Final Thoughts

There is something appealing about just driving down a highway and not having to be anywhere.  I've been doing a lot of that in the past several weeks. Why did I take this trip?  For fun?  For ministry?  To just get away?  The allure was the first World Cup in Africa; what more can you say, that's just awesome!  However, I didn't want to travel to Africa only on some grand adventure.  Africa is a place with such a checkered past.  It has abundant disease and poverty, but also has such rich people and culture.  I wanted to experience what God was doing in a few small places.  And finally, I think I wanted to experience some magnificent insight into the future of my life.

And the trip was all that I could have hoped for -- except for maybe that magnificent insight part, but we'll get to that later.  The games and stadiums were spectacular; the people were warm, generous, and hospitable; the ministries were doing immeasurable good.  I saw the beauty and grandeur of South Africa and the diversity of its people.  I learned much about the history and engraved the memory of memorials

And what am I doing with my life?  Who knows...I certainly don't.  I don't mean that in a melancholy sort of way; I mean that in a World at my fingertips sort of way.  I've got ideas.  Do I wish I had a clearer picture?  Sure, but it's nothing to get upset about.  There are so many things that I can pour myself in today that tomorrow should sort itself out in time.  I know God will be there.  "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.' " Hebrews: 13:5

 

And what does that leave me with?  I keep on coming back to the SA tourism interview I completed in the airport as I was leaving.  Did my trip change my perception of South Africa?  "Yes".  Will I come back to South Africa?  "Probably".

Hambani kahle! 

A tale of two valleys

South Africa is a place of contrasts.  One place this can be seen is in the Drakensberg mountains, where two valleys tell different stories.  I was staying in a wonderful backpacker's hostel in the Champagne valley surrounded by such things as golf courses, hiking trails, and resort lodges.  Only a few miles away is another valley full of tiny huts, starving cows, and abundant poverty.

UPC (University Presbyterian Church) Betsy Meyers works in this second valley.  Only a couple years older than me, she has been here for six years and runs a home care organization.  She carries a young baby boy named Moses with her that was left by the river; she is adopting him.

Betsy allowed me to join her on home visits in a population that is 40% HIV Positive.  I learned from her how Tuberculosis (TB) is just as big of a problem and how AIDS and TB work together to destroy lives.

In this valley, Zulu politics collides with municipal politics.  Tribal traditions often take precedence over local laws.  Everything is run by a Chief.  If the Chief is a drunkard or otherwise absent judge, problems ensue. 

Education is crucial here.  The first lady we visit has several times stopped taking her ARV's (anti viral medications for AIDS and TB).  Young girls sleep around and have children by several fathers.  AIDS orphans 1.2 million children in SA.  We visit a home where a 19 year old girl cares for four brothers and sisters -- while still going to school.  We visit another house where there are 14 people under the age of 27 (without the parents) in the house.

Watching Betsy, her warm personality connects with these girls.  They laugh about boys and she warns about AIDS.  The organization she founded, Thembalethu Care Organization (http://hopeforaids.blogspot.com/), trains women to be caregivers in the area.  They visit houses and check up on the patients.  If need be, they refer them to the American nurse on staff or to a clinic or to a hospital.  They urge the patients to get tested for AIDS and multi-drug resistant TB and provide taxi fare for getting there.

Their heart is big and their resources limited.  They have carried out God's command to love the poor and the sick; they love unconditionally.  They make due with what they have, but somehow are still managing to build a center that will provide such services as support groups and a children's soup kitchen.  Surely we should all be serving the poor, the outcast, the alien, the helpless, the sick, and the lonely.  Surely this is what the Kingdom of God must look like.

My worst day

Leaving Port Elizabeth, I embarked on what was anticipated to be a long drive to rejoin Cindy and Trevor Francis on the South Coast.  The first thing you should know about the South African highways is they frequently pass through towns forcing your speed to come to a screeching halt.  The second thing that you should know is that sometimes you have to inexplicably take turns to stay on the highway itself.  On my drive from PE, I of course stayed straight on the highway which, of course, means I actually left the highway (because I should have turned off).  After a good while, I realized that I was headed in the wrong direction; but no worries, there was a road that I could cut across to save time! (There are not many roads in South Africa) 

This road, of course, turned out to be a dirt road, at which point I realized I was running dangerously low on gas.  The third thing you should know is that gas stations (full serve and rarely accepting credit cards) are pretty rare on the highways.  But no worries, there was a small town randomly in the middle of this dirt highway.  Rolling into town on fumes, very much relieved, I looked for a gas station that I was not finding.   I finally pulled into a country store where the Domestic informed me that there was no gas station in town!  After a call to the owner in the shop, I ended up hiking a mile or two up the road with the son of the Domestic in search of some gas at an auto shop.  I found out that he had come from Cape Town and was doing odd jobs and some art (that was sold at the shop) to get by on.  I bought the last 4 liters of gas from the auto shop, had some tea with the Domestic, and was able to get to the next city to fill up.

The fourth thing you should know about the highways is that the mountain roads are clogged with very slow semis and are often only two lanes.  SA drivers are very impatient and often attempt suicidal passes.  After leaving the city that I got the gas, a huge caravan of cars ended up getting backed up behind a semi.  They slowly started making suicidal passes to where I ended up behind the truck.  The guy behind me wasn't waiting for me to take my pass so he passed us both.  I went to follow him, but so did the guy behind him.  My side mirror clipped his side and both our cars had some minor damage.  This would lead us to have to file a police report at the police station where he didn't speak English, I didn't speak Zulu, and the police didn't speak very good English.

Moving on from there, I continued on towards the South Coast.  Being without a GPS, I once again failed to turn onto the highway and started going up some mountain highway.  The sixth thing you should know about South African highways is that there is sometimes random speed bumps in the middle of them.  I hit one twice that has to be the biggest speed bump to ever grace asphalt!

After something like 13 - 14 hours of driving, two wrong turns, nearly running out of gas, a traffic accident, and random speed bumps, a very tire heavily caffeinated Irvin rolled into the Francis house around 12:30 am.  Trevor was very gracious to me and even eased my hunger pains with some local fried chicken.  The next morning I was able to recoup and enjoy the wonderful hospitality of Cindy and Trevor before heading out to my final stop in the Drakensberg mountains.

Port Elizabeth, 3rd Place game, and sweet game park

After a couple of gorgous days in Cape Town, I finally experiences a more typical winter day on my way out of town. It was pouring down rain as I headed East along the Coast. As I was leaving, I passed Khalyisha, the largest Township in Cape Town, and was dumbstruck by the sea of poverty and the enormity of the wealth gap.

I decided to take a little detour through Stellenbosch and Franschhoek which are famous for their wine country (nothing like a little alchohol before a cross-country drive). I stopped by two wineries for some fantastic samples -- the second had a well adorned and polished wine room that felt like it was somewhere out of the South of France; I soaked up my wine at my table in front of the fireplace!

The drive from cape Town to Port Elizabeth is quite beautiful as much of it winds along the coast. The highway actually passes through quite a few towns and can get annoying slowing down to 40 Kilometers an hour.

I arrived to meet my host Ashley right around the start of the 3rd and 4th place game in PE (Germany vs. Uruguay). We arrived maybe 15 minutes late amid a freezing rain and a bitter wind.  I'll have to say that this may have been my favorite of several really impressive stadiums.  It was smaller and more intimate.  It was a little bit like Husky Stadium where there was a roof that covered most of the fans, but left the field exposed to the elements; the roof was also really effective at trapping in the noise of the fans and vuvvzelas.  The game was probably the best and most entertaining of all the ones I went to. There were five goals and I was continually impressed by Diego Forlan of Uruguay. Who cares if the game was mostly meaningless?

The following day I went to Church with Ashley and Gharde Gellan -- who did gymnastics at the University of Washington. I had lunch with Gharde, Gharde's mom, and another friend at a restaurant with a sweet view overlooking the water. Afterwards, we drove through a really fun game park. There were rhinos! warthogs!! Cheetahs!!! So cool and we were able to get so close to the animals in our car; at one point the Rhinos started jogging down the road towards our car.

After the game park, we bundled up for what would be a most unpleasant night weatherwise. We went out to the fan park to watch the Final with Netherlands and Spain. After the match, I couldn't feel my toes, but it was fun to hang out with a crowd for the final! It was sad that there would be no World Cup from here on out -- sad for South Africa as well as the country prepared for the post World Cup depression.  Alas, these things must come to an end.