Memories from the rainbow nation

How could I know what awaited for me when I learnt that I would spent a semester in South Africa?

As a good friend wisely said once, I went from hell and back and beyond. I travelled to Zimbabwe with four other wonderful researchers, I produced a short film with the most wonderful team mates one can wish, I spent one week with picteists in the Drakensberg, one of the most special places I have had the chance to see. I met wonderful souls, and fostered friendship bonds I know will be carried for life. It was a journey to a part of the world previously unknown to me, but perhaps more importantly, it was also a journey into myself.

I finish these notes with the sweet memory of that sunset by the Great Zimbabwe ruins. I can nearly hear that melody again if I close my eyes.

Local music and dance, Great Zimbabwe ruins, March 2012

Remember child labour

On this May day I would like to share my submission to a human rights photo contest; it talks about child labour.

The young banana vendor

31 March 2012, Masvingo, Zimbabwe

Denied the chance to simply be children, they have no opportunity to go to school, they have no time to play.  Child labour has been in rise in Zimbabwe since 2000 and this is often attributed to HIV/AIDS, socio-economic hardships and the breakdown of family support systems. While we promise our children a long list of rights, many of them continue to be denied the most basic ones, and child labour remains to be found on large scale farms, in the peasant sector, tea and coffee estates, mines, in domestic employment and in the streets of the country's urban areas.

About the Drakensberg Mountains

Cathedral Peak/Drakensberg, April 2012

Mountains always have this impact on me. I stare at their majesty. As someone who has spent most of her life in flat lands, I simply cannot get used to their beauty.

While it is true that it does not take much for mountains to impress me, the Drakensberg must have some different magic. It is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. There I met a lovely friend and she taught me the pleasures of bird watching. It was an unforgettable week along the dragon’s spine.

About the Freedom Day

On April 27 South Africans celebrate the Freedom Day. The date marks the first post-apartheid elections held in 1994. It is an opportunity to celebrate democracy, equality, justice, human rights.

I think it is also a day to celebrate South Africa’s history and the courage of the ones who stood up for what they believed was unjust, even when that meant sacrificing their own lives. It is a day to celebrate to example of people like Nelson Mandela, and I would like to share of his quotes I find most inspiring:

It always seems impossible until it is done.

About the romanticisation of things

... and of a time in the past, of a political ideology, of a condition. Some time ago I was a following a very heated debate (about an issue that is not exactly relevant now) when all of a sudden I felt a slap on the face: one of the speakers accused the other of romanticisation of poverty. That rocked me! It ringed a bell and it made me think over whether I could possibly be doing just that, not only towards poverty but also, for instance, towards communism. I must admit that I have never dedicated much of my time to better understand any of these, neither socialism nor communism and even less poverty. And this whole romanticisation thing definitely deserves some more reading, too. 

Last weekend I finally visited the Memento Park. I had been meaning to go there since I moved to Budapest - which now makes exact 5 months - but kept postponing it, so typical of me. So I did, and it was magic. Some could say that this fascination with this period of history would not persist have I lived in those times or under its late effects. Maybe, maybe not. For the time being I will keep flirting with these ideas.

One of the statues at Memento park

I took a few pictures there, surely fewer that I would have liked to. My poor fingers could not remain gloveless long enough! I will arrange them on a nice Flickr album all of their own, soon hopefully.

Has this story reminded someone of Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris? :)

post scriptum: an album for the beautiful statues of Memento park

We are now 7 billion!

Among all these apocalyptic analyses and scary predictions and speculation whether we will have enough food to feed that many mouths, I found this very beautiful illustration by Patrícia Furtado.

About an erratic bird

One month has passed since the bird flew away from those odd lands. It had been an interesting year over there; not an easy one, though. But the bird is never satisfied: if life runs too smoothly, the bird will either get bored or start thinking its time is not being used efficiently. Later, after filling its days with a wide range of different tasks and projects, the bird will enjoy the hectic days only for a short while: it will soon fall in exhaustion. While dreaming with the day it will build its own permanent nest in a very sound tree, the bird keeps finding reasons to constantly move here and there. It seems to be a vicious cycle.

I think the bird has the soul of an itinerant, a gypsy, while its brain hopes for a permanent settlement. If the bird only knew there is nothing wrong with that... I should tell it some day.