The reenactment began. Simphiwe watched from the edge of the pew… The boys, acting as Jesus’ guards and persecutors, whipped him with long, fresh-leafed, mango branches.
Setting the Pace for Change [freestyle: political rally]
The weekend before South Africa’s most recent election, being touted as the most important since Mandela’s 1994 rise to power, Acornhoek’s streets were bustling and the APC – one of more than sixteen political parties – held their final rally.
Clipped Wings and Open Doors [independence]
Is it true, for humans and animals alike, when they say,“The price for independence is often isolation and solitude”?
Voting Station 76160853 [freestyle]
Betty Mashile slip slops across the dusty tile floor of the Miriam Mogakane Community Centre, around three cardboard voting booths and toward a line of voters queuing at the door. Green South African identity books—a remnant of the Apartheid-era—are clutched in hands, towed in plastic grocery bags, tucked in purses, and stuffed in back pockets.
The Blyde River Canyon [sanctuary]
The Blyde River Canyon, where the waters of joy and sorrow flow, has become my spiritual center, of sorts. My mother when I am missing home. My Canyon de Chelly. It is where I go to think about the triangle of my past, present, and future.
Mati. [water]
Creek-kaw, Creek-kaw, Creek-kaw. The sound of a rusty blue water pump in a small farm-worker village can be heard for hours each morning.
The Old Selati Line [freestyle: railroad tracks]
Thirty minutes south of Hoedspruit’s main village centre and just a handful of kilometers from the farm, the old Selati railway line runs parallel to a border drawn on political maps in 1962.
All a Part of the Journey [airport]
Nine vehicles—six Land Rovers, two Sprinters, and my Prius—are parked in the small airport lot, waiting for the first flight of the day. They wait for tourists. I wait for my mother. Express (via New York, Dakar, and Johannesburg) from Chicago.
Young and Tragic [memorial]
Living in South Africa has changed my perspective on life and death, remembering and forgetting, the past and the future. It is a world of extremes, today and yesterday.
Yebo! [freestyle: public telephones]
Retired from service and converted into a public phone shop, a rusting green shipping container has been commissioned to spend its final years as a space where voices connect, a place where the poor can access lines of communication, an opportunity for a rural entrepreneur.
