Health and Happiness Report

It is time to write about our experiences with the diversity of this nation and how we get along in our daily lives. A few weeks ago the blog reported the poignant story of the young teenage girl whose mother was lost somewhere in a hospital in Durban and father was dead. A makoti (mature married woman) created rag dolls out of fabric scraps and the girl used them for comfort as she dragged them around the hospital grounds and slept with them at night. Last Sunday Brendon and I were asked to give the children’s sermon at our church. Each child was given a small piece of fabric and asked what could be done with a scrap of material. No one had an answer. The ubuntu quilt and the rag dolls were then unveiled as examples of what community sharing can achieve. Zenali’s story was told in all of its tenderness. Today a young mother greeted us as we arrived at church with a beautifully hand knit doll that her mother had made this week. The doll had a hat with flowers, a rainbow skirt, yellow pigtails, bloomers, eyes, nose and mouth. Her mother had been in the audience last week and was inspired to do something to help the patients. The white middle class in the English speaking church are striving to find ways to connect with the Zulus in the area and have adopted Mountain High Hospital as their outreach project. It is great to feel the church’s support for our remote mountain home. The country has been so damaged by apartheid that even today, ten years after liberation, racial groups do not have easy ways of connecting and establishing trust. Our experience has been one of overwhelming kindness, courtesy and kindness from everyone here. (Some are curious about Where we are from and Why we came). The African middle class is emerging for young people, especially if they are educated and urban. However, we are living in a very rural community where even the brightest, most motivated Zulus cannot access computer skills, higher education or decent jobs.
Today we taught Sunday School to the 18 children in Sunday School- all ages from 3 to 15 years old. Recycled stories and songs from our home church in Palos Verdes were a big hit with a grand finale of Duck Duck Goose for the little ones. Here the children know what ducks and geese look like and the myriads of varieties in this bird lover’s paradise.
This is a great time to report that we are staying healthy and happy. In spite of having serious jobs, we sleep like babies every night and do not experience the same kind of stress that we faced in our careers in the US. It may be that there is a realization that the locals are ultimately responsible for the functioning and success of the hospital and only they can make improvements that are sustainable. Our great health, happiness and deep rest at night may be due to the altitude and clean air. It may be the absence of commuting stress or traffic. It may be the novelty of the experience and the fun of growing food and enjoying the beauty of the rocks, hillsides, native forests, pastures and animals. Cooking dinner every night is an adventure as we prepare the ingredients at our dining table, transport it through the sleeping area to the hotplate in the kitchen corridor. (But how delicious everything tastes in this country of bounty and local farms. Today the grocery store in Vryheid had litchi, fresh cling peaches and mangos.) It may be the sense of purpose and belief that we are needed and wanted here. Whatever it is, The Bonds have taken the Cure and are enjoying country life. Each day has a life of its own and there is certainly no worrying about the troubles of tomorrow. The Peace Corps teaches Patience and Flexibility (known to us now as P and F) from the beginning of the cumbersome application process, through the medical clearances and the two month training. Ironically, although it would appear that we have little control over our daily life the opposite seems true as we are free to imagine great things for the hospital and enjoy the fantastic setting. Some would say that making things happen in Africa is almost impossible but we have found that we can make dreams a reality by plunging ahead and starting that programming, garden or craft project.
After struggling alone with our garden and then being supported with the tractor, many employees have jumped on board and are planting food that are staples and essential to their diet. They are wondering about the uses for weird crops that the Bond’s planted like basil, parsley, lettuce and radishes as they are not familiar. However we are looking forward to some great pesto and salads from the good earth of Mountain High. Come up and join us for dinner!