Mountain High

Sept. 8, 2006

Mountain High-A Visit to Our Future Worksite

Brendon and I have just returned from a weeklong visit to our future work site at a TB hospital in the mountains of KwaZuluNatal. This was our first chance to see the beauty of South Africa aside from our homestay village that has been our training base for the last month. We first spent two days at a workshop in Rustenburg, a platinum mining town in the Northwest province and were impressed with the gorgeous rocky cliffs that surround the city. The directors of the hospital for our future work site gave us a hearty welcome and began sharing their vision for the facility. We had a good chance to get acquainted as we drove from the Northwest province through Gauteng, Mnpulanga and then into KwaZuluNatal, locally known by its initials KayZedEn. The scenery changes in each province with the arid flat landscape and mining towns with huge mounts of tailings becoming rocky cliffs and bluffs where Zulu wars and Boer wars were fought. The area we will be living in is known as Zululand with battlefield museums, monuments and bed and breakfast hotels.
We stopped for supplies in the town of Vryheid which we will call home even though it is 80 kilometers from the mountain hospital. I was impressed with the quality of the shops, the tidiness of the homes and the beautiful gardens. The grocery stores could compete with anything in the US with their abundant supplies of produce, including some varieties I did not recognize, and ample offerings of lamb, beef and sausage. South Africans love meat and enjoy outdoor barbeques known as the Braai which always includes some sausage. (Our homestay family is planning a braai this Saturday to honor our Zulu language group). The town has other amenities including churches, a nursery, banks, clothing and furniture stores, restaurants, several hotels and two bookstores.
As we left Vryheid, I began to wonder what life would be like living in a hospital compound 80 km to the nearest grocery store. The scenery became more lovely and verdant as we left town and began the long climb to Mountain High. A short ways out of town we spotted a sign to the local hot springs spa which we hope to visit and may be just the thing after a long bike ride in the mountains. Soon the dry grasses turned to natural and cultivated forests with pine and gum trees silhouetting the hillsides and buttes of the countryside. Some of the mountains had interesting geological formations and steep rocky sides. I made a note to buy a geological guide to South Africa as well as a wildlife guide.
After the beautiful drive up the mountain we arrived at Mountain High and were greeted by the guard at the gate to the compound. The facility consists of numerous small buildings and cottages on the ridge of a mountain with forests surrounding the cleared site. To our surprise the grounds had extensive plantings that looked just like home; bougainvillea, bird of paradise, an lemon orchard, vinca, impatiens, red hibiscus and a poinsettia in our backyard that was still in bloom as this is winter in the southern hemisphere. The hospital was built around 80 years ago and is in the style of sanitariums where patients were taken out to clean air and good nutrition for extended periods until they were cured. Our residence is half of a cottage that contains the business office where I will be working in administration. So my new commute will require only a walk out my front door. Our home looks like it will be comfortable with a hot shower, flushing toilet, electricity and space heater. However it may be confining when the famous mist of the mountain moves in as the space consists of one room with a small hallway containing a sink, stove and shower. The room is bright and sunny with windows on all sides and a gorgeous view. Prime real estate!!
Our whirlwind tour of South Africa included a visit with a Peace Corps couple who have been working for one year in a small city two hours from Vryheid. After a most enjoyable visit, we got on a Greyhound bus and traveled to Pretoria. Bus service in South Africa is pleasureable with comfortable reclining seats, attendants serving drinks, and continuous movies to pass the time. We returned to our village from Pretoria via two Kumbie rides, which almost delivered us to our doorstep. Our mama greeted us with open arms and a delicious meal of pap and chicken.
The week was exciting for us because it gave us a glimpse of what our life may be like in two weeks after swearing in and the compelling nature of the work before us. We will graduate from training and will be sworn in as Volunteers on the 21st. We will then move to our site and begin work. We hope we are up to the task!