Today was a VERY SPECIAL DAY for me! This was to be the day I was going to meet Nikki!!! The rest of the group were heading out to Khomba Primary School from the KMP Offices and I was leaving with Mummsi, Fikile & Pumi. First let me tell you that Mummsi is another very special lady who works at the KMP office, she heads up the part of the program that has to do with Sponsorship. Fikile is the lady who translates the letters between Nikki and I (and many others) and acts as a kind of Social Worker. It's she who goes to the sponsored child's homes to check on them, collect letters and take them anything from their sponsors, as well generally makes sure the families are doing well. Pumi also works at the office, but I can't honestly say I know exactly what he does, but on this day he drove us to where we had to go.
- Fikile on left, Mummsi on right -
On the Wed. I had given Mummsi some money so she and Fikile could do some shopping for food and a cook pot for Nikki's family; I gave them about 300 rand which is equivalent to about 40.00 Canadian. I was amazed at what they were able to get, besides the cooking pot, there were a couple of large bags of rice and beans, cooking oil, flour, soup, biscui
ts, soap and more. Of course I gave no thought of getting these things to them, just drive up to the door and unload - right? Oh no, not so! They had told me that it would be a bit of a hike into Nikki's, but I hadn't expected what I got! (you must remember it was about 32 degrees and high humidity) We pulled up to the side of this dirt track and everyone hopped out and Mummsi said "now we walk". And walk we did, for about an hour, on a winding trail through tall grass to start (never thinking about snakes in the grass, not me!) then we came to the edge of a hill and started down. That wasn't so bad, but the whole way I was worrying about the return trip back UP! There was also the very large and stuffed duffel bag filled with the backpacks for Nikki and his brothers and sisters and presents for mother and granny as well, that had to be carried in. Luckily for me the ladies took most of the groceries and Pumi carried the duffel; I was having a hard enough time carrying myself. Before all this though, we had pulled into a school yard and I was informed that we were going to be picking up Nikki. A shock to me! We waited in the Principals office and I was told how very proud Nikki is of this name we gave him, he no longer goes by his name of Nhalakaphino, so when he came in, the first thing Mummsi said to him was 'what's your name' and he answered 'Nikki'. I'm not sure at first he knew who I was, so I introduced myself and we shook hands. He was very shy and I really didn't get much from him except the occasional 'yeah' to my questions. He had his school book with him, that I asked if I could look at, 'yeah' I was told. It looked to be paper bags folded up for paper with the occasional magazine picture glued on, some drawn pictures, with everything placed in plastic protectors. I never did find out what it all was, as we arrived very quickly at the now we walk spot. When we arrived I saw a flat area, maybe about 1/4 acre, with 3 mud and thatch huts, one with a number of goats and chickens around it and one that looked rather run down. It sat on a precipice, falling away quite steeply on all side except the one where we came down the mountain. There were also 2 donkeys tied up close to the nearest hut (rondavel). By the time we had arrived, to say I was drenched is an understatement! We were lead into the nearest rondavel where a gentlemen brought us some chairs from one side ( 2 were actually the padded office desk type chairs on rollers!) and Nikki immediately took off for parts unknown. I was then told that the gentleman was Nikki's Dad! He had come from Durban wh
en he heard that a special guest was coming to visit the family, which was a huge surprise for me because I had never heard Nikki mention his father in any letters and had thought he was not in contact with the family any more. The first thing I noticed when entering the roundel was a TV!!! Imagine in the middle of nowhere and there it sat with no electricity to run it! I later learned that they were running it from a battery in the other rondavel and could only watch video's. I think perhaps it was bought for watching the World Cup next year, but non the less it was rather a shock to find it there when the family was so poor. Mind, poor by our standards, I was beginning to think that Nikki and family were actually pretty well to do, by the standards I had seen so far. Anyway, this seemed to be the main living area, with a large bed to the left and another I could see behind the table. Blankets and other things seemed to be stored in large bags behind that, against the wall, with clothing hung from the ceiling. There was a small shelving unit beside the large bed that looked to hold their few dishes. That was basically their furnishings. We were seated in the chairs and left to wait and wait, after all we were on Africa time, then eventually Granny and young mother came in and sat behind the bed, with a new 8 month old baby in tow, with Nikki and some of his siblings and Dad, following. I think because I was feeling the heat so much, my mind wasn't really functioning to well, as I now realize how many questions I could have asked, that I now wish I had answers for, I think I missed out on learning so much. Of course everyone was pretty shy with each other and it was hard to have a conversation with Zulu being the main language. But now it was time to hand out the gifts I had brought and they were all received with much delight. Granny laughed and clapped and did the high pitch tongue roll that you hear African women do so often in the movies. Nikki took his backpack and kind of hid behind the bed with his sister to look things over and looked rather stunned at everything. I showed them the books I had brought, showed Nikki his birthday present of the pocket watch, but the biggest hit was the sunglasses! They all looked so cute wearing them. A woven mat was unfurled and everything was placed on it for display and pictures were taken by Fikile and Mummsi. I then asked if Nikki could show me the cows, but Dad said he had just moved them down the hill to another grazing area, but he ( Dad ) took me out and showed me the garden and introduced me to the dog. He told me he worked at Shaka Marine World in Durban and said he did not get a chance to come home much, so the children were shy around him and the animals did not know him either, but that he needed to get home more as there was so much work to be done around the place. We were called back in for lunch which I found was a very large bowl of what looked like some kind of beans with a little chopped meat added. I had been told by Hilda that it was not wise to eat any food offered as it would probably upset my system, ( that worked for me as an excuse) so to be polite I did eat a spoonful, but left the rest, which I was assured would not go to waste. I saw that the children were passing around 1 bowl and 1 spoon between them . Dad had popped in a video of Zulu song and dance, I think for my viewing pleasure, but the children were glued to it and not paying attention to anything else. It was actually quite comical because it so reminded me of home when you get the kids in front of a TV. So all in all I really didn't get to talk with Nikki at all, which I found rather disappointing, but it was a wonderful experience to be welcomed into the home. I asked and received a Zulu name...Busisiwe (Blessed) and tried to tell everyone a bit about Canada and how we live here. Mummsi later told me that Nikki had been very excited about my visit but that in the Zulu culture it is a sign of respect for children to be seen and not heard. I'm glad she told me that as I was feeling that he was more afraid of me than happy to see me. So it was now time to leave and we were given a couple of squash, as it was another tradition that a guest could not leave without a gift. I eventually made it back up the mountain, trailing quite a ways behind everyone, using the excuse of having to stop and take a few pictures on the way, so no one could tell that I was inhaling all the oxygen for 10 feet around me! There are now so many questions I'll need to ask Nikki about in the next few letters I write; like how far down the mountain had they to go for water? I know the donkeys are used to haul the water ( and groceries in as well, I suppose), but never thought to ask where from. What were the other rondevels used for, simple things like that. I think the whole experience was so over whelming and really quite quick, only a couple of hours, that it gave no time for my fried brain to form any questions till later, when I was smacking myself in the head for not asking this or that. On the hike out to the road we ran across some ladies in the bush collecting wood. Pumi told me that every day the women will usually go out, first thing in the morning to collect the firewood for the day. It would usually take about 3 hours to collect enough. He also said that they take only the dead wood they find, so there will will always be wood bcause they are not killing the brush and trees.
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