Mountain High Farewell

Today we are headed to Pretoria for a week of medical exams and a close of service conference to make sure we are ready for America. The week was very emotive with highs and lows each day as we grew excited about returning home but had to say goodbye to our Zulu friends and coworkers. We crammed in many hours of last minute computer training, shopping trips to make the cupboard was well stocked for the occupational therapy program, packing/discarding our belongings, and even played tour director for 7 US medical students visiting the hospital..

Wednesday was a beautiful warm fall day, the first warm day for several weeks. After lunch in our flat I talked Brendon into a quick hike up the mountain to look at the gorgeous views before we returned to the chaos of the office. We heard beautiful Zulu singing coming from the chapel and I asked someone if there was a funeral today. He said “No funeral, they are singing for you.” We did not understand and kept on our trek out the gate and up the mountain. The kitchen manager gave chase after us and told us that the hospital (unknown to us) was holding a Farewell ceremony for us and we had better head into the chapel. No funeral here as we walked into the crowded chapel and were escorted (danced with the matron on one side and the director on the other) to the head table. Staff, patients, managers, office workers, school teachers and even the principals from the two public schools showed up to say goodbye to the goofy couple from America that never got the Zulu right but tried to help. South Africa knows how to do ceremony and this was no exception. The Zulu songs continued with solos and duets. The speeches started, mainly in Zulu, but a translator was provided so we did not miss any of the kind words and thanks. The nurses got up and did a shtick about riding a bicycle in 1940, a correct date as they are all well into their 60’s and more. A patient got up and read a passage from the Bible. They sang the “BINGO” song which I used each week to round up the patients for a bingo game. They spoke of leaving one’s country to serve AIDS patients in a very rural place. They sang “For she’s a Jolly Good Fellow” and bid us that we would send more Americans to their community to help them. The experience of being the center of such adulation and praise was embarrassing but also intensely endearing. I apologized for all of our gaffes and our poor Zulu. I told them that they would be in our hearts and minds every day, which is certainly true today as I remember their faces and individual style.

I do not know how much we accomplished at Mountain High Hospital but we were able to experience being accepted into a very different culture and embraced in a very special way. It will be a change to go home, blend in, and be ignored by neighbors and children in the street. We are so grateful that we have had this opportunity and that we have stayed healthy throughout this amazing experience.