The Adventures of Scott & Greta in South Africa!!

I had an interesting conversation with my gardener today.  Just a little background:  Nicholas (23) and his wife, Charity, live in a small room attached to the back of our house with their 18- month-old son, Xcolony (who has no choice but to love the pink boa).  

Getting used to having “help” was a bit difficult, but we’re getting to know each other quickly.  Being someone who does not always follow the norm, I am quite disturbed by some of the ideas that are “just the way it is” here in South Africa.

Nicholas & Charity came from Zimbabwe where times are difficult and dangerous due to poor leadership and lack of democracy.   He has such a strong pride for his country, you can see it deep in his eyes whenever he speaks of Zimbabwe.  He works 6 days a week, at 4 different properties so he can send money and supplies back to his village.  And he strives to find a better life for his family.  Don’t get me wrong, there are many “domestics” who would be completely satisfied with the job Nicholas has.  When they first moved in with us, they were ecstatic because of the huge room they had.  It even had a bathroom and tub in a separate room, something they had never had before.  You see, they were living in shanty-town before Nicholas landed a job working for the previous ODC Officer (Scott’s job).  Having a roof over their head, steady pay, and security was far from what they had.  But Nicholas longs for a future where he’s self-sustainable, perhaps able to build his own house or teach a trade to his village.  He, like I, would like to make a difference in the world, even if it’s small.

So when he entered the house today looking completely defeated and handed me yet another document that we had to fill out in his search to open a bank account, he had about given up.  I looked over the papers, read them to him in plainer English than they were written, and invited him to sit and talk.  I asked him why he wanted a bank account, did he need it as some sort of documentation to further himself.  “No, I just want a safe place to save money. It’s a smart thing to do.”  Turns out Scott had previously told him that the coffee-can he’s using isn’t the safest way to save money.  Unfortunately, neither are the South African banks!  Nicholas is here on a temporary visa and has to return every 3 months to renew it. If something happened and he couldn’t get back in, his money would be frozen in the bank.  So we quickly worked out a solution to get him a fire-safe lock box that he can put in our safe-haven part of the house.  This conversation brought tears to my eyes when he tried to find an appropriate way to voice his concerns, “I have been taught before to be weary of keeping my money with someone I work for.  If I save a lot of money… I have to ask…will you be jealous?  White people don’t always think it’s okay for blacks to have a lot of money, and then they don’t pay us as much.”

We then turned to a head-on “blacks & whites” conversation that I can only say opened my eyes to the truth he speaks:  “If foreigners like you didn’t come here and show other people how to be accepting, there would be no progress at all.” He is also quick to say that the blacks are not helping each other out either because they are jealous of one another’s progress.

GOAL #1:  Get Nicholas a fire-safe lock box to use as his “bank account”

We talked about progress and how there’s not always a universal definition. We try to fix things the American way: more, more, more.  We talked about why I’ve only seen 2 inter-racial couples in SA since we arrived.  We talked about how white people wouldn’t even shake a black person’s hand.  I explained to him why I refuse to call him “my domestic” even though I’ve been told, “It’s okay, they don’t mind. It’s like a universal understanding that they’re not on the same level as white people.”  And he replied, “I like your way of thinking.”  We talked about him going round and round to try to get established.  And we set more goals.

Nicholas has a dream of being a bee-keeper.  If he could get the right set-up, honey could be one way for him to move up in the world.  He’s done some research (Scott and I did a bunch more on the internet) and there are plenty of fairly local places that would help him get started.  We would like to experiment in the back section of the yard and then make a formal request to the kids’ school for him to use some of their farm land.  This could take a while, is a lot of work, and will not see immediate rewards—but he’s a hard worker who is completely unfamiliar to instant gratification.

GOAL #2:  Honey Bees – workshop, books, suit, tools, honey bee hive starter hive.

Nicholas wants to get his driver’s license here so he can drive for people. More specifically, he’d like to work for 1 household as the gardener, driver, etc. so that he doesn’t have to ride his bike to multiple properties each week.  Also if he got established with the honey bees, he would need transportation to the farmland he uses.  This sounds fairly easy, except that in order to do this, he had to get all the paperwork and tests done in Zimbabwe for a temporary license, but he cannot use this in S. Africa.   So now he has to take this temporary license to the DMV and get on the license registry here so he can get the temporary license and take further tests.  Their DMV is just as painful as ours, except that every time he goes there he has to take off a day of paying work, ride his bike there, only to realize he never has the right paper work OR they give him additional papers and tell him to come back (sounds very much like the DMV in the US!).  We’re talking about a long & painful process that will take him years if we don’t help him in some way.

GOAL #3:  Get Driver’s License – save for car & insurance

GRETA & NICHOLAS’ GOAL:  Have Nicholas be our driver/gardener & harvest honey at the kids’ school—perhaps setting the foundation for his son to attend that school when the time comes.

The reason I have chosen to fill you in on this long & drawn out story is that it has touched my heart deeply. Nicholas would NEVER ask me for help.  He was going to wait until July to go back to the DMV, when one of his customers moves and he has time off in the morning. I told him I’d drive him Monday during lunch, and I thought he was going to leap for joy. Scott and I would love to just give/lend him the money to start his bees, but we cannot do that. It’s frowned upon and would not be acceptable in our position.  However, my mind has been ticking and I’ve come up with an idea that I think could just get this thing going—otherwise it will be years before anything is accomplished.

I’m setting up the “Charity for Nicholas” account … a little play on words as his wife’s name is Charity and we all know that behind every strong man is a stronger woman!  I’d like to ask you to think long and hard about giving $10 to this account.  Here’s how it would work:

• Scott & I will get Nicholas the lock box, achieving GOAL #1
• GOAL #2 will cost approximately 2500 Rand and it would take Nicholas a LONG time to save this amount.  Seems like a lot, right?  It’s $325!  If I can get 33 of my friends to give only $10, he can start his bees.
• If there is any excess money after getting the bees going, it will go into a savings that is for his car and insurance.  He will probably need approximately 50,000 Rand ($6500) to get a used car that is safe/nice enough to drive people (ummm…mainly my kids!)
• If/when he starts selling honey, the proceeds will go into his car account until that goal is reached.

It’s a couple trips to Star Bucks or a movie ticket.  Get your kids involved, 1 dollar is a lot of money to Nicholas, and would help more than you can imagine.  I know that times are tough and there are a lot of people always wanting donations.  But here’s a chance to make an instant difference to one family.  Of course I will keep you updated along the way.  After all, Nicholas & Charity are part of our Jacaranda Journey—they are now our family.  ~Keep Well

If you are interested, please send a check payable to Scott A. Williams with “Charity for Nicholas” in the memo. Send it to:

Major Scott A. Williams / ODC

9300 Pretoria Place

Dulles, VA  20189

Or Paypal: scottyairborne@hotmail.com

It can take a while for us to receive letters in the Embassy pouch. If you would like to let me know when you send one, I can keep track and let you know when it is received.  Thanks.