Sick in iNzinga

Hello my lovely blog readers.
Miranda here from iNzinga.
The last few days have been pretty uneventful for me. I have been terribly sick and in bed while all of the good stuff has been happening outside.
I know that my dad worked and talked with the secondary school in the area to start a community library with a grant that Isipho got. We are pricing everything, and working with a local carpenter to build the shelves and tables, etc. Keeping it here in iNzinga. While I’ve been laying here in bed, dad got some pretty good footage of the stuff he’s been doing, and the people he’s meeting. Yesterday, I think it was, dad met this fantastic old Zulu man up the hill who has been gardening on his property for decades. He is one of the only ones in the area who has real good knowledge, that he says he got from his father and grandfather, and who is keeping up a great garden. His garden is beautiful, and he offered to come down the hill to help with the school gardens sometimes, making sure they are working nicely, and exciting the kids.
Also, yesterday I got up for the first time in a few days and went with dad and Nonjabulo down to the tiny store down the road that sells bread and sometimes oranges. While Nonjabulo was buying some bread, dad struck up a conversation with this man who was standing nearby. The man asked my father “could you give me a job?” We hear that a lot, being the only white people who wander around iNzinga for any long periods of time, and they assume from our accents that we are from America, and immediately ask for a job. He started talking about how he cuts grass, and takes care of flower beds and gardens. When he asked my dad what we were doing here in the village, my dad told him that we also help with gardens, and we work with the gardens in the schools and the drop-in center mostly.
The man got really excited, but then hesitated. He asked “will you help us so when you leave we can still garden?” My heart swelled and I told him that is exactly what we hoped to do. That is our goal, to be able to go to the next village and be confident that the gardens here will thrive despite our absence.
It amazes me every time that I hear someone here say something like that. It really is what people want here. Their independence. Everyone likes to be helped when they need something. But isn’t it better to ask for help, get the help, and then be able to continue on by yourself? It’s demoralizing to have to get help constantly for the same thing your whole life.
This morning I finally went to the clinic with my dad-ee-oh. I was so terrified before and that’s because the only other time I went was when dad ran into the barbed wire fence and split his head wide open. It was the only day the doctor was in town for the next two weeks and all of the desperately sick and injured people in the village were lined up against the not so clean walls. There were people with infections, sores, freshly broken bones, sick children and whooping cough. I was so overwhelmed that I freaked myself out a bit.
When I went down there this morning there was one other patient and that’s all. They let me in right away and the cheerful doctor sat me down, and started chatting away in English while she took my blood pressure and checked my heart and my breathing. When we told her we were from America she said, “You come from America?? To here? Oh my!”
I felt very comfortable despite my earlier worries, and am quite fond of the nurses who work there, without pay. She handed my some antibiotics and some old-fashion cough syrup (yum….) and told me how much to take how often. She even gave me a complimentary Tylenol. All of the medication was free, and she sent us on our way. It’s amazing that in a place as wonderful and generally wealthy as America, for even a check-up or antibiotics we have to pay a reasonably high fee. There are a lot of people who get very ill because they can’t afford any medical attention in America, while here, anyone who is sick gets their fair share of necessary medicine and good care for free. It may not be the best of medical care, but everybody gets what they need.
I am pretty excited about finally getting some medicine, and hopefully will be feeling fit as a fiddle (a saying which has never made any sense to me whatsoever) or at least a little bit more energized and can get my interviews in and some really great footage. I love bringing my passion of film together with my love for iNzinga. I have never ever wanted to make a documentary, it’s just not my style, but when I come here, it’s like already being in a different world, and just capturing what I see. It’s like making a movie without having to direct a cast or crew. Everything just happens and it’s wonderful.
Today I am going to interview the class presidents of the high school down the hill and see what they have to say about the gardens but also about their future. I want to know how they see their destinies.
Well my old school cough medicine and Tylenol are kicking in and I might just pass out, so I’m going to sign off for today. I may blog again tonight. Keep an eye open for more!!
Rock on,
Miranda