Durban

Well it doesn’t seem like I have been in Durban very long and we are already headed to Cape Town tomorrow. I am very impressed with Durban. It is a beautiful city right on the ocean with a great sky line in the background. It’s a bit humid for my taste, but since it is winter here, I’m still pretty happy with the weather. They city has 3.5 million residents and is the third largest city in South Africa. It has the largest sea port in Africa.

When we arrived we had a presentation to attend. It was not the best and we skipped out a little early to get settled into the hotel. We are staying at a hotel and casino, so it is pretty nice. The beach is right next door, but unfortunately, we don’t have any time built into our schedule to spend time on the beach. Instead, we have the weekend in Cape Town to do fun stuff.

Today was another really good day on the trip. We traveled to Pietermatrinsburg, the capital of the Province of KwaZulu Natal. We met with the speaker of the Parliament. We had a pretty frank discussion with him about the problems in his province and the politics of his province. It was nice to have that honesty, as politicians are usually fairly hesitant to say too much in meetings with us. I can’t blame them, I would be the same way, especially when the media is there.

From the Parliament building, we traveled to a medical clinic at Soihizo. The take care of AIDS orphans and try to do outreach to the community. We got to mingle and play with the kinds and they danced for us. It was wonderful to see the kids/teenagers perform traditional Zulu dances for us.

After about an hour, we walked through part of the village near the medical station. I don’t have words for what we say. Or if I did, I would take me a long time to think about what we saw and how to describe it. Although it was not all that remote from traveling to an Indian reservation, but with an African twist. The poverty level was quite high and most of the people living around there are subsistence farmers. The houses are very small and several people live in them. There are not roads, running water, and there is an outhouse at each house.

Beyond that, I just don’t have the worlds to describe the experience at this point. It was definitely a highlight of the trip and something I would never have gotten to do elsewhere. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. The landscape was very beautiful and the walk was interesting.

One the way home and throughout the evening, we all commented on the impact that the trip through the village had on all of us. There wasn’t anyone that wasn’t moved by what we saw and the poverty they live in.

It will be a long time before I can forget that afternoon.

Tomorrow we visit an AIDS clinic, meet with the City Council, and travel to Cape Town. I may not have access to the Internet tomorrow also.