a day of rest … final thoughts

earlier today, miranda and i ate lunch out on the veranda overlooking the village of swayimane – where i will be spending most of my working days, about a hundred miles from the guesthouse. i very much enjoyed listening to her story, her involvement with zimele, her family history – and also sharing a bit about my journey here – and what has connected both of us to the same vision. at the very heart of zimele is the desire and need to promote and build communities through self-reliance – helping communities stand on their own two feet. what may seem like a straightforward mantra, is instead laced with so many intricate challenges.

– the ongoing fight against HIV/AIDS and the role of home-based care centers, deeply rooted cultural and social norms that impact resource management and decision making processes, agricultural challenges, fiscal responsibility and micro-business — to only name a few.

and yet, with all of these challenges lies perhaps the boldest – the tremendous spectrum of African identity – one that i do not dare to comprehend and can only wish to remotely embrace and inspect – that despite a complex history ravaged by war, disease and political corruption, there lies ubuntu – a special bond of shared humanity and social cohesion – a kindness and a gentleness that bleeds through the stories of these people and traditions that call upon the rest of the world to mimic.

i can only begin to understand and unravel these challenges in concrete terms.

as i make my first trip out to swayimane, i hope to bring with me some clarity and purpose with regards to all-of-the-above, but also knowing and expecting difficulties that will undoubtedly surface and perhaps, for good reason. as an interesting aside, there was a short blurb today in the local paper about a few mba students from the university of kwazulu-natal, that have teamed up with zimele to explore new models of economic development in swayimane. should timing work out, i may have the opportunity to meet some of these students and explore their research. i am quite excited about this prospect.)

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evening supper was a wonderful experience. i am extremely grateful for having Miranda and Max in my life. they have been so loving and kind in innumerable ways already – as not only my host, but as dear friends. they are such remarkable people – both of Scottish descent – who have endured an unlikely and vast array of experiences, having been raised as Afrikaans during some of the most turbulent periods of South Africa – that continue to reach out into the post-Apartheid era and into today’s reality. their stories are deeply personal and mixed with brave insight. their stories of love, tragedy, apprehension, death, hope, and an impassioned desire for social change, felt like a rain of bullets and really spoke deeply to me tonight.

i await the next morning!