District 7230 Group Study Exchange
Report for Week May 19 – May 27
By GSE Team Leader Peter Grunthal
May 19
After traveling from Pretoria to Swaziland on
May 18, we settled into the town of Manzini, where AG Kobla Quashie coordinated
a full and rich program for us, after sating our hunger with a plateful of King
Prawns from Mocambique that would make a Maine lobster nervous, and several
other delicacies!
Our hosts were all welcoming, warm and
interesting. Peter had the pleasure of staying with Harry and Mary Nxumalo, and
Harry opened his life, his and Mary’s history, and his views to Peter. Leonard
and Kezi Dlamini took care of Ellen, ands her regret was that she could not
spend more time with them. Kirk stayed with Sibolelo and (Dr.) Tembo Masina,
and enjoyed his stay with this welcoming couple, Hadas stayed with Nomsa
Mlangeni, a warm and talented person with whom Hadas really wanted to spend
more time and Katherine and Lila stayed with Martin Allison, a bachelor who was
delighted to have his guests in his home!
Manzini is settled in the hills of this
“mountain Kingdom,” with beautiful views of mountains and valleys wherever you
go. We started in the American Embassy where the Public Relations officer gave
us some insights into the challenges that this little Kingdom faces, and how
the US is trying to give assistance. After that we spent time Father Larry
McDonnell, being shown the Manzini Rotary projects, which emphasize life skills
and vocational skills development. This took in two sites, where we saw both
the classroom and workshop environment. Most impressive. Then he took us to an
open market where native crafts attracted our close attention and our money!
That evening we joined the Manzini Rotary
Club, in the presence of the American deputy Ambassador and his wife, and the
Mayor of Manzini. It was a grand evening, but I have to admit that the GSE team
showed its weakness when we were asked to sing a national song, and we
completely ruined “America the Beautiful” in the presence of His Excellency!
May 20
We were escorted by Representative Mfomfo
Nkhambule, a King-appointed Member of Parliament, who was open, honest,
amusing, controversial, and generous with his time. He took us to Parliament,
where he escorted us to the chambers of the Assembly and the Senate, and
explained the processes by which Swaziland is governed. From there he took us
to a Rotary project, a pre-school, where it is planned to start educating
children at a young age, so that will ultimately become contributing members of
society. After an excellent lunch of traditional Swazi food at a modern
restaurant in the mountains, we went to a massive dolomite rock, which I
believe is known as a dolomite intrusion. This is the second largest of this
type in the Southern Hemisphere, a massive mountain –like rock, and the team, full
of energy after too long without exercise, went charging half-way up the rock,
looking down on yet another beautiful view. Then we went to the “Swazi Candles”
factory, where the most beautiful candles are manufactured and sold. And of
course, we contributed to the Swazi GNP!
An excellent day!
May 21
We traveled to Nelspruit, where Joan Schormann
took over coordination, very ably, and with a flexibility that we appreciated.
First stop was a traditional indigenous tribal compound with several huts and
local people dressed in traditional garb. We were shown over the whole place,
and treated to a feast of ethnic singing and dancing. One dancing warrior
noticeably had his eyes on Katherine, and I thought he would pick her up and
carry her away. Ellen received two marriage proposals, and Hadas received one
very shy one!
In Nelspruit Peter and Ellen stayed with Heila
and Henk Jooste. A terrific match of common vocations, Kirk with A P van
Schalkwyk, Lila with Peter Emery, and Katherine and Hadas with Joan herself, at
her beautiful farm homestead in the most lush gardens.
May 22
We had an enjoyable and actually hard-working
morning at the Duberine school at Joan’s farm, where we actually dug holes in
the hard ground and planted goal posts for the soccer field. As Kirk and Peter
swung the pickaxe and shoveled away, I believe we inspired a couple of the schoolboys
to join in with vigor and enthusiasm, because the dream of a soccer field was
coming true. Meantime, Hadas joined the women stirring the porridge in the huge
cauldron to feed the children, and she was so enthusiastic and effective that
one of the women asked her if she would marry her son!
That evening we attended a joint meeting of
several clubs in the area, Rotarians coming from miles around. We presented
again, and it was a joyous event.
May 23-25
We traveled through large areas of former
Bantustans, with their sprawling third world housing, to Sabie Sands. This is a
collection of large private game farms immediately adjoining and combined with
the Kruger National Park. We went to Arethusa Lodge, a farm that belongs to
Joan Griessel, a Warmbaths Rotarian, who will be the next District Secretary,
and a very generous hostess.
We stayed in the beautiful traditional
bungalows at the lodge, and went out in the large Landrover for game drives for
several hours each morning and each evening. We were accompanied by DG Doug
Thistlewhite and his wife Jenny, GSE Chairman Andre Brandmuller and Sarah Jane,
and incoming Chair Marj Tunmer. It was a happy group.
Joan’s farm captured my richest expectations
of Africa’s glorious landscapes and animal life. Sitting on the verandah one
surveys the Sand River, the bush on the opposite bank, and great specimen trees
on the grassy plains.
Every so often a herd of elephants, a buffalo,
a warthog, a family of giraffes, or a large stork comes to drink at the
waterhole on the opposite bank.
Time stands still as elephants emerge slowly
from the bush and march majestically to the waterhole. They splash around
without hurry or concern, stopping only to chase away the nearby stork. It
seems they have done this for time immemorial, and will continue to so forever.
I had heard of the “big five” but could not
really comprehend that elephants and rhinos would pass within a few yards of
our open Landrover. But they did. We encountered buffalo, lions, rhinos,
leopards, and of course the elephants. The latter surrounded the car on three
sides, with 15 yards of us, huge bulks, some curious, the mothers watchful. The
buffalo strolled by without concern. The old male lion, eight to ten yards from
the vehicle, glared at us and then ignored us. The rhinos, in the glare of a nighttime
spotlight, literally scampered around us, and perhaps the high point of many
highlights was the close encounter with the mother leopard and playful cub.
Back at the lodge, around the campfire in the
open “boma,” we chatted about this visit of a lifetime, memories we will never
forget. This was as good as it gets! Thank you, Joan!
May 26
Difficult as it may be too follow an act like
that, Haenertsburg is such a beautiful spot in the mountains that we were
thrilled to be there. We started at the Sapeko Tea Plantation with spectacular
views over miles of tea bushes among the green mountains, lush with vegetation.
Our hosts were Andrew Brooke Smith, who hosted Kirk and Peter in his house
overlooking the entire estate, and Linda Holkum, who coordinated our visit and
hosted Hadas, Katherine, Ellen and Lila.
That evening we joined a meeting of several
clubs in the area, at a pub called the “Pot and Plow.’ It was an informal
evening, and we all enjoyed many conversations with several Rotarians. We also
learned about the “loopdop”, i.e., the drink for the road, the ABF – absolutely
bloody final drink for the road, and son for several versions which become
unprintable!
She gave us the run of her farm on May 27, and
the team again worked off some energy on a long hike through tea plantations
and tall forests. It was glorious.
From there we traveled to Pietersburg –
Polokwane, where your team leader hopes to find an internet connection to get
this report and all our best wishes to you!