It's unbelievable to think that we have already been here for two weeks. The South Durban Basin is so unique and seems to surprise us with something new everyday. This past weekend, we had the opportunity to explore outside of the SDB community with our visit to Mnweni village near Bergville and the Drakensberg mountains. Our group honestly did not know what to expect with this visit as none of us had been to a traditional Zulu / rural African village before.
After a five hour drive and an intense game of Scrabble (which Jenni skillfully won), we arrived at Mnweni Cultural and Hiking Centre. Upon our arrival we were introduced to Agrippa, one of the main directors of the centre. We immediately settled into our rondavel, which is a variation of a traditional style African hut.
Once we were settled in, we were introduced to our main tour guide for the weekend, Caiphus. He explained to us the history of the area and took us on an adventurous 5k hike to see some of the famous rock art paintings created by some of the early inhabitants of the area. I was amazed by the age of some of these paintings (over 1,000 years old) and impressed by the deep respect that the current habitants have for their ancestors and their work. There are 98 rock art sites in that area alone and the public is only allowed to see 4 of them. The secret sites are used for Zulu traditions and only known to certain people that live in the villages. Some of us also had the opportunity to see Caiphus' home (an even more adventurous 10k)and stay with him for a night. In addition to seeing traditional Zulu dancers, our group enjoyed homemade bread and the scenic views of the mountain range.
A personal highlight for me was the opportunity to interact and play with the children in the village. At Mnweni, our group played soccer, painted, and taught the kids "Duck, Duck, Goose" and "Musical Chairs." The kids learned the games very quickly and it was amazing to see them have so much fun with it. At the end of the day, we passed out soccer jerseys and a variety of other clothes we had brought for the kids.
Another aspect of our visit which particularly touched me were my conversations with the kids and workers at Mnweni. It's pretty amazing when you talk to someone and they have never heard of New York City, San Francisco, Washington D.C., or even America. Being the first person to show these kids the Golden Gate bridge was exciting and let them know a little bit about my own home.
Although I tried to recap as much of our journey to Mnweni as possible, this post doesn't do justice to how moving this experience was. Personally, I was impressed with how well our group communicated despite an obvious language barrier (as the kids knew little to no English and we knew very little Zulu). Despite this we taught games, conveyed our names, and learned about the kids' lives. During our own group reflection we discussed the amount of work that these people do. It is all too easy to dismiss their lives and work as "simple." It seems like "hard work" these days is often defined by how many hours you spend working in front of a computer or the complexity of the material you are reading. I am not alone when I say that I could not herd dozens of sheep, milk cows, hike a 5k to get supplies, and make my own bread by 5 p.m everyday. Clearly, the lives of these people are very difficult.
We wanted to thank the Mnweni centre for such an enriching experience and encourage all of you to go on Facebook and "Like" the Mnweni Cultural and Hiking Centre page.
P.S. Shoutout to Kelsey, Jenni, Evan, Christina, Marcus, Huayu, Flannery and Andrew for the incredible hikes they did
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