Author Archive for amkelwa
Sunset on the road
The hand that rocks the cradle…
‘The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world’
‘The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world’. This, is subject to interpretation. To me, it speaks of a mother’s love and the tears she shed to save her child.
In November 1980 on a quiet Saturday morning , one young women heavily pregnant with a girl child, embarked on a trip by taxi to a town called Umtata, the then capital town of the Transkei. She lived in kuTsolo, on the outskirts of Umtata, at a village called Ngcele. Going to Umtata every month end was part of her routine, therefore even as pregnant as she was, with two months to go before the arrival of her child, she needed to get there to run some errands. Public transport was her only mode of transportation.
She caught a taxi thinking that it was just another ordinary day for her to travel. Unbeknown to her, there would be surprises that would lead to a sequence of events that would change both her life and the life of the unborn child.
On arrival in Umtata, she managed to run all errands and was ready for her return trip rather early in the day, thus she took another taxi heading home. The taxi driver needed to first take a detour to Ngangelizwe township to collect some items before driving off to Tsolo.
At about nine o’clock the taxi was finally ready to go, however as they were leaving Umtata one of the tyres burst, causing the taxi to overturn. The expectant woman was rushed to the hospital, and fortunately had not sustained any major injuries thus was allowed to continue with her trip. She got into another taxi homeward bound, but this time, as they were driving past the Ntywenka cuttings, the driver lost control of the vehicle causing the taxi to roll down the mountain. Again the mother-to-be was rushed to the hospital where she was deemed alright and was told she could continue her journey. It was roughly eleven in the morning. She eventually managed to reach Ngcele, her village, where her husband joined her to go shopping at a nearby town of Maclear, this time traveling by car.
It was a rainy afternoon the roads were wet, and precarious. The journey continued. The shopping was finished, and it was time to return home but on leaving Maclear, the car experienced trouble and veered off the road down a valley. For the third time the expectant mother was rushed to yet another hospital in Maclear, where she was admitted immediately but was now experiencing stomach cramps. This was a sign that she was going through premature labour, the baby was to be two months early if it survived.
Fortunately both mother and child survived the ordeal, and a beautiful daughter was welcomed into the world. She was named Amkelwa.
‘The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world’
I bless my mother for surviving all three accidents and bringing me into this world. that day indeed changed our lives.
Dogs, as Man’s Best friend
Question. Are South African dogs in Cape Town’s forests not used to black people?
This of course is a rather loaded and unusual question, one I have concluded is worth asking. For the longest time now, I have been making assumptions, statements (sometimes misguided by my anger and fear) and declarations about the behaviour of some of the dogs and dog owners I have had the (dis) pleasure of encountering on my walks at the forest.
Generally I visit the forest with my family (husband and son) and whenever an incident occurs where one of the ‘friendly’ dogs pounces on our two year old, I have found that its not so much the petrified, hysterical child that the dog owner’s seem concerned about, as much as it is the dog.
The standard response to this affront is usually a long explanation of how the dog means no harm, and how it just wants to play and will definitely not harm the child. Now this may be true to a greater or lesser extent, however, I have found that it fails to pacify my unsuspecting little boy who is often daunted by these ‘friendly gestures’.
Being the two year old that he is, it is hardly expected of him to understand why that ‘haaw haaw’ is barking at him and about to attack him. Granted I am not a two year old and can therefore not speak on his behalf, nevertheless I am still present during these moments and am familiar with being on the receiving end of such barks.
It irks me to have to feel threatened in a space that is supposed to accommodate all sorts of people whether young or old, man or woman, black or white.
Having lived in this country for the last eight and twenty years, I am pretty familiar with the mentality of the people of this country, I am deeply aware of the historical background that is the back drop of our daily living. I, as the educated, and I dare say open minded individual, try not to make everything about race. Try, being the operative word. Yet experience has led me to questions that I would rather not ask, and you would rather not hear.
IS IT COZ I’M BLACK?
Yes, that’s right, I have finally plucked up the courage, thrown caution to the winds and asked the much avoided question relating to the racial aspect of my problem.
Why would I ask such a question and imply such accusations? Well, I wonder, perhaps its because on two occasions while breaking bread with my husband (incidentally white hubby) amidst the beautiful flowers, streams and trees, I have had the pleasure of having a dog come up from behind us and proceed to bark at me like I stole something. What is up with that?
Are these dogs trained to sniff out the black, or is it just me having my own private fears playing out in public spaces? If indeed it is not the dog owner’s fault, and I am reacting to my own issues, then the question would be, why would I be afraid of ‘friendly’ dogs?
Not just myself, but why would my brother, my friends and most probably a number of other people I may not know but are of the darker hue, be afraid of harmless dogs?
Are we mad?
If a dog comes charging at you at lightening speed, barking incessantly, and promising to get physical, would any one be faulted for thinking that they are at risk of being attacked?
Answer. No, threatened I do feel and so does my son, mainly because, I have experienced this to happen to us and not so much to other visitors at this particular forest. Not that I am spending my time noting who gets barked at and who doesn’t?
It is not my place or style to call people or dogs racist or any other such label, however it is my right and responsibility to protect myself and my son. I should be as uninterrupted in my conversations with nature as the next person, regardless of the colour of my skin.
Assuming that these dogs are indeed harmless, is it then perhaps a matter of them not being accustomed to seeing people like us at the forest? Is it that they do not know how to relate to black people?
I don’t know, all I KNOW is, no one should have to stress about taking a lovely walk at a beautiful forest with one’s family, or indeed by their lonesome just because the dogs may not like it.
I appeal to all those people who own and love dogs, to please understand that some of us are a bit weary of dogs friendly or otherwise.
Take a walk down the halls of history and you might see and perhaps understand where such reservations come from.
I don’t particularly dislike dogs, some of my friends own dogs, however I draw the line, when I am told that it is my fault that the dogs bark at me and my son. It is my responsibility to deal with my fears, I agree, however, dog owner it is your responsibility to keep your dog on a leash as the rules say you should.
We are all trying to get along, and South Africa is at its toddler stage of transformation, we should at the very least ask ourselves from time to time, how transformed are we as individuals, and how much do we respect each other’s rights and freedoms?
Is this transformation limited to schools, where as a matter of a rule, people need to be tolerant of one another, and is it also applying only to the human beings and not so much to the ‘best friends’ of the same humans.
I have a dream South Africa, that some day, people of the darker hue will be able to roam freely in public spaces whether indoors or outdoors without feeling like ‘The struggle continues’
I think it’s time we re- think our attitudes and mentality. This way we may consider that friendly is as friendly does. This I say in my humble opinion…
weeds
We all know that weeds are an inevitable part of life. When one plants seeds on any ground, there is the hope that one day the seeds will grow into a plant and that gradually the plants will yield some fruits or give some flowers. This was my particular expectation when two months ago my family and I embarked on a gardening lark. Of course, the decision to plant seeds came upon us almost on an impulse during an afternoon of clearing our back yard and trying to define it in some way or other that would give it our own personal stamp. How better to do this than plant our very own seeds.
It was with relative ease that we removed the remnants of what looked to be the previous plants that may have been planted there before us, and then proceed to prepare the soil to to be receptive to the water as well as be ready to receive new seeds. Having never thought over much about the intricacies of gardening, we perhaps merely assumed that as long as we removed the visible old and rather undesirable growth, the soil would automatically be ready to take what ever seeds we planted and allow them to grow. This assumption was made mainly because we were novices, I would like to believe.
After much excitement and anticipation of the time when the seeds would start showing growth and start looking alive, we were very proud indeed to finally see with our own naked eyes the fruits of our labour, as we began to see the promise of new life. Unbeknown to us this was only just the beginning.
As the winter rains came and went , watering our garden, the seedlings indeed became visible and great was our joy and sense of pride at a job well done. A success, this gardening lark seemed to be!
As nature would have it, the waters did not only nurture our seeds, but also resuscitated the remainder of the plants that had been there, which we had been so careful to remove, again, we decided to bide our time and give the plants a chance to see what would take form.
Considering how much of a pride and joy our new garden was to us, we never missed a moment to show it off to our visitors who may even have been surprised at the fact that we did some gardening in the first place. A sort of ’so there’ kind of thinking. Many of our guest were pleasantly surprised and indeed appeared to share in our excitement for the new growth brought about by our own hands.
One guest, however, having perhaps some knowledge of gardening or plants, pointed out that one of the biggest plants that was growing in the midst of our little newly grown plants, was actually a potential hazard to the rest of the plants. But how could this be? This was one plant that showed so much promise, how is it possible that it was the one that could bring damage to the whole of the pot? In this spirit, we thought that perhaps it was a mistake and that this beautiful fast growing plant would not cause much damage, thus we gave it some more time.
As the rains continued and all the plants were starting to come into themselves, it became evident that they were all growing in their own right, but somehow the general growth seemed to have come to a standstill, ‘here and no further’ the little plants seem to say, and yet upwardly mobile was the dubious one, carelessly growing and thriving.
At noticing this phenomena, I realised also that some ants were getting attracted to the plants and somehow, they seemed to be getting more everyday, and the ‘weed’ was now looking spiky and not so easy on the eye or to the touch, so I thought, maybe we should remove this one and see what happens.
The offending plant was plucked out of its oblivion and sent to an early or maybe timely death, in order to allow new possibilities for the other plants. But, after a bit of time, it looked like the other plants were suffering, as if the removal of that one plant was having a negative effect on them. This was now a little bit of an unexpected surprise, as I had been almost convinced that that plant was the ‘bad apple’ and that removing it would bring salvation to the other plants. Why were the remaining plants ailing?
Again, only Time would tell.
Life continued, and I must admit I even began to forget about the progress of the plants, albeit I saw them almost daily.
During one uncharacteristically warm week I noticed that lo and behold the flowers were emerging and with time they started to bloom, I was ecstatic! We had done it, our plants were blooming ! Well done us!
My attention was brought back ever so quickly to again paying attention and admiring our flowers.
It is then that it occurred to me that the planting of the seeds is the initial step in gardening, however throughout one must expect the unexpected. One must be vigilant in case a weed starts to grow thrive while going unnoticed. Just as the trees lose their leaves at some time in the changes of the seasons, to allow new growth later, so it is with planting seeds. There is a constant tending process to ensure that all is still in order.
I realised today, how the plants in our garden reminded me of the process of life. It is sometimes necessarily to get rid of the weeds, so as to allow new possibilities to emerge.
The process of weeding may sometimes feel like you are getting rid of a good thing, yet it may be that by not removing what seems to be a perfectly normal plant, one my be blocking the newness of life from coming.
I now, with my hand on my heart, commit to always remembering to check up on all my gardens, physical, mental, and Spiritual, because Who knows? this may be the secret to sustaining a healthy growth process. A way of allowing the Process of Life to take it’s course.
Perhaps weeds are there to remind us to always take care.
A different point of view…
Lately our family has taken to walking, hiking and exploring the natural surroundings of Cape town, as we all know, Cape town is known for its aesthetic beauty, the Mountain, the Oceans, and of course the Forest, in this case, Newlands Forest.
Once or twice a week we take the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the freshness of Newlands Forest, and each time, its a treat and a half, which leaves you hungry for more.
This morning we decided to have our morning coffee as close to the mountain as possible, as far away from the city as we could get, and as up close and personal to the woods.
This, we had done once before and decided to make a tradition of it.
As we climbed higher and higher and got closer and closer to the mountain, we delved deeper and deeper into the forest where we eventually found the ‘perfect spot ‘ to sit down and have our morning brew.
There is something about reaching higher ground and distancing oneself from the hustle and bustle of City life, that just goes beyond words.
On seeing the view that spread out before our eyes, these words came to mind. Magnificent, Divine, and Spectacular!
The beauty of this city knows no bounds, from that vantage point of view, you can’t help but feel almost transported to another realm.
What a breathtaking experience! one we plan to repeat as often as its humanly possible for
there is endless beauty in our surroundings, and no end to how far one can explore.
Any given chance one gets to discover this beauty, should be grabbed with both hands.
We certainly did:)
So, we again went to the Cape town Book Fair… based on last year’s experience we rather knew to keep our hopes moderate considering that not many of our favourite Authors were due to appear.
With our usual equipment, camera, microphones, recorder and ofcourse, our fine selves, we missioned off to the Cape Town Convention Center.
As usual, we had an agenda: to speak to atleast some of the writers and ask them the pertinent question on NATIONAL IDENTITY… National what? I hear you ask. NATIONAL IDENTITY.
Do we have it in South Africa?
With the 2010 soccer world cup around the corner, I believe South Africa should be thinking about National Unity, and even the ever so elusive National Identity.
In true Voxpop Africa media style, we caught up with, I must admit, one of our favourite writers, who never disappoints, Ndumiso Ngcobo!
On the question of National Identity in South Africa, here is what he said in response…
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Take a listen
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Tough love…
I have only recently begun to do my very own independent investigation of Capetown and all its wonders. My first attempt at uncovering just what the fuss is all about, particularly with The Table Mountain, was an opportunity to get up, close and very personal with this here Mountain.
I decided to go hiking up the mountain, a rather unofficial, unrestricted trip with no specif route to follow, or a particular agenda. This was to be a ‘lets play it by ear’ kind of experience, one that I must add, was greatly underestimated by me, for the hike was a Baptismal by fire, and talk about being thrown at the deep end!
My casual, Capetown style approach to this experience proved to me a bit of a miscalculation.
Any one who has hiked even once would tell you that for a novice, one needs to take many things into consideration, the time, the distance to name a few. However being the oblivious, over eager self that I was, I did not give much thought to these considerations. An oversight, i would later pay rather dearly for.
Since ours was an open hike, there were no boundaries, nor restrictions of any sort, just good old putting my good foot forward and soldier on up the mountain.
I rose to the challenge, and witnessed the sheer beauty of Mother nature in the Mother city, I marveled at the cacophony of sounds, from small insects, beautiful little birds, to the soothing tones of the water fall as it cascaded from some dizzying heights. The potency of the mixture of scents from the various plants intoxicated my senses. The precision of the rock formation from years of being perfectly arranged by nature to form the backdrop that is the mountain, were all such a sight to behold.
The Climb itself became secondary as the combination of forms of nature were the masterpieces of the Puzzle that is the Magnificent Table Mountain.
I was spell bound.
What a humbling experience?
What an initiation, an experience that felt like a rights of passage, for now I truly felt like I understood.
I now understand what the fuss is all about.
Table mountain is indeed a work of art.
Books and stuff like that
It’s that time again, the Cape Town Book Fair is around the corner. This year promises to be filled with as many interesting discussions, interviews and talks as last year. Perhaps for me, not as many of my personal favourite writers will be featured, however two or three will be there. Who knows, perhaps there will be opportunities to get the old books signed, and the old questions answered.
Last year’s Book Fair, had a great selection of young South African writers, amongst them Sihle Khumalo, who was promoting his book ‘Dark Continent my black arse’ we caught up with him to chat about his book and also to ask him to comment on the ‘xenophobic attacks’ at the time.
Here is what he shared:
The Age of Inner Sense
HAPPY BIRTHADAY to Inner Sense
A new and very much improved ‘Inner Sense’
It’s amazing how time flies when one is having fun, such has been the case with the inception of Inner Sense. On the 6th of June, we celebrate the first year anniversary of Inner Sense! In celebrating this very special birthday, Inner sense has undergone a very much deserved extreme makeover.
For starters we have a brand New image, one that is very much inline with the spirit of Inner Sense, simple, stylish and elegant.
I have also added 3 more links to my business, curriculum vitae, and project. This, to give a bit of insight about the author. To simplify things a bit more, I have divided the posts into 3 different categories, IMHO (In My Humble Opinion), Reflections and Job of Work. As an added bonus, I added this month’s reading list on the side column and last but not least, my twitter can now be followed from here as well.
When I said ‘extreme makeover’ I meant it! I am ever so excited to see the amount of growth that is reflected in each post, it bears testament to the time that has lapsed and the winds of change that have come and gone. It is with the greatest pride and pleasure to witness this form of expression as it gives the inspiration to further find my voice and keep on expressing. This is a labour of love, a place where I sit beside myself and engage with my Self to get a deeper understanding of life and its situations. Inner Sense helps me make sense of that which I experience on a daily basis…it is my sanctuary, my canvas and my mirror. I salute this space.
On the 8th of June, my husband’s blog WSOM BLOG 2.0 (Welfare State of Mind) celebrates it’s 4th birthday! So with much respect and lots of love to the one who helped midwife Inner sense, I raise my fist for you and Welfare State of Mind, may it grow from strength to strength. May good fortune find your doorway always, and may you never grow weary or tired. More power to you, my friend…
It’s been a long and winding road, from the self proclaimed technophobe to the now savvy navigator of the world wide web and all its trappings, there is great cause to celebrate.
Yanga unyaka ozayo ungagcwala ngamathamsanqa…May the coming year be filled with good fortune and wonderful surprises!
Nangamso…
Camagu!!!!!!!!!
