Becoming a Part of the Family

from Katherine

During the recent school break we traveled 9 hours from our home deep into the Eastern Cape to a rural farming community called Cata.

We stayed with a family in Cata In a set up called a ‘homestay’ we stayed with a typical‘family’ in the village. In the home is the grandmother, uMama, her granddaughter – Tuli, 23, her daughter Sino 2, and another granddaughter – Buhle, 8. The grandfather is deceased, Tuli is not married and her parents live in Cape Town 12 hours away, Buhle’s parents or parent (I’m not sure if she has a mom and dad) are working in a city somewhere. This seems to be the norm in much of South Africa. Millions of grandmothers are the head of the household.

We were welcomed with hugs shown to our rooms and started life as ‘family members.’ They live in one rectangular room. The four of them sleep in 2 double beds at one end of the room, a refrigerator is next to the beds and there are two chairs for a sitting area at the end of the beds. On the other side is a small table where they wash dishes in a big plastic bowl and a cupboard and stove. On the family land there was another house which is where we stayed. It seems to have been built for visits from other family members. It has two small bedrooms and a tiny sitting area.

 

The main house has electricity for the fridge and stove. The other house has lights only at night. There is no running water but they have collection tanks from the rain water off the roof.  Water is delivered as you need it by Buhle as she is the youngest girl. Sino will soon be carrying water in small bottles so that she can learn. At bath time, one bucket of water is heated on the stove or on an open fire and you enjoy a ‘bucket bath’ on the front porch. And, the outhouse was down the hill next to the maize field.

Cata is an interesting village. During apartheid the Xhosa villagers were ordered off their ancestral land by the white government and consolidated on smaller plots in the valley below. Generally when this was done white farmers would move in and use the prime land. For some reason, this never happened in Cata.  After apartheid the villagers in Cata petitioned the new government to get their land back. They won the land as well as cash compensation. Some folks moved back into the hills but many stayed in the valley. 

Using half of the money from the settlement the community focused on creating economic development projects. One focuses on tourism and includes the homestays, horseback riding, trout fishing and hiking in the nearby mountains. Others are involved in community agriculture.

We were there for Xhosa lessons.  We had formal lessons each day and then we could practice on the villagers along the road or in the Tuck Shop. They were VERY kind!  One day we walked to the top of the hill to their ‘toposcope’ which is an outdoor map to learn where the original homesteads were located and how the families were organized. Other days, we went horseback riding into the forest, where we learned about their forestry program, and 4 wheeling to visit a magnificent waterfall. We used local guides on all of these trips which is one of the ways they make money for their family.

The trip was a wonderful experience for all of us. Our Xhosa language is a little bit better.  We so appreciate our hot and cold running water!! Electricity is nice, but candles are romantic (oh, Cason was with us). And, unconditional acceptance is amazing especially when our white skin gives the villagers reason to distrust us.