South Africa

South Africa is known for its unique and powerful contribution to conflict resolution, so although I will enjoy and honor their delicious food, meaningful literature, amazing animals, and fabulous music, I will start with two people I appreciate and admire, Juba and Raewyn, who each have a deep but different connection with South Africa.

Juba is currently working on her PhD in Behavioral Health at Loma Linda University. She looks at the transgenerational trauma of apartheid and its wider societal impact. When I sat down with her earlier this week, she told me that after losing the Anglo-Boer War, the children of the Dutch were taken to concentration camps. They suffered shame and humiliation. Apartheid, creating new trauma in a new group of people, was a reenactment of the trauma that the inventers had not mourned and processed.

Juba respects the nation building begun by Nelson Mandela. She admires the truth and reconciliation process in its first iteration by Desmond Tutu. But she hopes for an even more careful process that can bring closure. She describes one of her post-conflict peace building initiatives here: https://www.medico.de/fileadmin/_migrated_/document_media/1/integrating-african-meaning-systems-and-system.pdf

For more ideas about bringing about psychological, social, and financial healing to South Africa, Juba recommends the work of Dr. Marjorie Jobson, the National Director of Khulumani Support Group, who is interviewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnotWfOKtsk

Juba’s childhood memories of South Africa include church activities, being a drum majorette, and laughing as she walked with friends. My other South African friend, Raewyn, remembers shopping in the dynamic and vibrant city of Cape Town, hiking to the top of Table Mountain, climbing through Cango Caves, seeing a baboon jump on her grandmother to grab some food at Cape Point National Park, and long drives with her grandparents, with mountains on one side and the ocean on the other, on their way to many beaches. Raewyn’s grandfather ran Comrades several times. It is the oldest continuously running ultramarathon, 55 miles from Durbin to Pietermaritzburg, or from Pietermaritzburg to Durbin depending on if you are doing the up run or the down run. It must be completed within 12 hours. Raewyn did the up run in 2017. Another adult visit included Robbin Island, the prison where Nelson Mandela was held for 18 or his 27 years of incarceration.

As a child, Raewyn told me Thursday morning, she wasn’t aware of apartheid. All of her memories were with white people. She became more aware when her uncle crafted the policy and recognition of complicity that the Seventh-day Adventist church submitted to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. As a pastor at La Sierra University Church, Raewyn encourages her parishioners toward discipleship and inclusive community. She and her husband Michael host a wide ranging and thoughtful book group. Allan and I are looking forward to our get-together in March when we will discuss Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela.

After I read Mandela’s book in preparation for the book group, I wanted to learn what came next, so I also read Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation by John Carlin. I want to see Invictus, the movie based on that book.

Juba and Raewyn aren’t the only people who are willing to travel to South Africa with me while staying at home. In November, Christine and I drove out to Van Nuys to meet Cathy at Springbok Bar & Grill. This is a sports bar and there was a game on, so it was loud. There was plenty of bar food besides the specifically South African things we tried. We split the:

· Jan Van Riebeecks Boerewors Roll: a traditional South African all beef sausage on fresh baked roll with Springbok fries and a side of Train Smash (tomato and onion gravy)

· Naidoo’s Durban Veggie Curry served over rice with sambal

· Chicken peri-peri with springbok fries, side salad, and coleslaw

Everything was delicious! The peri peri chicken was probably the best I've had, because it wasn't burning my mouth. The server said it could be hotter if we wanted it, but we didn't.

I’ve also been to two different South African groceries stores in Southern California. At African Hut in Laguna Niguel, I looked at all the chocolates and biscuits, then I bought two kinds of peri-peri sauce, and a drink syrup to mix with soda water. A Perky’s in San Diego, I picked up Melktart and Koeksisters at Raewyn’s request, Rooibos tea and Eet-Sum-Mor biscuits at Juba’s request, and a chicken curry hand pie for me.

To learn more about South African food, I watched the episode of Gordon Ramsey Uncharted on DisneyPlus in which a Zulu chef teaches him how to cook for a Zulu warrior. When I get a chance to cook South African food, I will start here: https://cheflolaskitchen.com/delicious-south-african-foods/

I have two more friends who have enthusiastically supported me on this virtual trip to South Africa, Heidi and Linda. They both did the Conqueror Challenge walk from Crocodile Bridge to Skukuza in Kruger National Park, one of the largest wildlife reserves in Africa. As they logged their miles here in Southern California, the Conqueror Challenge sent them emails containing postcards, descriptions of the area they would be passing through, historical information, and so much about the animals in the park. Heidi and Linda forwarded them to me, so I could travel with them. More information is here: https://www.theconqueror.events/kruger/

Heidi has three additional recommendations from her engagement with South Africa:

· Watch Cry, the Beloved Country with James Earl Jones.

· Watch Tsotsi, a South African film about a young man who steals a car and finds a baby in the back seat

· Read Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane

I wasn’t able to find Heidi’s recommendations online (the library might have them), but Raewyn’s recommendation, the movie Skin, is on Tubi: https://tubitv.com/movies/536921/skin

Netflix has so many more South African movies, documentaries, TV shows, romances, dramas, and crime movies. My favorite are the three Trevor Noah comedy specials, especially his most recent "I Wish You Would." I also enjoyed Born a Crime by Trevor Noah when I read it with my AAUW book group in 2020.

When I was looking for girl stories, I found one based on a Zulu praise poem. Scroll to the bottom for the full poem: https://www.rejectedprincesses.com/princesses/mkabayi-kajama

I was also interested in the San art https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ll1A8nXCss and the sections on Shaka, the Zulu, and the discovery of diamonds and gold covered in Africa's Great Civilizations: Commerce and the Clash of Civilizations https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6ujhy6

There is so much more, but I’ll finish with some music options, including my first experience with South African music, when Paul Simon created a collaboration and had a concert in Zimbabwe (more information from a contemporary news article here: https://www.csmonitor.com/1987/0217/osim-f.html), then one of Juba’s recommendations, and a few more:

· From Paul Simon’s work with Miriam Makeba, who at the time was in exile from South Africa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85rr5SqrCZI&list=RD85rr5SqrCZI&start_radio=1&rv=85rr5SqrCZI&t=67

· Jerusalema, recommended by Juba: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCZVL_8D048

· The National Anthem, which is sung in five different languages https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBKjWRjwMkY

· Marabi, this video shows a piece of music, then the pianist explains the chord structure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NznMBXbDSkI

· The Soweto Gospel Choir: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-HqO-EojS4

· Ladysmith Black Mambazo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FclwRECHoWc

· Johnny Clegg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X-o7Kfqbuw

· Synth Peter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj4cD5xn2n0

Here are just a few of the many great places to visit in South Africa: https://www.thecrazytourist.com/15-best-places-visit-south-africa/#more-8299. I would love to go! I look forward to that time when we can travel broadly again. In the meantime, I’m hoping we all survive, thrive, recognize our mutual humanity, learn to deal with our conflicts, and allow peace, health, and safety to flourish in South Africa and throughout the world.

Photo Credit: Joey Zhou https://unsplash.com/photos/58sCI9GDQ6Q