I will fix everything after you’ve given my world back, I’m born to broke the world if you don’t listen to Rainbow,”

Intrigued, I headed down a path leading to the river to find a small collection of cardboard buildings. I spotted the King immediately. Once Rainbow and I were introduced, he said a great many things. He talked a lot about ancestors, and the relationship one must have with them. Some of his more arresting metaphors pertained to communication with your ancestors so they can “drive you like a car” or “put you on like clothing and walk around in you”.

Sitting in his self-built house, I noticed a large collection of powders, herbs, and roots. I also noticed a stuffed cat, a wooden head covered with human hair and a worrying collection of water bottles containing an array of murky liquids.

When I was down by the river talking to Rainbow, I noticed that a steady stream of people came down to speak with one of his two wives. Some of them took their shoes off and disappeared into the river for a time, while others left as soon as they arrived. I never did ask what they were up to since King Rainbow was giving me a crash course in his particular cosmology. It is an odd mishmash of Abrahamic creation stories, Sotho creation stories, as well as a healthy dose of Rainbow’s own unique perspective. It was also a bit hard to follow. Rainbow told me that my ancestors were writing through my hand as I took notes.

Judging from my notes, my ancestors were a bit confused too; something about snake(s) turning into human body parts and God (Rainbow) creating parallel versions of humanity. He also told me how he plans to find a new body once his current one is worn out.

In less exciting news, I got a haircut. My hair was cut by a Ghanaian barber that I have befriended. He shaved it all off, in a style known through these parts as a “chis kop”. After he shaved my head, he took what looked like a horse-brush and vigorously rubbed mentholated spirits into my scalp. When I mentioned to him that my head felt like it was on fire, he smiled and informed me that it was “hygienic”. I opted for this style partly because it is the predominate hair choice of South African men. Also, I remembered Yul Brynner (The King and I, The Ten Commandments, Westworld) speaking convincingly about how great being bald is. So far I’m fine with it, though it does mean that I need a stocking cap to stay warm at night. Remember, it’s winter down here.

Since my barber friend is a fellow ex-patriot, we like to discuss South Africa from the perspective of an outsider. Once I asked him what the biggest difference between South Africa and Ghana is. Without hesitation he told me that women in Ghana “know their place” and don’t “talk too much”. From my perspective, this is a ringing endorsement for South Africa. It is worth noting that the South African constitution is perhaps the most progressive in the world. Check it out: http://www.info.gov.za/documents/constitution/index.htm

Tsogang recently had its Annual General Meeting. This involved a presentation to various government officials and board members. During the lunch following the presentation, a giraffe ambled up to the window of the dining hall and helped herself to some leaves growing on a nearby tree. It was a wonderful “you are in Africa” moment. After the lunch we took many of the government officials on a tour of some of our projects which included a community garden, a diesel motor water pump, and an attractively built reservoir. Afterwards I fulfilled Peace Corp’s second goal (“Helping promote a better understanding of Americans…”) by explaining some key differences between South African English and American English. In America “that side” becomes “over there”, “now now” becomes simply “now”, and in America “I’m coming” actually means that you are currently on your way to a place, as opposed to merely planning on coming. I also learned that "how" often means something like "really?" or "I see.", as opposed to a question. That explains a lot.

I’ve included some new pictures along with this entry. You will see them on the right hand side of the blog under the creative heading “Sangoma, Haircut”.

Thanks for reading, I shall write again soon.

oli

Mosquitoes, Politics

I have added some pictures, by-the-way.

This morning I was late for work. Since I was late, I rushed past people that I would normally have stopped to chat with. This is very un-African of me.

As I rushed past a furniture store, where I had previously made the acquaintance of one of the sales people, I heard a whistle directed at me. This is a common way to grab someone’s attention here in South Africa; you can’t walk around downtown Tzaneen without hearing a good deal of whistling. “Why didn’t you come in and say hello?” he scolds me.

“I’m really late for work, so I’ve been rushing since I left my flat” I explain, trying to sound as hurried as possible. He laughs as he takes my hand and leads me into the store. He explains we need to talk business. When we get to his desk, he starts to describe his vision for a new company. He shows me his business plan and then asks if I can help him make it better. I’m thinking “I’m a history major…”, but I say yes anyway. After a good 20 minutes I finally get back on the street, and headed to work. I hope I can help him out somehow.

He and I have spoken many times before. He is an outspoken opponent of America’s current foreign policy. When he found out where I was from, he was thrilled that he could finally give a piece of his mind to an actual American. He has a satellite at his home and watches CNN, so he is supplied with a constant stream of news to keep him busy. “Be careful with that CNN” I warn, “It's American propaganda…” He is not alone in his desire to say a thing or two about America.

The people I meet almost always have something they want to ask or say about my homeland. The most common thing people say is that they want to visit; the second most common topic of choice is probably the presidential election, i.e. Barrack Obama. One question I got a couple times after Hillary finally dropped out of the race was “Is he the President yet?” In fact, I have been asked to explain US Presidential politics on more than one occasion. Even when people have negative things to say about the US, they almost always tell me they want to visit.

I got a call a few weeks ago from a man named Patrick. I honestly couldn’t remember where I had met him, but he was very keen on meeting up with me. I figured that if I gave him my number, he couldn’t have seemed to threatening to me at the time, so I say yes. We arranged a meeting spot at the crossroads of two major highways. I had no idea what he wanted to do. It turns out he is a scientist who has worked at the Malaria Institute for the past 30 years. So, we take a walk to the Institute.

The Malaria institute, I am told, is responsible for ridding my particular area of malaria carrying mosquitoes years ago. I am afforded VIP status and am treated to a full tour of the labs and grounds. There are dozens of containers, in which mosquitoes at various stages of life are kept. There is also a shed that houses hundreds of guinea pigs. These hapless creatures are drugged and then placed in the aforementioned containers when the scientists want the mosquitoes to lay eggs. Apparently blood is necessary for egg production; otherwise the mosquitoes seem happy enough with sugar water. Another fun fact is that mosquitoes have an average lifespan of 14 to 28 days. On parting Patrick gave me the largest banana I have ever seen, one that he had harvested from one of his own banana trees.

So, I’m meeting people, which is nice. Work is good too. I’ve finally gotten a new version of Tsogang’s website up (www.tsogang.org). It’s the first website I’ve ever published, so I’m still trying to figure it all out. Once I understand well enough, I will show my co-workers how to edit and publish a website as well. I think that’s what Peace Corps means when they talk about “capacity building”. I am also working on creating a database for all of the projects that Tsogang has worked on since 1996. Since the current filing system is a bit arcane, this is quite the task. Once I get this database finished, it will be a useful tool for Tsogang long after I leave. This is a pleasant thought.

Since I am approaching my third month in Tzaneen (and my fifth month in South Africa) I will be going to what Peace Corps calls in-service training for the next two weeks. This is supposed to consist of additional relevant training for work. It also provides an opportunity to catch up with fellow volunteers. All 30 of the volunteers in my group have been placed in different NGOs, over three different provinces. Our experiences will be diverse, and probably instructive. Another plus is that we are given three (free) squares a day for the whole training period. That, in itself, is probably enough to keep me happy.

Thanks for reading.