Project Njabulo, Ingwavuma Residency Update, 19th February 2008
From Gavin Stockden:
To get to some of the schools on this expedition we've had to travel on paths that are not really roads at all, but rather just tracks through the bush made by cars. If it wasn't for the guides we've had to pick up along the way, we would not have found these schools at all, as the tracks fork repeatedly and are crossed often by other tracks leading from household to household.
Today we traveled on a 'real' numbered dirt road which does get graded occasionally and yet it was even worse than the tracks we have traveled on previously. It was very steep and rocky and I had to drive most of the way in second gear, slowing right down for badly eroded sections.
We traveled quite far, right up to where the borders of Swaziland, Mozambique and Kwazulu Natal meet, passing Border Cave (where the oldest known remains of Homo Sapiens have been found) along the way. We were so close to the border that, when one of our volunteers lay down on the ground during the first show, the money that fell out of his pockets was Emalangeni (from Swaziland) not Rands.
However, when we arrived at the second school of the day, all the kids were outside on a break already and clustered around the gate when we arrived. These seemed like a suitably naughty bunch and they made it very difficult for us to set up the show. I tried to distract a group of them and move them away from the truck, while the other clowns unpacked. My plan seemed to be working, and I had most of the kids following me until the headmaster ordered them all back to the truck. They ran screaming back and Busi and Bongekile jumped inside to get away from the throng. Eventually we managed to get them away from the truck again and their teachers sent them to their classrooms to fetch some benches. There were not enough benches for everyone, but at last we managed to get the lower grades sitting on benches in the front and the older kids standing behind. It was a great show, the naughtier kids always make the best audiences, and the kids from the high school across the road all watched from behind their fence as well. The highlight of the show for me was when my volunteer ran off stage when I pulled out my juggling knives and would not return. I had to finish the bit with another volunteer. After the show the headmaster introduced Hlengiwe (our contact from Ingwavuma Orphan Care) to a newly orphaned pupil who couldn't have been older than 6. As Hlengiwe explained what they needed for the paperwork to care for this child I thought (as I often have on this trip) what a hard thing it must be to lose both parents at such a young age and gave thanks yet again that I was lucky enough to grow up with both my parents alive.As we drove back to our base in Ingwavuma, someone pointed out that one of our tyres was punctured and I set to work changing it. What would a CWB expedition be without a flat tyre? When I later tried to get the tyre fixed, I was told that it was irrepairable. I phoned the Imperial Car Rental helpline (As Imperial has kindly sponsored us yet again with a vehicle for this trip), and they asked me if I could just pop in to their closest branch in Umhlanga to pick up a new tyre. As Umhlanga is a good 5 hours away we decided not to do that and so we will continue with the rest of the expedition with no spare tyre, hoping that we don't pick up any more nails in our tyres along the way. Wish us luck...The first school's kids were pretty quiet and we were worried that they hadn'e enjoyed the show, until we found out that they have been taught not to react too strongly when people come to the school but rather to sit quietly. Not our ideal audience.
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