Most Americans are generally not known for their knowledge, interest, or empathy of nations besides the United States. And many believe that their god has given the United States the highest of his/her blessings, and that every American process, approach, and idea has superiority over all others in the world. So it wasn’t much of a surprise when an acquaintance in rural Michigan (where I grew up) responded with “Why would you want to go there?” in response to our plan to visit Africa for the first time in 2006.
The above must not be taken as “America is a bad country”. But, is it really the best?
Any nation that has humans as citizens will have issues – for example: extreme nationalism, expensive mediocre health care, or a pandemic of gun violence. I from a nation that brutally enslaved Africans and nearly wiped out the entire indigenous population. A nation that has replaced slavery with a corporate industrial system of incarcerating black men. I urge you to read Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson.
And South Africa (or any other nation) is not exempt, nor is it perfect. South Africa is a wonderfully diverse and beautiful country, with a complicated and violent history. Kind of like America, yes?
During the early 1990’s I was in my first years of university and was completely ignorant about events in South Africa during a time when its citizens were freeing themselves from decades of apartheid. Steph was a bit more informed than me, remembering the economic sanctions. Don’t buy their grapes.
But we go forth in our adventure with eyes wide open.
Phil Maloney of Maple & Marula succinctly, intelligently, and hilariously discusses many of the dichotomies of South Africa.
“South Africa is like no other place on earth. It has all the amenities people in other countries are used to. And as long as you don’t look too closely, you’ll have the impression that all these amenities work and that it really has its act together.”
So when a white South African (a relative’s acquaintance’s relative) now living abroad responded to learning about our plans, stated “Why would you want to live there [Limpopo], there is nothing to do except look at zebra bums!”, Steph’s and my response was, “Exactly!”.
Thus Zebums was created.
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