Kindness in South Africa

This week restored my faith in humanity and South Africa. After returning to Mountain High Hospital last Sunday afternoon from a weekend in our shopping town, Brendon noticed that his wallet was missing. Mentally we retraced our steps from lunch, to the back row of the taxi where we were squashed with four passengers for the ride up the mountain, to our flat, and finally out back for a haircut. The last sighting was at the restaurant. Monday, Brendon called the small restaurant and inquired about the wallet but none had been found. Dismay set in as the wallet contained his California driver’s license and credit cards, plus a small amount of rand. (We learned after the Thanksgiving mugging to never carry around much money). Ugh! No more driving in South Africa as it would be impossible to get a replacement without returning to California. Driving is dangerous in South Africa but a true pleasure and a necessity if one wants to visit the national parks or see the fabulous African terrain, flora and fauna. The Peace Corps allows volunteers to rent cars when they are on leave. (The Bonds are not ones to stay at home when Vic Falls, Botswana, Namibia, and the Cape beckon). Thus far I have been afraid to drive on the left and worried that I cannot undo 40 years of “Stay Right”. A further complication occurred on the weekend when we went to the ATM to withdraw some US funds and discovered that our ATM cards had expired in January.

By Monday afternoon, I had resolved to learn to drive on the left for our next leave at Easter to the Cape, Hermanus and Stellenbosch. Our Zulu teacher arrived for our language lesson and we told him about our troubles over the weekend. We theorized that the wallet may have fallen out of Brendon’s back pocket in the crowded taxi. I asked Gobese if there was a Lost and Found at the Taxi Rank. He answered that there was no formal Lost and Found but he would call his friend who worked with the Rank Manager. He placed the call and a few minutes later his friend called back saying that a wallet had been turned in on Sunday. Hope for the Bond’s! Tuesday afternoon, Gogese arrived at our flat and asked if we had found the wallet. We answered, No, but we were still hopeful. He then pulled the black leather wallet out of his pocket with a big smile on his face. His friend rode the taxi all of the way up the mountain to deliver the wallet to Gobese at school that day. What a Miracle! Brendon and I were so thrilled that the Zulus would make such an effort for this act of kindness and honesty. I was ecstatic and felt blessed by this uplifting incident. (Plus I believe the South African roads will be much safer with Brendon driving.)

Blessings continued this week as we traveled to Amangwe Village, a Peace Corps site near the coast, to teach beading as part of their community development program. Amangwe Village was a former Mondi lumber company residential town that was converted to a center for teaching job skills and Zulu economic empowerment. Thanks to Alycia for inviting us and giving us the opportunity to see an effective NGO program in a beautiful tropical setting. My goal was to teach all five Zulu beading stitches during the three 4 hour sessions. The first session was 20 hospital patients from the next door hospital who were eager to learn their own culture. The next day included two sessions with 40 child care and home health workers who came to the village to learn organic gardening skills. These two groups were highly motivated and almost mastered four of the five stitches. I tried to give them a break midway through the training session, but they called out “We’re busy” and have no time to sing or drink tea. It was so fun to teach patients who were healthy and could push themselves to learn and perfect the techniques. They chatted, laughed and gossiped in their small circles, enjoying the experience of creating something beautiful from a few pieces of glass. I felt blessed that I could give them something of their own culture as they have the colorful patterns and art forms in their minds, but have never been taught the stitches. This could be another career path for Susan Bond when she returns home- Zulu Beading Teacher Extraordinaire! Life holds many surprises-What’s Ahead?