Tryphina Nkosi received a letter from her Vernon partner Janis Lauman. It included a photo of the potatoes Janis had harvested from her garden. Tryphina insisted (through an interpreter) that I come to her home on baking day so I could “shoot her” and give the photos to Janis in return.

A photo story . . .
We entered directly into the kitchen where Tryphina and her adult granddaughter, Victoria, had been baking for five hours.  A large vat of samp, a type of hard cracked corn, simmered on the stove.

In a corner a large bowl of dough was rising, swaddled in a green plastic bag, covered with blankets and topped off with newspapers. I suspect the dough would have risen without a single cover, judging by the heat and humidity in the small space. Tryphina bustled about, eager to show all the scones, ‘long doughnuts’, and buns in various stages of completion.

Victoria sat on a low bench mixing a large bowl of cream filling, and ruefully pointed to an electric mixer that was broken.

And the reason for all this energetic activity? The next day was pension day, when she and Victoria sell their products to the elderly lined up to collect their pensions.

Tryphina sliced open a long john, piped in some cream filling and handed it to me. Not exactly Food Safe certified, but fatteningly yummy nevertheless. I did pay her the 3 rands (40 cents) she would normally charge for it.     

The next day as I came into the township, I walked amongst dozens of locals selling their wares on spread blankets, including Tryphina Nkosi and friends.

(A personal side note about Tryphina: she is raising two orphaned grandchildren, and last Friday one of them, a teen-ager, went to buy bread at 9 pm. He was robbed of his cell phone (everyone here carries cell phones) and shot in the foot. He is still in hospital and it appears the bullet will not be removed. The police have the culprit.)

On sewing day the Ubuntu Community Care Centre is just a-humming. I actually intend that description as a double entendre – one of the many things I love about the African people is the way they uninhibitedly sing (or hum) wherever they feel like it. The worker stocking grocery shelves will break into song, or the server in a restaurant when she’s not busy waiting tables, or the gardener pulling weeds and pruning bushes (no, they’re not plugged into ipods).

Gogo sews her work to a blanke as her grandson watches.

So about 35 gogos were very pre-occupied with their current sewing project, chatting, singing, comparing their products, as a few of their grandchildren played about. They are working on English paper piecing, taught to them by Cherryl Taylor, an American who has been living in Sabie for the past three years. Joy Burton, who assists Ginny frequently, helps to cut out the hexagonal pieces, and the gogos hand stitch them over paper before piecing them carefully together in starburst patterns. They will be giving a number of them to me to carry back for the Grannies à Gogo handicraft group to use in their creations, which in turn will raise funds to be sent back to Sitabogogo. A wonderful full-circle effect.

Gogos share and compare their sewing projects

Since I was last here 9 months ago, I can see that they’ve settled into their sewing routines. They assist each other by cutting fabric for those with trembling arthritic hands, or threading needles for those with poor eyesight. It’s also good to see many of them now wearing reading glasses as a result of our collecting blitz last spring which rounded up about 45 pairs of glasses. Sewing is clearly a very popular activity, and they are stretching their creativity, using the starburst patchwork product to appliqué on to cushion covers, table runners, and wall hangings. I suspect some of their handiwork will show up at our annual Pot Luck & Auction in February.

Kruger Park is a marvelous escape. It’s only an hour’s drive from Sabie to the nearest gate of this 150 km long wildlife sanctuary. Ken and I hadn’t planned to go this time, but made a rather spontaneous decision that we needed a day off. My expectations were not high – we’ve been there dozens of times, often staying over in a camp for two or three days, so I did not expect to have many sightings in a day trip. Wrong!! 

We saw the usual kudus, giraffes, wildebeest, baboons, elephants, waterbuck, zebras, African buffalo,

On another note, I’m currently reading “The Betrayal of Africa” by Canadian author Gerald Caplan. It is a slim little volume that packs a huge punch as the author analyzes why the African continent is in such a mess. It’s an excellent resource for getting a concise background on the political and social issues.

Hand delivering letters from our Vernon area grannies to their letter-writing gogo partners is a happy task. The gogos are always beaming, thrilled that someone so far away cares about them. 

Norah Mhlongo receives a letter from her Vernon granny partner, Kathy Pratt.

I’ve delivered 7 of the 26 letters so far, and have met a range of gogos. One is a retired nursing assistant who now has a small station set up at the centre to regularly test the blood pressure, blood sugar, etc for those who need it. One is HIV+ and has lost two daughters and a granddaughter through AIDS. One lives in a rudimentary shack made of boards, dirt floor and tin roof, but has a beautiful vegetable and flower garden surrounding her place.  One is very elderly and isn’t able to walk to the centre now because of the pain in her feet. When I asked what she was doing to help her feet, Ruth translated that she puts a “rub-rub” lotion on them and takes pain killers.          

It takes time but the rewards are plenty for me – hugs and gratitude, a chance to peek inside their homes and assess the living conditions, to ask a few questions, usually through Ruth as interpreter. Back in the car, Ruth fills me in on further details about each and I scribble it in my journal, then send a short email to each Canadian partner.

It’s summer in Sabie – the rainy season. In past summer visits I have managed to hit the dry spells between the rains. Not so this time. But, wow, does it make the gardens flourish. Yesterday there was a break in the misty rain and, the instant the sky brightened, a dozen gogos at the Ubuntu Centre laid down their sewing needles and picked up heavy garden implements. They headed down to their gardens (notice the plural – when I was here 9 months ago only one garden was fully producing) and set to work.

The gogos are breaking new ground, in every sense of that phrase.

I couldn’t help but think what a metaphor this was, the quick switch from wielding fine needles to swinging heavy hoes, breaking new ground. These gogos have had to handle a life full of so many extremes.

While several hacked at the turf to enlarge their gardens, the others plucked at weeds which have responded to the rains just as lushly as the cabbages, potatoes, tomatoes and much more.

Things are flourishing - the gogos; the veggies.

A local volunteer who comes in to help with sewing and knitting on Thursdays, mentioned that she was going to teach them how to can tomatoes soon. The recent purchase of a small deep freeze will ensure that no surplus produce will go to waste. With the gogos’ commitment to gardening each Mon, Wed, and Fri, there’s bound to be plenty for all to share.

As a special treat for about 40 gogos, Ginny and Millie arranged for them to see the dress rehearsal last night of the “Little Miss Muffet” pantomime being put on by the Sabie amateur theatre group. What a good time – I had as much fun observing the gogos’ response to this British genre as I did the actors on stage. The gogos got so completely involved with the actors, clapping at times in the middle of a scene or spontaneously cheering certain characters.

The witch, played very dramatically by an excellent actress, was a favourite of theirs. When the army captain first appeared in full regalia it caused a lot of commotion and talking amongst themselves and I was quite puzzled . . . until I remembered that they probably know of him in real life as a sabie policeman and, I’m guessing, were surprised to see him as an actor in the lead romantic role.

Gogos get dramatic with the Spider and other characters after the show.

With Sabie being the small town that it is, the actors were happy to pose for photos with the gogos in different groupings afterwards. As you can see the gogos were quite willing to get in on the act.

Every time I return to South Africa it is with a great deal of keyed up anticipation. And every time I wonder and worry: have I set the bar too high with my hopes? Will my eager expectations not be met this time?

As I bolted from the plane my senses were fine tuned for whatever I could notice. I noticed opposites: the dehydrated atmosphere of 22 hours in planes juxtaposed against the wave of humidity that washed over us on emerging; the marbled interior upgrading of the Jo’burg airport as S. Africa prepares for the World Soccer event in 2010 vs. the impoverished porters all clamoring to help because they probably have 10 family members dependant on what they bring home.

This morning we had breakfast with a Wits university student, Samuel, who was a ‘project’ I started five years ago while living in Sabie. It is so gratifying to see the progress he has made, the young man of integrity and determination he has grown into. I’ll write more about Samuel and his uphill struggle another time.

Time to rent a car and onward-ho to Sabie – about a 4 hour drive. I’m chomping at the bit.

Less than 48 hours until departure. My suitcases have lain open on the bedroom floor these past few days as I hurl things at them in passing . . . non-clothing items that I don’t want to forget – books, vaccination record, electrical adapters & converters, 50 Christmas cards which in my wildest fantasy I imagine writing, addressing and having ready to mail when we arrive home. (There’s a laugh for the day).

My husband, Ken, and I are taking a rather convoluted route this time which will depart from Kelowna and include plane changes in Vancouver, Toronto and Paris before arriving in Johannesburg. It also includes a change of airlines which means our luggage can not be checked all the way through and we must heave-ho it ourselves when switching.

After last night’s Grannies à Gogo steering committee meeting, I have carefully added two boxes with 100 signed calendars as Christmas gifts to our gogos. What amazing support we’ve had from our Vernon area grannies and community – we have completely covered our costs, and then some. Also in the suitcase now are 25 letters (count ’em!) from our letter-writing grannies. Yikes! That will keep me out of trouble 24/7 just hand delivering all of them. I’m looking forward to the adventure. “Salani kahle” (Zulu for goodbye, specifically to a group of people who are staying behind . . . there are different forms of ‘goodbye’ depending on singular, plural, staying or departing).

Susan will be leaving for Sabie soon.  Check the upcoming events for more information.