Ubuntu Part 2

My visit with Reverend Bhengu on Day 4

I didn't have the energy for this post yesterday afternoon, but it is definitely an inspiring story worth sharing. My job takes me to all kinds of interesting places and I meet new and inspiring people every day. The Live below the line challenge is a great icebreaker, especially when you are a guest being offered food at a stranger's home. I'll admit it now: I cheated yesterday. I accepted a single bran muffin at the Pastor's house, where I was invited to discuss my project in the community of Caluza (the C is actually pronounced with a "click" as if one were calling a kitten toward them).

The Pastor asked why I wouldn't take more than one, and I told him about the challenge. It began a long conversation about my research project, my reasons for working in South Africa, poverty and wealth, and how it was I came to Caluza at all. We spoke for hours, far beyond the schpeal I typically give when inviting a community member to sit on one of the advisory boards relating to my work.

We spoke about the concept of community based research and the value of spending time to get to know a community before beginning research in the area. Reverand Bhengu told me I was a special person to consider how to incorporate this into my work and to get to the level of comfort I had achieved in the community. I explained to him that Sthe and others had welcomed me into various communities, and that this sense of community spirit (or Ubuntu) is something that I feel is sometimes lacking back home. As we become more obsessed with collecting things (ever-larger houses, cars, clothes, etc), we start to feel that we have earned these things, despite the fact that we were fortunate enough to be born into circumstances that allowed us to achieve them. I am certainly no exception from this way of thinking. It is the same reason that many of us will get a raise and not save or put away our new earnings, but rather begin to purchase nicer things, shop at finer stores, and opt for upper crust supermarkets over Safeway or Shoprite. The problem with this thinking is we begin to feel that these "things" or "status" we achieve belongs to us (ours and ours alone) instead of to the community from where it came. It's the same reason that those who make the most try to avoid paying higher taxes, even though it is a reasonable thing to do considering the amount they make. Rather than adding this money to the public purse to utilise towards safer neighbourhoods and social assistance for those at a disadvantage, some people prefer to purchase their own means of security (for example fancy alarm systems or security guards).

I know that living in South Africa brings along with it safety issues, but the most dangerous of places in the world are also those with the most disparity of wealth (including the USA). But I digress. In many of the poorer communities in South Africa there are no high walls, no security systems, no guards. In fact the Zulu have a pejorative term for the high protective walls surrounding homes in many of the wealthier suburbs of South African cities, a term that literally translates to "stop nonsense," meaning mind your own business. Instead people in Zulu communities rely on their neighbours to look out for them. If you see one another, visit one another, and care for one another, than you also look out for each other.

Now let me get back to the Pastor. As I explained to him the live below the line challenge and how I have been very welcomed into the communities where I work, he spoke of the precious community spirit of the Zulu people. "No one ever goes hungry," he explained. Even the poorest of the poor can rock up to their neighbours house and instantly be invited in for tea and whatever else there is to offer. Whenever a ceremony takes place, be it a wedding, a funeral, or special occasion, a cow or a goat (or many) will be slaughtered, and the whole community will attend the feast (no invite necessary). It may be that someone goes a day or two without a proper meal, but they will always eat well when a ceremony takes place.

The beauty beneath this way of life is striking to me. While there are gentle and generous people everywhere, it is not uncommon to hear of people suffering in silence, behind "stop nonsense" walls or on the streets of Vancouver. We may not know they are there or we may prefer to avert our eyes instead of contemplating the complex reasons that got them there. In Zulu culture poverty is real and prevalent. But the culture is rich and the sense of Ubuntu ensures that few will go to bed feeling like I do on night 5 for too long.

Thank you Reverend Bhengu for sharing your stories with me. And thank all of you that have followed my journey. Tomorrow I return to the land of readily available food, but I will not forget the riches I have encountered below the line.