Blogs from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Africa - page 57

We spent this holiday season attending a Baha'i summer school in KwaZulu-Natal with many of our friends, and we made many new friends. Baha'i activities are always quite a mix of people who really enjoy each other. This summer school had people from South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Japan, Canada and the U.S. attending. We stayed in an African rondaval, complete with a thatched roof, took cold showers every day and ate a typical local diet that was high in starch. The classes were quite interesting and we really got into the wonderfully spirited Baha'i African music. Among the new friends we met were Gilbert and Tabitha, an older couple from Tshwane (Pretoria). These remarkable people played important roles in the development of the Baha'i Faith in South Africa. Gilbert served on one of the first ... read more

Well I haven't written on this in ages, so I guess its deserving of an update. I don't even know where I last left off. Erik came to visit me in October which was the most SPECTACULAR of spectaculars. We chased wild animals through the bush, chilled with overly enthusiastic backpackers, ran through preserved wetlands, went bat-hunting, and had a generally phenomenal time. Best of all we went to a Sangoma ( traditional healer) ceremony, which was super cool, and I think Erik has found his true calling in life.:) Since then I've been trying ot chill a bit after a quite busy three months. I finished up coursework in November, so thats all done. Just the thesis left now. I'm going ot be taking a look at women who have received redistributed land through SA's ... read more

And so it was time to head south through Swaziland and back into South Africa to a place called St Lucia on the north east coast. St Lucia is in the middle of a nature reserve where a fresh water estuary meets the Indian Ocean. As a result it is home to a massive amount of wildlife. We were told that over 80% of South Africa's crocs and hippos live here, so it was our mission to finally get some good hippo snaps. Until recently we knew very little about the Hippopotamus, but having done a boat trip here we are far more educated. The hippo is no sloth; on land they have an average speed of 45kph, only 10kph short of a cheetah. They have a 5 tonne bite, which is greater than that of ... read more

When the structures of society seek to steal away our common experience, we must intentionally create new structures that defy those separations. After these months of continual conflict with myself, of daily frustrated attempts at seeing the truth of this place which is South Africa, I decided to drastically alter the structure of my life. I arranged to work at a children’s home at the village of Umzinyathi in the Kwa-Zulu Natal province. Why not dive head-first into this thing called reality? Umzinyathi is about an hour’s drive outside the city of Durban. This small Zulu village consists of rolling hills of green traced with dirt roads and dotted with concrete houses. All day long taxis zip up and down the main stretch honking and signaling the code for their destination. One finger for Durban, two ... read more

This morning we went to the local mall and bought a camera, and the guy at the camera store was very helpful. He is from Zimbabwe, having left 3 years ago when the economy of that country sank, and was one of many people we have talked with about work permits. There is a wide variety of experiences regarding how people have gotten work permits and how long it takes; the guy at the camera store had 2, since the office kept losing his paperwork and he submitted more than once. One came a year after the other! Then Bob and I both got haircuts; no more shaggy Sherri! We also got a call that the transaction had not yet been finalized for the car, and we would have to wait until next week to pick ... read more