Going to the Rural Areas

Rural Areas=countryside
Many people have homes in the rural areas, sort of back to their ancestral lands. Getrude's parents last week said they go on Saturdays, so I asked Getrude if I could go. Turns out her parents went to a funeral so her brother, sister and niece brought me.

The home was about 30 min. outside the city. The turnoff was not marked. Tha, the daughter, jumped out to open the gate and we proceeded down the dirt road. When we arrived at their land, another gate was opened. They pay people to live on their land. There was a thatched hut which served as the kitchen. The concrete block house had 2 small bedrooms and a sitting room. No electricity- outhouse in the yard. They were not born in this area. Tha told me many buy land in order to be buried in the countryside. There were chickens and then we walked to their fields which were quite extensive. The maize had already been harvested. They showed me the big crater. Someone showed up one day and started digging for gold. Getrude's sister called the police, supposedly he is going to fill in the hole.

They brought from home hot water for tea, fried eggs, cooked potatoes and bread. This was our appetizer! Nhlanhla, Getrude's sister, also brought a suitcase of used clothes for the neighbors. Nhlanhla asked that I pay $20 for the gas because as a public school teacher she had not been paid recently. It's surprising that she was still helping out others in the rural areas.

The woman who lives on the property cooked chicken and sadza for us. As she cooked I walked around with Tha and the boy who lived there.

It wasn't a comfortable house, but it was in the quiet country. They may consider cattle a type of secure investment- it's also prestigiouos. They still give cattle at a wedding.

I saw Tha had some cash to the woman who cooked our meal. I asked what to give and Tha told me $5.

On our way back, I said I would call Anele to see where he was working on his bus. Small world- Getrude's brother grew up with Anele so he called Anele and then brought me to where they were working.

Anele has a chicken farm. From the proceeds, he bought a 1975 bus in S. Africa that he is refurbishing so people in the city can go to funerals in the rural areas. The mechanics are working for free, they only get lunch. Anele stands in the lot for 12 hours supervising them because he said if he was not there- they would take 3 times as long to complete the work. I met Samson- who is Anele's community organizer/party official in his district. Anele is suppose to receive funds to pay such workers, but these funds have not come through, so Samson works for free. Anele and Samson are currently supporting 52 orphans. They pay their school fees, etc.  They hope to offer the bus to schools so they can take field trips. They also hope to travel the rural routes and make some money on the fares so they can buy additional buses.

It was quite a day- seeing people take joy from the simplest structure to being there when the tail lights went on for the first time on the 1975 "chicken bus."