Week 7

Hello all!

After seven weeks in Nkandla, 'these are a few of my favorite things' (a fitting tribute to life in a convent, eh?)*:

1) In Nkandla when you make a mistake, trip or drop something, everyone else says "sorry." It's so cute and polite – and takes the responsibility for whatever blunder you've made completely off your hands. For someone who stumbles quite a bit, this is fantastic. I'm not sure what this traces to but I love it.

2) In order to answer in the negative, people here say yes. If I say to the boys, "You don't have any homework?" they respond, "Yes." This means they don't, in fact, have any homework. Or if I say to my trainers, "You didn't take the taxi to work?" they say "Yes." As in "yes, we didn't."



This has been an amazing week – due mostly to a last minute driving trip I took up the N2 (a major highway that runs North/South the length of Kwa Zulu Natal) by Swaziland to visit Igwavuma, which is where Fancy Stitch (www.fancy.org.za) is run. As I've mentioned before, one of my main objectives in Nkandla has been to research opportunities for supporting women's craft development in the hopes of providing sustainable income opportunities. Fancy Stitch does just that – and produces absolutely gorgeous embroidered tapestries, greeting cards, Christmas ornaments and custom pieces by request. Oprah Winfrey herself bought and commissioned a number of tapestries to decorate her new school – and you know that lady has taste!



Last Friday after a horrendous visit to the bank to purchase my plane tickets for Capetown and Nairobi (Wells Fargo put my card on hold 4 days after it had last been used for no real reason – they had been notified I was in South Africa but somehow the falafel I purchased in Jo'burg struck them as suspicious), I set off in one of the sisters' VW Golf's for Igwavuma. It was a gorgeous day and I arrived in the mountains just around sunset to find myself skirting the edge of the huge and utterly stunning Pongolapoort Dam. I stopped to take the attached photo and received my second proposal from someone in the midst of a group of guys sitting on the opposite side of the road. Clearly, proposing is a serious business here.



I drove on in the increasing darkness, winding my way past cows much larger than those we have in Nkandla until I finally arrived at the beautiful home of Maryna Heese, who founded and runs Fancy Stitch. Maryna and her husband are Afrikaaners who have lived in Igwavuma for the past 18 years. Her husband, Daniel, is a doctor at the hospital and they have four children – the older two are at boarding school and university, and they have two adopted children still at home. It was a real joy to spend the weekend with their family and learn about the work they do. On Friday night we were joined by their neighbor Bridget and her two adopted children, Muzi and Zaza. They live in another amazing house that Maryna also designed that is a short path's walk away from the Heese's. Both houses have an incredible view of the valley behind Igwavuma which I discovered in the morning as the kids pointed out their schools in the distance. On Friday night I was thankful for a few moments to talk with Daniel and get his perspective on treating HIV/AIDS patients – and the special challenges faced with treating children. The same factors that come up over and over here were discussed – people are resistant to getting tested and treatment is often started too late. Daniel also emphasized the current crisis in that AIDS has become what is called an "income-generating" disease. I think I've mentioned this in the past – but this made me realize that there are honestly people who are not taking precautions because they consider the government grants available to people with AIDS to be an almost positive opportunity. This is a terrifying reality, and I can't imagine what it must be like for a doctor who is committed to preventing and treating this disease.



On Saturday I accompanied Maryna and an American volunteer staying with her to Embhatisa – the workshop they built a little over a year ago to house Fancy Stitch's operations. Embhatisa means, "to share one's blanket" in Zulu, and also serves as a central point for missions work the Heese's do to in the local community. It's a breathtaking building and practically glows with the opportunity and community it fosters inside. I went crazy picking out cards and gifts – some for TAP to use in fundraising, some for myself and to share when I return in the hopes of providing an expanded market for their goods and the story they tell in the U.S.



What is most exciting and I feel an affirmation of why I needed to take this trip is that while in Igwavuma I shared the sample children's book I've made (I actually finished it there) and gained Maryna's support in working to create them with local women in Nkandla. If I can identify start-up funding, she will provide the training for our initial group of women – and also hopes to start making books in Igwavuma as well. Her expertise would be invaluable in this effort – and I'm really thankful for the opportunity to share my ideas with her. My focus now is on identifying start up funding for materials, training and a communal gathering space – and then looking for markets when I return to the states. I'm not sure how this will unfold – but whether it happens immediately or not, the pieces are coming together and I'm excited and humbled by it all.



I ended my weekend in Igwavuma by attending a prayer meeting on Sunday with some of the local "settlers" and then headed down the hill. I was blessed with another gorgeous driving day and was in good spirits as I reached the N2 and kept my eye out for the colorful birds and monkeys I'd seen along the road on my way up. What I failed to see until the last moment was a wooden box sitting in the middle of the road – which when I did register it in my line of vision, I misjudged as cardboard. Running squarely over it my tire went instantly flat and I hobbled to the side of the road and considered my options. I wasn't worried as I was on a fairly populated stretch of highway, but I have never in my life changed a flat tire and thus knew I would have to rely on the generosity of a stranger to help me out. I ended up more or less using my body to block a guy going by on a bike who ended up speaking absolutely no English (fairly rare here), but who I managed to make my case for with a lot of pointing, exaggerated smiles and "giyabongas" (singular form of 'thank you', most likely not spelled right – my Zulu is dreadful). He was wonderful and dutifully climbed under my car as the big rigs whizzed by, helped me get the tire iron in place and got most of the thing changed before a local Afrikaaner farmer stopped and finished the job. I gave the first guy some money which was the only way I could make up for having practically forced him to stop – and he happily went on his way. The whole thing took roughly 20 minutes – it couldn't have been easier (well at least for me – I didn't do anything!).



The whole trip was a really nice experience in that it helped me to let go of my final apprehensions about travel and crime and feeling like you are limited in what you do here because of the risks. The thing is, there is a lot of crime in this country – but it's no different than anywhere else in the world. Violent crime is frequently connected to impoverished areas, and people with limited access to education and opportunities. While there are random acts of violence (again, like anywhere else in the world) that can't be predicted – with proper precaution most places are truly friendly, and even being stranded on the side of the road I didn't feel threatened in the least.



I'm now in the midst of my last full week in Nkandla, tying up loose ends, finalizing travel plans and trying to spend as much time with the kids as possible. Today Siyabonga ran around with my camera and took some 200 pictures of life around the center. His images capture the spirit of this place – both the happy and the sad as for some reason a lot of the kids were in tears at various times today (I think an unwillingness to share "barroons" was partially to blame). Next week I head to Durban to meet up with Richard and then pick up Beth and Kevin to return to Nkandla and then head north for some quick safari and sightseeing before I go to Capetown on my own.



I should get at least one more update out before I leave this wondrous place – thanks for sticking with me and I hope everyone is doing well in their own adventures!



Much love,



Megan


*Ryan watched The Sound of Music with some of the sisters this weekend and said it was quite surreal which made me giggle.