Town Crier Publisher
Californians who visit South Africa for the first time may be surprised at how “first world” this country-in-transition really is.
Such was the discovery five members of the Los Altos Rotary Club and their spouses made last month as part of the Rotary Friendship Exchange.
Each couple was treated to a true grass-roots experience in six different cities by being hosted by a different South African family for two nights over a two-week period.
Those taking the 15-day trip were Los Altans Dick and Paulette Henning, Roy and Penny Lave, Mike and Marge Bruno, Don and Annette Hull, Paul and Liz Nyberg, and Peter and Lydia Gregor from Gilroy.
The miraculous, bloodless transition from Apartheid to a democracy seems to be going well. South Africans teasingly point out that their politicians spend years in jail before going into politics, whereas in U.S. people start in politics before going to jail!
The new Nelson Mandela government has been in place less than three years but has 300 years of white domination to deal with.
Surprisingly, the whites encountered by the visiting Rotarians express satisfaction with the transition and Mandela gets a high approval rating from most. Though usually of European ancestry, the whites we met “considered themselves native South Africans committed to staying and making the new system work,” said Marge Bruno, former Los Altos mayor and last year’s president of the Los Altos Rotary Club.
“The people we met were all friendly and enthusiastic about solving their country’s problems,” said Mike Bruno.
The topography and climate is much like California. Large fields of cotton, tobacco, maize and sugar cane were spotted in fertile valleys and hillsides.
The “climate” for American visitors is equally hospitable. Dick Henning, who with his wife, Paulette, have made many trips to other parts of Africa, said he was surprised that “we did not have to make many adjustments in regards to the people or the weather.”
Crime seems to be the number one concern of residents, both black and white.
Most homes have high walls with spiraled barbed wire along the top, guard dogs, barred windows and triple locks on the doors. One host family had a full time 24-hour guard at their front gate.
Our preconceived ideas that Africa is a jungle full of insects, mosquitoes, snakes and wild creatures were blown away. In many ways, South Africa is as Americanized as America. The movies, music, television shows and food is either from the United States or copied from us.
There are some mighty frontiers facing Mandela and company in this large region of Africa. Most blacks have no more than a third grade education and in spite of television, know nothing about the outside world.
One of the purposes of the exchange trip was for Los Altos Rotarians to inspect some needy projects to co-sponsor with South African Rotary clubs. As a result, two such projects are being considered.
One is to share in the cost of building toilet and kitchen facilities for a primitive pre-school. The other is to develop additional toilet facilities at a black elementary school for 400 kids in the farmlands near Pretoria.
And already, the Friendship Exchange idea is working. Keith and Helen McCuster of Pretoria just spent a week in Los Altos visiting Rotary families and attending local events.
