TIA 5/13/10

I figured it was about time to introduce you to TIA. Anyone who has spent any time at all in Africa knows this expression well. It means “This Is Africa”. You say it whenever things pop up unexpectedly to slow you down, which happens all the time. You use it to explain all the little daily frustrations which are so typical of Africa, as well as the big daily frustrations which are so typical of Africa, like corruption and crime. You use it to deal with the things you cannot control and must shrug off if you are going to accept life here. No water for three days – TIA.
No electricity, no phone, no internet connection – TIA.
Potholes the size of hippos – TIA.
Missing your first Netball game because you are stuck in a traffic mess in downtown Pretoria for two and a half hours – TIA.

My new friend Liezel said that her Netball team was short a player on Thursday, do I want to play? Even though I had no idea what Netball was, I said, “Of course I want to play! Do I wear a little tennis skirt or shinguards?” I was a little worried when she said I had to cut off my fingernails and I couldn’t wear jewelry, but I was still really looking forward to it. I would get to make some new friends and get some exercise – two things I am in very short supply of right now.

On Thursday, I had a meeting in downtown Pretoria with POPUP – People’s Upliftment Programme. They do vocational training and AFnetAid would like to partner with them to get our older orphans into their classes. The meeting would be over at 4:00 and it’s only a 30 minute drive, so no problem making a 6:30 Netball game.
At 6:00, I was still sitting in the middle of an intersection, staring at the side of a bus that had not budged for 17 cycles of the traffic light. The taxis (which are minivans driven by the insane) just drove up onto the sidewalks, sending the people selling their wares scrambling. So as I sat there, knowing I would miss the game and let Liezel’s team down, I calmly thought, TIA.

In Africa, you have to take things as they come, the good and the bad, because you cannot control them, when they will come and how long it will last. I almost passed up an offer to go to Capetown, because the timing was not right. The family that I rent my guest house from is going to Capetown this week and asked if I wanted to come along. I thought, no, it is too soon. I have only been with AFnetAid for 5 weeks, I can’t go away now. Johan was the one to convince me to go, pointing out that you have to take things when they come. I cannot control when the good comes any more than I can control when the bad stuff happens.

And this is definitely a good thing, this trip to Capetown. There are the practical reasons - free place to stay, transportation while there, knowledgeable local guide, companionship, safety, bond with the family I live with, get experience traveling within the country because when my guests come I will be expected to be the knowledgeable local guide! Me, the California blonde (ok, Loreal blonde but you get the idea). Don’t worry, by the time you get here, I’ll be ready for you. I am getting my multiples of 7 down! When you ask me how much something costs in US dollars, I can tell you in mere seconds. Now if the rand exchange rate changes, no promises my math skills will keep up.

But in addition to the practical, there are reasons of the heart. For me to love this country I serve in, I should see the beauty as well as the ugliness. I know of the crime of Pretoria and the despair of the shanty towns – miles and miles of people living in shacks made of scrap metal hobbled together, ravaged by unemployment and AIDS. These are towns formed as people left their families and homes in the villages and country to come to the big city for the promise of jobs. Promises that 75% of the time go unmet in the townships. Or they are people that were pushed out of the city during the apartheid years. The blacks were forced to live in these shanty towns on land where nothing could grow. They could not go into the white areas of the city unless they had a pass because they had a job there. Many areas within these shanty towns have no water, electricity, bathrooms, garbage collection.

This last may seem like a silly thing to throw in, but think about it. What do you do with your garbage if there is nowhere to put it? The garbage everywhere adds to the picture of hopelessness of the shanty towns. It is on the streets, piled in the ditches, blown up against the sides of the buildings.


This is not to say that I have not seen beauty already. I have. The beauty of my coworkers hearts, beauty in the laughter of the children, beauty in the love and innocence seen in their eyes. But there is much natural beauty in this country as well. Everyone knows of the beauty of the majestic animals – lions, elephants, giraffes, rhinos, hippos, zebras, sable, kudu. But there is also the land – sunsets on the savannah, the mountains and waterfalls of the Drakensburg, Table Mountain and the wine country of Capetown, the beaches of Durban, etc. I want to post pictures so amazingly beautiful that you will all want to come visit me!
So Friday, I leave for Capetown. TIA!