Now that I've given them enough time to spill the beans to plenty of people, I can make a public announcement on here. My sister, Bronnie (Bronwyn), and her boyfriend, Ed are agettin' hitched! Welcome to the Owen Family, Ed! Love you guys.
12 February 2009
In That Hill Country
Now that I've given them enough time to spill the beans to plenty of people, I can make a public announcement on here. My sister, Bronnie (Bronwyn), and her boyfriend, Ed are agettin' hitched! Welcome to the Owen Family, Ed! Love you guys.
11 February 2009
And on this day...
'I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs
be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.'- Nelson Mandela
11 Febraury 1990 Nelson Mandela was released from Victor Verster Prison in Paarl, Western Cape after being incarcerated for 27 years. On that same day, from Cape Town, he delivered a speech to the people of South Africa and to the world. The quote above is the conclusion of that speech where he quotes "his own words" from his trial in 1964. For a transcript of the whole speech you can go to:
http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/history/mandela/1990/release.htmlhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.'- Nelson Mandela
11 Febraury 1990 Nelson Mandela was released from Victor Verster Prison in Paarl, Western Cape after being incarcerated for 27 years. On that same day, from Cape Town, he delivered a speech to the people of South Africa and to the world. The quote above is the conclusion of that speech where he quotes "his own words" from his trial in 1964. For a transcript of the whole speech you can go to:
http://www.anc.org.za/ancdocs/history/mandela/1990/release.htmlhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
09 February 2009
Shantaram
"I clenched my teeth against the stars. I closed my eyes. I surrendered to sleep. One of the reasons why we crave love and seek it so desperately, is that love is the only cure for loneliness., and shame, and sorrow. But some feelings sink so deep into the heart that only loneliness can help you find them again. Some truths about yourself are so painful that only shame can help you live with them. And some things are just so sad that only your soul can do the crying for you."
-Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, pg 124
Work-wise it's been a rough couple of days. I still find myself fumbling and trying to grasp at what exactly I can do differently that will make it easier, not so challenging, to work with my office (maybe, at some point, I'll elaborate on this). I struggled today. I was exhausted because I cried until I was all cried out and I only got a couple hours of actual sleep last night. I didn't want to fight with my office and I didn't want to give in. So I spent a few hours by myself writing and reading and sitting on some bricks outside the chicken coop watching them all run around. It was good. Calming. And then tonight I walked out to the water barrels under a big bright moon and stood listening to the insects chirp and hum, the sky so bright I could see the mountains. I took a couple deep breaths and it helped.
-Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, pg 124
Work-wise it's been a rough couple of days. I still find myself fumbling and trying to grasp at what exactly I can do differently that will make it easier, not so challenging, to work with my office (maybe, at some point, I'll elaborate on this). I struggled today. I was exhausted because I cried until I was all cried out and I only got a couple hours of actual sleep last night. I didn't want to fight with my office and I didn't want to give in. So I spent a few hours by myself writing and reading and sitting on some bricks outside the chicken coop watching them all run around. It was good. Calming. And then tonight I walked out to the water barrels under a big bright moon and stood listening to the insects chirp and hum, the sky so bright I could see the mountains. I took a couple deep breaths and it helped.
08 February 2009
The Cholera is in the Limpopo
When you're in the village, you're really in the village. It's the truth. If I didn't buy a data bundle through my SIM card for my internet phone every month... I would be cut off from all the happenin's in the world. I don't have a TV. The newspaper that's sold everyday in the Taposa Bakery parking lot is South Africa's equivalent of The National Inquirer or News of the Weird.
The whole time I've been here I've heard bits and pieces of news about Zimbabwe thrown around the village. People refer to Mugabe. Some people are angry with all the people who have crossed the border seeking basic necessities. Some people feel that all the refugees are taking away jobs and services meant for South Africans. Some people shake their heads in sympathy, empathy, shame, at what's happening in the country just north of us that has collapsed and deflated. Back in early December I got an SMS (text) from Abby. "The Limpopo has The Cholera, Be Careful!". That was the first sign that I knew something was a little off up in these parts. Yes, it's true. The Limpopo River, the natural border between Zim and South Africa, has tested positive for Cholera. Thousands of people are sick. Several thousand have died... and the epidemic has crossed country borders... spreading into Botswana, South Africa, and Mozambique. Although I have yet to hear of any people within my community being sick... I have heard that some water supplies very near here have tested positive (this is all hearsay). I'm going to the local hospital this week to see what I can find out. My family is fine, our drinking water is rainwater from the tank, and I'm boiling and filtering.
For now, I'm going to post some links to a few articles I found on the World Health Organization (WHO) website and the one for Doctors Without Borders/ Medecins Sans Frontieres.
"Cholera is an acute intestinal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. It has a short incubation period and produces an enterotoxin that causes a copious, painless, watery diarrhoea that can quickly lead to severe dehydration and death if treatment is not promptly given. Vomiting also occurs in most patients.
Most persons infected with V. cholerae do not become ill, although the bacterium is present in their faeces for 7-14 days. When illness does occur, about 80-90% of episodes are of mild or moderate severity and are difficult to distinguish clinically from other types of acute diarrhoea. Less than 20% of ill persons develop typical cholera with signs of moderate or severe dehydration.
Cholera remains a global threat and is one of the key indicators of social development. While the disease no longer poses a threat to countries with minimum standards of hygiene, it remains a challenge to countries where access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation cannot be guaranteed. Almost every developing country faces cholera outbreaks or the threat of a cholera epidemic."- http://www.who.int/topics/cholera/en/
A 02 December article from the WHO website:
http://www.who.int/csr/don/2008_12_02/en/index.html
A 30 January 2009 article from the WHO website that covers what is needed to control the Cholera outbreak in Zim:
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2009/cholera_zim_20090130/en/index.html
A 30 January 2009 article from the MSF website, includes latest numbers and challenges:
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/article.cfm?id=3383&cat=field-news&ref=home-center
A 03 February 2009, personal account from a MSF employee:
http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=3747FDEF-15C5-F00A-2574AB953724495B&method=full_html
The whole time I've been here I've heard bits and pieces of news about Zimbabwe thrown around the village. People refer to Mugabe. Some people are angry with all the people who have crossed the border seeking basic necessities. Some people feel that all the refugees are taking away jobs and services meant for South Africans. Some people shake their heads in sympathy, empathy, shame, at what's happening in the country just north of us that has collapsed and deflated. Back in early December I got an SMS (text) from Abby. "The Limpopo has The Cholera, Be Careful!". That was the first sign that I knew something was a little off up in these parts. Yes, it's true. The Limpopo River, the natural border between Zim and South Africa, has tested positive for Cholera. Thousands of people are sick. Several thousand have died... and the epidemic has crossed country borders... spreading into Botswana, South Africa, and Mozambique. Although I have yet to hear of any people within my community being sick... I have heard that some water supplies very near here have tested positive (this is all hearsay). I'm going to the local hospital this week to see what I can find out. My family is fine, our drinking water is rainwater from the tank, and I'm boiling and filtering.
For now, I'm going to post some links to a few articles I found on the World Health Organization (WHO) website and the one for Doctors Without Borders/ Medecins Sans Frontieres.
"Cholera is an acute intestinal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. It has a short incubation period and produces an enterotoxin that causes a copious, painless, watery diarrhoea that can quickly lead to severe dehydration and death if treatment is not promptly given. Vomiting also occurs in most patients.
Most persons infected with V. cholerae do not become ill, although the bacterium is present in their faeces for 7-14 days. When illness does occur, about 80-90% of episodes are of mild or moderate severity and are difficult to distinguish clinically from other types of acute diarrhoea. Less than 20% of ill persons develop typical cholera with signs of moderate or severe dehydration.
Cholera remains a global threat and is one of the key indicators of social development. While the disease no longer poses a threat to countries with minimum standards of hygiene, it remains a challenge to countries where access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation cannot be guaranteed. Almost every developing country faces cholera outbreaks or the threat of a cholera epidemic."- http://www.who.int/topics/cholera/en/
A 02 December article from the WHO website:
http://www.who.int/csr/don/2008_12_02/en/index.html
A 30 January 2009 article from the WHO website that covers what is needed to control the Cholera outbreak in Zim:
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2009/cholera_zim_20090130/en/index.html
A 30 January 2009 article from the MSF website, includes latest numbers and challenges:
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/article.cfm?id=3383&cat=field-news&ref=home-center
A 03 February 2009, personal account from a MSF employee:
http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?component=article&objectid=3747FDEF-15C5-F00A-2574AB953724495B&method=full_html
07 February 2009
It starts with a scarf
A couple of weeks ago Phenyo came by and we had a knitting/crocheting circle... well, with two people. I was finishing up the scarf I had started as my first knitting project (it turned out nicely!) and she was practicing the half-double crochet stitches I taught her a couple of days before. Every couple days after that she would come by to show me her progress. Last night, before going to a church event she came by to show me her finished product. It's awesome! Her aunt is currently working on making her a hat to match.
This is the glittery seahorse shaped card she made to thank me for teaching her how to crochet.
And this is Phenyo posing with her new, handmade scarf.
And this is a picture of the two of us in the front yard, right by MmaDiapo's flowers.
This is the glittery seahorse shaped card she made to thank me for teaching her how to crochet.
And this is Phenyo posing with her new, handmade scarf.
And this is a picture of the two of us in the front yard, right by MmaDiapo's flowers.
05 February 2009
Mabu, I'd like to give a shout out to you
I'm not even sure where to start with Mabu. I'll mention that he's worked for MmaDiapo, tending to her cattle, for 8 years. That I hear his key click in the lock of his room between 6:30 and 6:45 every morning. That we share a wall... he uses the room next door for keeping his bike and clothes while he's away with the cows. That he rides his bike to and from Ticky Line everyday... a good 45 minute ride. That he's always there to greet me with a smile. That we don't speak the same language, but manage to talk all the same. That he proudly wears his Texas Longhorns' cap home every night after a long day of work. That he has done so much for my family, working every day of the week, and is very much considered part of the family. That MmaDiapo asks him to stay in his room so he can watch out for me when she's gone more than a night. That he has 5 children. That he has a calm and even voice. That he's one of the kindest men I've met in South Africa.
This is Mabu in the front yard. Today he was building a new kraal/temporary home for the cows to stay in while they clean out the current one. He posed so Phenyo, my neighbor, could take a picture.
This is what I see every morning on my way to work. Mabu, Charlie, and Karabo all working together on something in the yard.
Tonight Lethabo, Karabo, and I watched the cows try to adjust to their temporary home. It wasn't going so well. The new kraal was too small and the new fencing not sturdy enough to withstand all the running and bucking and fighting they seemed to be doing. After we watched for a good 15 minutes or so, all the adults (Mabu, MmaDiapo, Maria, MmaKori, and Maite...minus Mmapula) whistled and yelled and whooped and got them back into the old kraal where they seemed to be more comfortable, even if they were up to their knees in muck.
This is Mabu in the front yard. Today he was building a new kraal/temporary home for the cows to stay in while they clean out the current one. He posed so Phenyo, my neighbor, could take a picture.
This is what I see every morning on my way to work. Mabu, Charlie, and Karabo all working together on something in the yard.
Tonight Lethabo, Karabo, and I watched the cows try to adjust to their temporary home. It wasn't going so well. The new kraal was too small and the new fencing not sturdy enough to withstand all the running and bucking and fighting they seemed to be doing. After we watched for a good 15 minutes or so, all the adults (Mabu, MmaDiapo, Maria, MmaKori, and Maite...minus Mmapula) whistled and yelled and whooped and got them back into the old kraal where they seemed to be more comfortable, even if they were up to their knees in muck.
04 February 2009
Pop This Lock
I went to a funeral prayer this afternoon. Right after I met the cutest kid ever with a smile full of pearly whites and before I thought I would be lulled to sleep by all the singing.... I had this exchange:
Woman: Did you hear what your kind people have done for us here in South Africa?
Mmapula: My kind people? No, no, what did they do?
Woman: Well, I heard they unlocked the rain.
Mmapula: Who unlocked the rain?
Woman: America. America unlocked the rain. They have control and they get to choose which country gets access to the rain. We were chosen.
Mmapula: Where did you hear that?
Woman: The radio. Do you believe it?
Mmapula: I would be lying if I told you I did. (This is how my coworkers phrase such things). America may be a powerful country, but it doesn't control the weather and who will get the rain or when it will come.
Woman: Eish! No? I thought for sure they were right. I still think they are right.
Mmapula: Well, I lived there for a good part of my life and I've never heard of such a thing. There are many places in America that suffer from too much rain or many years of drought. I wonder where the radio got such information.
Woman: They unlocked the rain! Because they unlocked the rain, people are able to eat. There are plenty of mealies... and there is water that can be saved and will last a long time.
Woman: Did you hear what your kind people have done for us here in South Africa?
Mmapula: My kind people? No, no, what did they do?
Woman: Well, I heard they unlocked the rain.
Mmapula: Who unlocked the rain?
Woman: America. America unlocked the rain. They have control and they get to choose which country gets access to the rain. We were chosen.
Mmapula: Where did you hear that?
Woman: The radio. Do you believe it?
Mmapula: I would be lying if I told you I did. (This is how my coworkers phrase such things). America may be a powerful country, but it doesn't control the weather and who will get the rain or when it will come.
Woman: Eish! No? I thought for sure they were right. I still think they are right.
Mmapula: Well, I lived there for a good part of my life and I've never heard of such a thing. There are many places in America that suffer from too much rain or many years of drought. I wonder where the radio got such information.
Woman: They unlocked the rain! Because they unlocked the rain, people are able to eat. There are plenty of mealies... and there is water that can be saved and will last a long time.
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