April 2007, reposted

April, 2007, South Africa; the Western Cape

Note that since I failed to do an adequate posting of the pictures for this April, 2007 blog, I have reposted with improved pictures, thus this blog falls after the May 2007 blog which you will find by strolling down or clicking on Previous Blog. Unfortunately, this blog posting refuses to acknowledge the paragraphs changes so the paragraphs all flow together. I've tried reposting repeatedly but it keeps coming up the same.

I mentioned in an earlier Blog that not long after arriving in South Africa in June, 2000, I felt a strong need to make a contribution, and not to just live comfortably in privilege as was so obviously the situation I had found myself in. I remembered friends in Vancouver who had told me many years ago they had moved to Jamaica for a period but couldn’t adjust to being the white master and madam, as it was expected of them that they hire and utilize the services of the poorer citizen who deferred to them as superior. As Canadians, most of us are familiar with caring for our selves, or within the mutual co-operation of family and occasional help from friends. It takes an adjustment to live in comfort in a developing country. Learning to accept the divide between rich and poor and learning to say ‘no’ is one of the harder adjustments. Beggars can be masterful at times, and they always come back for more. Since some of you, my family and friends, may wonder what it is exactly that Solinus is doing in Africa, I thought that in this blog I would tell you. As often as not I’m unprepared to tell people of all the many things I do in the community, for although I believe I am not bragging, the concern that I might just possibly be doing that, bragging, tends to limit my comments. Effectively, what I am doing is working with the poor, most often the poorest of the poor. I find great satisfaction in it. I recall reading an American report that those retired individuals who find satisfactory service in helping the less fortunate, are the happiest of retired people, and additionally tend to live longer. I can certainly say that I am happy, often challenged, yes, occasionally anxious and worried, but happy, definitely happy. When I arrived here I immediately met Madeleine who quickly became a close friend. She comes from a well known and successful journalist family who fought apartheid, and who is herself a national journalist. Her vast store of close, privileged and talented friends, who she has known since school years, testify to her part in ending apartheid and the progressive class she is at home in. Her knowledge of how things work in South Africa, who is responsible for what, who was or is the nasty, and who the good and well intended, have always helped me understand the culture better, and they have led to many connections, people with whom I work to bring about positive change. Madeleine introduced me to Constable Suria Meyer and this led to the development of the Victim Support room at the local police station, then to “Auntie” Dulcie Winegaard, one of twelve official “aunties” in South Africa. Dulcie was awarded this title for her efforts to end apartheid and continuing to work for the poor ever since and while at no time enriching herself in the process as so many others have done. Her energy seems tireless to me; she works six days a week and then on Sunday visits the ill in our community. I’ve never been able to totally keep up with her, but as her personal assistant I have had the honour of working on many poverty projects in our beautiful Winelands region. And I know that my living and contributing to the new South Africa makes a difference, even if just a small difference. The process of my partnership with Dulcie is simple. I am computer literate and skilled with various publishing and accounting programs. I have Canadian office experience and the ability to get things done on time. This allowed me to bring to Dulcie’s energy fast and effective communication with various municipal and government offices and the management skills to complete projects successfully. I feel I work a full week, albeit voluntarily, and am in a sense no longer either retired, nor in hindsight, have I been since arriving here. The organization Auntie Dulcie founded is the Rural Women Association, its mandate to work with the poorest of the poor in the Montagu region, and with many of those people and families who since 1994 have been evicted from farms where often they had lived for generations. Our programs and projects address the children, women, the sick, the displaced and the elderly. We are now recognized as the most active NPO/NGO in the region and this week were requested to attend local municipality budgetary meetings to determine the budgetary requirements for community service programs. Ironically, we have already been sitting with the greater regional community service committee at the regional Municipal level for over a year. The local Municipality grounded in the old regime has never liked or wanted to deal with the regional or District Municipality which represents the new dispensation, the ANC. This animosity towards the ANC has been at the root of many of our organization’s challenges. Standing officials who fought with Dulcie during Apartheid, and who appear to hate her as a troublemaker, still retain office. I’m sure you can imagine the impact this has had on our organization’s ability to act, especially when we need permission for almost every project we enact. Nevertheless our successes mount. In the municipal elections last year, early 2006, the ANC took majority control of the local Municipality. They then encountered, as a new five-town municipal administration, not only an unwillingness for cooperation from the officials in their hallowed halls, but instead a determination to obstruct the new Council by these same officials, long in power and hurting from their perceived losses which resulted with the transition in 1994 from Apartheid to Democracy. This week’s request to participate in their budget deliberations actually came as a startling and welcomed surprise for us. The invitation was from the ANC‘s Mayoral Council and not from the old regime’s officials. Only recently these very officials ordered Rural Women Association to High Court in Capetown, something which is both very expensive and generally only happens upon appeal after prosecution in a lower court. Our crime, and the order asks for criminal charges to be placed, was to help and supervise residents of a severely poor shack settlement to build an ECD Shack Crèche in their community. Both our lawyer and advocate stated it was over-kill for the Municipality to demand the dispute be heard in High Court. For some unknown and surely political reason, this same mayoral council refuses to speak with us while the Court Order date steadily approaches. We have resigned hope that we will receive their help and have considered turning to the press. Understandably we cannot quite grasp how an ANC Council would permit charges against what is effectively an ANC NPO/NGO for carrying out both national and provincial policy by supporting the residents. There is press interest. Dulcie and I gave three interviews this week. At this stage, and hoping that the municipality will see the light, we have been reluctant to embarrass the municipality in the press. After all, we know we must work with them in the coming years if our many programs are to be successful. What the Municipality’s officials want the High Court to decide on is that RWA, Dulcie and myself have committed a crime in supporting the residents of a severely poor shack community to build an additional shack to supervise and educate their young children. Additionally, a very serious charge is to be defended, that we have invaded land that belongs to the Municipality; and this while 30 shacks already exist at the location. Rather than describe the many Rural Women Association programs in details, you can see some of them at the following link on our Google Rural Women album site: http://picasaweb.google.com/solinusj/RuralWomenAssociationSouthAfrica Proverbially, each picture speaks a thousand words. Auntie Dulcie is off to Durban next week for the international World Rural Women conference where she will be giving a paper on behalf of both our organization and the provincial Rural Women. You may or may not see reports in the international papers and news sites on the event. Women’s issues are sadly ignored in South Africa. Me, I’ll be visiting the many house gardens delivering winter seedlings and insuring that the squatter camp Crèche children have a great first week. Personally, I don’t believe I will every have to appear in court, that it will be settled first. But if I’m wrong in my trust and we lose, and if the court accepts I am to be charged with a criminal matter which then requires further defence, well it will be my first criminal charge ever… and considering the reason, a feather in this Canadian boy’s hat. And I’ll be fighting for a great organization. For the moment this is Sunday afternoon, mid twenties, sun shining with the exquisite South African weather so common here… I’m off for a walk. Solinus