South Africa Round Up

Imagine Growing Up on this Street

I had the opportunity to do a tour of Soweto and I spent some time on the famous street of Vilakazi.  It is the only street in the world than can boast the homes of two Nobel Peace Prize winners.        

Vilakazi Street is the most famous street in Soweto, and is the only street in the world to have had two Noble Prize winners as its residents. Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu lived on Vilakazi Street. Nelson Mandela’s house has now become a museum, and is one of the  biggest tourist attractions in Gauteng. The house has been preserved in exactly the same state it was when the Mandelas lived in it in the 1960’s. Visitors to the museum include international tourists, heads of states and local residents keen to learn about the great man. The Tutus’ house is across the street from the Mandelas and is still used as a normal home by the Tutu family. The Tutu house is also a major tourist attraction (not open to the public) and is an important part of the rich history of the Vilakazi Street precinct.

Vilakazi Street is also home to one the most famous schools in Soweto, Orlando West High School. The school was one of the most active during the 16th June 1976 student protests. Pupils gathered at this school before the historic events of 1976. The popularity of Vilakazi Street has created business opportunities for residents of this area. Restaurants have been established to cater for the needs of tourists and local visitors to the area. Local artists are also taking advantage of the influx of visitors by offering their wares for sale.

Catching Up With Friends in Pretoria

I had the opportunity to catch up with my friend, Floyd Moloko and his co-worker, Vincent one day during my time in Pretoria.  The two of them work for the national government in the Department of Arts and Culture.  Floyd and I met through a mutual friend in Beijing during the Olympics.  We started the night at Floyd's house for a traditional South African meal and then drinks at their favorite pub.  Not unlike a few other countries I have been to lately, the pub was located at a mall.  Unfortunately, the American mall concept has become the hip and happening spot for people to meet up in many countries.

An Antarctica Reunion

During my time in Johannesburg, Tom and Kay Cottrell organized a mini Antarctica reunion.  Last march Tom and I met in Antarctica during the marathon.  He was running with two friends from South Africa, Charles and Demetri.  One Sunday, the Cottrells invited Charles and Demetri and their significant others for a brunch.  It was great to get reconnected and reminisce about our time in the cold.

Last Word

Though I had some incredible experiences while I was in South Africa, nothing will compare to the day I spent in Ficksburg celebrating the Obama Inauguration.  Here is the picture from that night of the people I celebrated with at the Bottling Company.

 

Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation

I can't remember the last time I actually cried while I read a book.  Sure, I have been misty eyed here or there but not to the point of actual tears and this was a nonfiction book. John Carlin has delivered one of the the best sports books that I have ever read.  Carlin has a great style in relating the importance of the 1995 World Cup Rugby Tournament had in the creation of the new republic of South Africa.  He captures the spirit of the time and artful maneuvering of Nelson Mandela as he kept together the nation from breaking down into racial strife. Rugby for years had been viewed by black South Africans as a white sport loved by the Apartheid regime.  The newly elected Mandela used the sport and South Africa's unlikely run in the tournament to bring a nation together.  It is part political thriller and part sporting Cinderella story. 

The book is currently being made into a movie by Clint Eastwood starring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon as the South African Rugby Captain of the Springboks.  The filming started in Cape Town while I was there. 

After I finished the book, I sent an e-mail to my friends that are sports fans and told them to pick this one up.  Now, I am telling you.  You will not be disappointed.

Where the Buffalo Roam---Not in Kruger National Park

                  Pictured: I got this great shot after we followed a lion for twenty minutes.

The twelve day adventure tour ended in Johannesburg, South Africa.  We left Dan at his upscale hotel with his wife joining him later that night to start their own adventure trekking guerrillas in Rwanda.  Hendrik was getting ready to see his brother before heading back to the States to be with his wife.  And your hero started his next adventure.  No rest for the weary.

My next stop was graciously hosted by Tom and Kay Cottrell.  I had met Tom and a contingent of other South African runners during my 1/2 marathon on Antarctica.  Tom has a distinct personality and held court during our Antarctica journey in the hospitality lounge.  He was adamant that I see him when I made it South Africa and so we kept in touch over the months.

I was only planning on staying the weekend but it ended up being the entire week.  Over our first beer, he asked if I had visited Kruger National Park.  I told him I hadn't and would probably wait to see it when I returned to the country in 2010. He wouldn't have it and told me he wouldn't let me leave the country without going to the park.  Since he is an independent publisher, he decided to take three days away from his home office and take me to "The Kruger."

 

Tom and I spent three days touring around the park in the search of the famous big 5 animals. (Elephant, Lion, Rhino, Buffalo and Leopard) I was hoping to see at least three of them and assumed I wouldn't see rhinos because we were not spending much time in the North of the park where the largest concentrations were located.  At every turn we saw great numbers of impalas, elephants, giraffes and a good number of lions.  No buffaloes, rhinos or leopards. 

Tom was adamant that we should see at least four of the big five.  On the last day, a few miles from the exit gate, we saw a leapard in the distance that was running into the bush.  I took a picture but you can barely see it.  Tom claims it was a cheetah butI was sure it was a leopard.  A group behind us thought it was leopard as well so I decided I was right and chalked up my third animal of the five.  I was ready to go home.  Tom was sure that there were buffaloes in our future.  After a few more hours of hunting, we knew it was a lost cause.  Where the buffalo roam?  I don't know but it wasn't in Kruger during those three days. 

Kruger becomes an International Peace Park (Information from Wikipedia)

A Transboundary Protected Area is a protected area that spans across boundaries of multiple countries, where the political border sections that are enclosed within its area are abolished. This includes removal of all forms of physical boundaries, such as fences, allowing free migration of animals and humans within the area. A boundary around the area may however be maintained to prevent unauthorised border crossing. Such areas are also known by terms such as Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs) or Peace Parks.

The preservation of traditional animal migration patterns, ensuring sufficient food and water sources for population growth, are the primary reason for the creation of peace parks. Peace parks however also encourage tourism, economic development and goodwill between neighbouring countries, as well as facilitating travel of indigenous inhabitants of the area.

On 1 February 1997, Dr Anton Rupert, together with HRH Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands and Dr Nelson Mandela founded Peace Parks Foundation as a not-for-profit organisation to facilitate the establishment of transfrontier conservation areas (TFCAs), also called peace parks.

Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park is a 35,000 km² peace park that is in the process of being formed. It will link the Limpopo National Park (formerly known as Coutada 16) in Mozambique, Kruger National Park in South Africa, Gonarezhou National Park, Manjinji Pan Sanctuary and Malipati Safari Area in Zimbabwe, as well as the area between Kruger and Gonarezhou, the Sengwe communal land in Zimbabwe and the Makuleke region in South Africa.

Fences between the parks have started to come down allowing the animals to take up their old migratory routes that were blocked before due to political boundaries. There are new plans that should increase the size of the park to 99,800 km² (36,000 sq. mi.).

The Mad Adventure: Part IV

Our adventure continued after the daring days of shark diving and bungy jumping.  The rest of the trip was a little more subdued and as my mother would say "not as reckless."  One of the stops we made was in the small town of Hogsback, South Africa. 

At first I didn't understand why it was on the itinerary.  It wasn't a place in my guidebook and there didn't seem to be much there.  It made sense that we stopped somewhere in order to break up the long drive but why there?  Hendrik explained to me the lore of the region.  The town of Hogsback is said to have been the place that inspired J.R.R. Tolkien to write the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Hobbit. To be honest with you, I didn't even know that he was from South Africa.  You wouldn't know it from the town as well.  They really try to downplay the connection.  There are a few hostels, one road and a few restaurants that play off the Tolkien connection but other than that it would be any other small town off of South Africa's Garden Route. It was nice to see that the small town wanted to keep its character and feel and not play off the recent success of the LOTR trilogy.  Hendrik mentioned, as an aside, that his cousin actually owned the house that Tolkien was born and has turned it into a bed and breakfast called the Hobbit House.

Since Hendrik was from the area, we were able to do things that were not on the usual tourist agenda.  We made a stop at his cousin's place to do some "4x4"ing in the sand dunes of his property.  Hendrik's cousin, Choppy, took us through the dunes at great speed and I am still finding sand to this day from the trip.

Hendrik, also, took us to meet his parents and we stayed on their farm.  They have thousands of acres of land and have begun to stock an number of wild animals.  His parents were great hosts and we ate like kings.  We went tubing in the river and I did my first target shooting with a rifle.  Though I don't know if I will be getting my membership in the NRA, I was not a bad shot if I might say so myself.  We would go out at dusk and track the animals.

                Pictured: Hendrik's father taking us out on a dusk drive on their family farm.

Our last activity before we went our separate ways to do one last safari.  It was at a lodge called Stone Safaris on the way back to Johannesburg.  Though we didn't see as much as we did at the Addo National Elephant Park, we were able to go on the trails on our own ATVs.  The highlight of this part of the trip was getting to play with a few of the lion cubs.  In a few months when they could fend for themselves, they would be reintroduced to the wild.

The Mad Adventure- Part III- Bungy Jumping

                       Pictured: Hendrik, Sam and Dan at Addo National Elephant Park.

The adventure continues with your three protagonists slowly making their way through the Garden Route of the southernmost road of South Africa. We entered the Tsitsikamma Coastal National Park in the early afternoon.  We did a hike through the park before the sun down and proceeded to have the worst barbecue ever.  It needs to said that South Africans take their barbecue or as they call it their "braai" very seriously. Hendrik had offered to cook the food for us to show us how it is done in South Africa. Though Hendrik now lives in North Carolina, he still thinks that South Africans have a better barbecue style than Americans.  In Hendrik's defense, we did buy the chops at the local gas station since everything else was closed that day.  Needless to say, the chops were tough and we needed a few bottles of wine just to finish the food.  Dan and I relentlessly made fun of Hendrik for his barbecuing skills.  To be more accurate, Dan was trying to be polite while I continued to rip on Hendrik for the rest of the night.

The next morning we took a boat trip through the river that ran through the national park.  After the very slow leisurely boat trip, we decided to dial it up a few notches by going to the world's highest commercially operated Bungy Jump.  I will safely say that this is by far the scariest thing I have ever done in my life.  I do have a fear from falling from heights. I have always thought you should face your fears which is why I have tried parachuting and paragliding on this trip.  There were a few points that thought about heading back down and forfeiting the fee that Dan so generously picked up.  In the end, I knew that I would be disappointed in myself if I didn't go so I talked myself into it.  The jump itself is 708 feet!

The bungy company was called Face Adrenalin and this description is from their website---Situated along the Garden Route at the Tsitsikamma Forest Village Market, just 40km east of Plettenberg Bay along the N2 Highway you will find the highest single span arch bridge in the world. This is the ultimate thrill! This IS the highest commercially operated Bungy Jump in the world. We secure you in a full body harness and proceed to walk along a specially designed catwalk (216m long), which is suspended beneath the road surface, which will then lead you to the top of the arch - 216 meters above the Bloukrans River. Here you will be given final instructions by highly experienced staff, a countdown and off you go! Bloukrans utilizes pendulum bungy technology ensuring you the smoothest, most comfortable bungy jump possible.

For the record-mom's will be mom's regardless how old you are or where you are in the world. After I posted these pictures to Facebook, I received an e-mail from her suggesting that I should cut the journey short and come home.

The Mad Adventure-Part II

The adventure continued as the three of us took the coastal route towards the East Coast of South Africa.  We stopped in a number of small communities giving me a better sense of the country outside of the big cities that I had been to before the trip had started.

Pictured: Me trying to do my best impression of Gollum in the Cango Caves.  "My precioussss!"

One of the stops we made was to explore the Cango Caves. "The Cango Caves are located in Precambrian limestones at the foothills of the Swartberg range near the town of Oudtshoorn in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The principal cave is one of the country's finest, best known and most popular tourist caves. Although the extensive system of tunnels and chambers go on for over four kilometers, only about a quarter of this is open to visitors. The smallest passage that tourists will have to pass through on the Adventure Tour is just under 30 cm high at the exit." (Wikipedia)

We made a stop that day at an ostrich farm as well. As you can imagine, there was not much to do at an ostrich farm.  We mocked the tourist who tried to ride an ostrich.  The three of us were not allowed to ride due to our size.  Something about animal cruelty.  The most excitement came when an ostrich attacked my new friend, Flat Mallory.  Unfortunately, Flat Mallory has sustained permanent damage to her left arm.  How do you tell a third grader that an ostrich ate her paper doll's arm?  I am still grappling with that one.

                 Pictured: A bad ostrich attacking Flat Mallory.

Caves and ostriches are fine but this was an adventure trip.  The next thing of bravery was paragliding over the "Map of Africa" in the small town of Wilderness, South Africa.  The views were incredible and the winds could carry you for hours.

The Mad Adventure- Sideways Meets Jaws

                           Pictured: Sam and Dan Haight at the southernmost city in Africa.

As I mentioned in yesterday's post after a fun weekend in Cape Town, I embarked on a guys trip with my friend, Dan Haight and our trusty guide, Hendrik Van Vuuren.  The first stop was to go to the most southern point of the continent and see the point where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet up.  At first, we went to the very touristy, Cape Point.  Somehow people have decided that this is the point where the two oceans meet and the South African tourist industry has run with it.  I assume it has something to do with the fact that it is so close to Cape Town.  The reality is you have to go a few hours further and to the east to the town of Cape L'Agulhas to get to that point.  We did both so we could safely chalk it off our list.  Cape Point reminded me of going to the equator in Ecuador and visiting the tourist point there.  Everyone is taking pictures at the big "E" but the reality is that scientists have found that the real equator is actually a couple hundred meters away.  Of course, I was partial to the Indian Ocean!

After our stint with the two oceans, we went into Stellenbosch, South African wine country.  We didn't have much time so we rushed to the winery of my choice, the Ernie Els Wine Farm. I wanted to see what the South African golfer could do with a bottle of wine.  The answer--- not much.  It was a beautiful winery and ranks up there with the ones I have been to from an aesthetic point of view.  But the wines we tasted were average and priced way to high but I guess if you have a famous name you can charge whatever you want.  While we were in Stellenbosch, we had dinner with a few of Hendrik's college friends.  They had all gone to school at the university in town.  After a few bottles of wine, the college stories started to flow and needless to say that Hendrik would have fit in very well with my group at Michigan State University.

Our next stop was our first adventure stint of the trip.  Shark diving in Gansbaai, South Africa.  I will admit that this had me a little nervous the night before.  I had seen the movie, Jaws, as a child and it scared me. We were going to be face to face with great white sharks.  We went with a good firm but the group was fairly large so we all limited time in the cages.

                 Pictured: Can you see the fear in my goggles?     

I was lucky and had the closest encounter with the largest shark of the day while I was in the cage.  The Norwegian guy in the cage with me had a digital camera that worked underwater and he took this great picture of the shark as it went by us.  Pretty cool, huh?

A Weekend in Cape Town!

             Pictured:The view of Cape Town from Table Mountain.

I spent a weekend in Cape Town, South Africa before heading out on a 12-day adventure that would satisfy any adrenaline junkie.  I had received an e-mail from my friend Dan Haight before the end of the year. I met Dan and his wife last year in Antarctica and through the beauty of the blog and technology kept in touch. He was planning a trip with an associate of his wife in South Africa.  His wife worked with Hendrick, a South African who owned a small travel company that specialized in adventure and safari travel in South Africa. Dan wanted to know if I wanted to join him to go shark diving, croc diving, bungy jumping, paragliding and on a few safari drives.  It was my kind of adventure.  The only problem was the cost.  Actually, the cost was very affordable for what was planned but it was close to the whole budget for the month of January.  As the journey is coming to a close in the next few months, I needed to be frugal to make sure I hit everything left on the agenda.  After mulling it over for a few days, I resorted to rule # 1 of Singh Around the World- Don't worry everything works out in the end.  I am glad that I did.  Over the next few days I will share with you some of the pictures and highlights of that adventure.

Before catching up with Hendrick and Dan, I spent the weekend visiting friends and colleagues of Marsha MacDowell and Kurt Dewhurst in Cape Town , South Africa.  I have worked with Kurt and Marsha for a number of years in projects ranging from the MSU Museum to the Great Lakes Folk Festival.  Both Kurt and Marsha have an extensive cultural network in South Africa. Actually, they were both in South Africa while I was in the country for an exhibit but I was not able to arrange to see them because I was meeting a friend in Botswana at the same time.  

One of the people they introduced me to was the founding director of the Robben Island Museum, Dr. Andre Odendaal.  Andre is now the CEO of the Newland's Cricket Stadium.  He graciously invited me to join him in the President's box to watch a 20-20 cricket match with the local Cape Town Cobras.  It was my second time watching cricket on this trip with the first one happening in India with my cousin.  It was an exciting match that ended with home team pulling off a suspenseful ending.  For baseball fans- it was like striking out the last batter when the other team had the base's loaded and only needed two more runs to win.

The next day I met up with two other friend's of Marsha and Kurt, Ruendree Govinder and Jim Sleight.  Jim is originally from East Lansing and met Ruen when she was working at MSU's MATRIX: Center for Humane Arts, Letters, and Social Sciences Online.  They now live in Cape Town and gave me a tour of the city and took me to dinner on the waterfront.  Ruen is now working with nonprofit organizations on their technology needs in South Africa.  Jim finished a project, that MSU was involved with, that digitized countless hours of video that was taken by those fighting to overturn the oppressive apartheid regime. It was good to meet them.  Talking about South African nonprofits and MSU basketball is perfect dinner conversation for me!

For those interested in the project that Jim worked on-----The Community Video Education Trust (CVET) in Cape Town is building a digital archive of videos taken in South Africa in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The raw footage available on this website documents anti-apartheid demonstrations, speeches, mass funerals, celebrations, and interviews with activists. Videos capture the activism of trade unions, students and political organizations, including the activities of the United Democratic Front. The CVET archive is a unique, publicly accessible video record of the peak of popular resistance against apartheid. Check out the website at http://www.cvet.org.za.

A Pilgrimage to Robben Island

"Today when I look at Robben Island, I see it as a celebration of the struggle and a symbol of the finest qualities of the human spirit, rather than as a monument to the brutal tyranny and oppression of apartheid. It is true that Robben Island was once a place of darkness, but out of that darkness has come a wonderful brightness, a light so powerful that it could not be hidden behind prison walls."--- Nelson Mandela

During my stay in Cape Town, I made a pilgrimage to the infamous prison at Robben Island.  The island had many functions over the years including serving as a leper colony and animal quarantine.  It will be always most known for being the prison for political prisoners during the ugly years of apartheid in South Africa. In 1997, the prison was closed and turned into a museum.  It is now recognized as a world heritage site from UNESCO.

The tour of the island is done by bus and is informative but very boring.  The guide will point things out for you but you are not allowed to leave the bus.  Once the tour reaches the prison, the experience takes a complete turn for the better.  During the tour of the prison each group is paired with a former political prisoner that serves as a guide.  It is a very powerful experience to hear their first hand accounts about the island, it's prisoners and their brutal captors.  As the gentleman spoke about his life in prison, you could feel the sense of satisfaction about how far his country has come.  And though, he and others were beaten and treated cruelly, he had a spirit of reconciliation regarding the past and the leadership of the time.
                               Pictured: A former political prisoner talks about the abuse and double standards he and others endured at Robben Island.

Background from New World Encyclopedia.com

In 1961 the Prisons Department of South Africa took over the island and built an austere maximum-security prison. It served as such for political prisoners from 1960 through 1991, and as a medium security prison for criminal prisoners from 1960 through 1996. Between 1961 and 1991, over three thousand men were incarcerated on Robben Island, often for decades, perhaps the most well-known being Nelson Mandela. It was here that he penned the bulk of his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom.

During the apartheid years, Robben Island was notorious for its institutional brutality.Contact with the outside world was limited to sending and receiving two letters per year. When prisoner family member visits were instituted, they were restricted to once every six months for a period of only thirty minutes, in conditions which made even conversation difficult. Security was very tight and the island was off-limits to almost all civilians, including fishermen. 

Life on Robben Island during these years more closely resembled a labor camp than a prison. Breaking rocks and mining lime from the Island's quarry were required. Beatings and prolonged solitary confinement were commonly practiced. Food, bedding and clothing were insufficient. In the early 1980s, many prisoners engaged in active demands for rights, and a 1981 hunger strike reinforced their case and, along with international pressure, led to some minor improvements in conditions.

Most inmates had been black men incarcerated for political offenses. Some of them spent more than a quarter of a century in prison for their beliefs. The duty of those who ran the island and its prison was to isolate opponents of apartheid and to crush their morale. The particular character of the apartheid era prisoners, and their disciplined morale in the face of considerable difficulties and even abuse, is well attested as being sustained by their commitment to the cause of the struggle for freedom. Robben Island came to symbolize the triumph of the human spirit over enormous hardship and adversity.

Book Suggestion- More Than Just a Game: Football vs. Apartheid

After visiting the museum and island, I picked up this book.  It was a well written and researched book that illustrated the power that sport can have on the human condition.  It is a powerful book and that gives the reader a great sense of the pain and suffering the prisoners went through and how football helped them find a sense of order and hope to continue their struggle.

From their publishers---"This is the astonishing story of how a unique group of political prisoners and freedom fighters found a sense of dignity in one of the ugliest hellholes on Earth: Robben Island. Despite all odds and regular torture‚ beatings and daily backbreaking hard labour‚ these extraordinary men turned soccer into an active force in the struggle for freedom.

For nearly 20 years‚ the political prisoners on Robben Island‚ where Nelson Mandela was infamously incarcerated‚ somehow found the energy‚ spirit and resolve to organise a 1400 prisoner−strong‚ eight club football league which was played with with strict adherance to FIFA rules.

The prisoners themselves represented a broad array of political beliefs and backgrounds‚ yet football became an impassioned and unified symbol of resistance against apartheid. They refused to let their own political differences sway their devotion to the sport‚ which allowed them to organise and maintain leadership right under the noses of their captors.

This league not only provided sanctuary and respite from the prisoners′ cruel surroundings‚ it kept their minds active and many credit it with keeping them alive. More Than Just a Game chronicles their story‚ the politics of the time‚ the extraordinary characters‚ their heroism and the thrilling matches themselves."

---

The Shoe Cobbler and My Emerging World View

                           Pictured: Morgan Tsvangirai being sworn in by his rival, Robert Mugabe this past week in Zimbabwe.

"You should listen to all people.  Everyone has a story.  Everyone can teach you something."

The above is a paraphrase of a statement my grandfather told me when I was young.  It is typical grandfatherly advice.  I am sure someone in your family said something similar to you at one point.  Recently, I have been thinking of those words.

I was asked the question by radio host, Walt Sorg, in our recent monthly interview "If travel has changed my worldview?" The simple answer is yes.  There is no way that it cannot help shape your views and perspectives.  The most recent example is occurring as I travel through Southern Africa.  The big issue in the region is the formalization of the unity government in Zimbabwe.  Loyal readers of the blog know that I have been critical of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe in the past.

Though Mugabe, led his country to freedom over the minority white rule in the late 1970's, his recent years have led his country in an uncontrollable downward spiral.  What was once an economic engine and the food-basket for the region is now a country that is suffering from hyperinflation and a general public on the brink of starvation.  The country's health system has fallen apart and the country is exposed to a growing cholera epidemic. 

In March of 2008, the national election took place and the results were withheld for over a month. The opposition party the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Morgan Tsvangirai claimed victory of a majority of the votes.  Though the courts, stacked with Mugabe supporters, claimed there was not a majority and that a second run off election needed to occur.  In the lead up to the second election, supporters of the MDC were targeted with widespread attacks.  Weeks before the second election Martin Tsvangirai, withdrew due to escalating violence to his supporters and his belief that there was increasing indication of widespread electoral fraud. Mugabe took the oath of office to much worldwide ridicule after the second vote.  A number of countries including the US increased their level of economic sanctions on the Zimbabwe government claiming that the election was a fraud.

I believe that Robert Mugabe is a tyrant. I believe that he is a murderer.  I believe that Zimbabwe is better off without him in any position of leadership and on trial for human rights abuse. I believed that before this trip and I still believe that fourteen months later. What has changed is how I view the new unity government.

Until I traveled to Southern Africa, I thought that strong economic sanctions should be levied by the world powers until Mugabe relinquished power to Morgan Tsvangirai.  No questions. No exceptions. No compromise. No unity government. It was a principled stance. In addition, I thought South Africa and the SADC (Southern African Development Community) should play the role of the "heavy" in making it happen even helping in a "forceful" form, if necessary.

At the surface, I felt that South African leaders did not put enough pressure on Mugabe because they were fellow comrades in the struggle for freedom.  Robert Mugabe and Zimbabwe played a pivotal role in helping the ANC fight apartheid in South Africa.  Mugabe created a safe haven and funded some of the work of the ANC during the 1980's and most of the current ANC leadership is from that time. 

After spending six weeks in the region, I no longer see things in black and white but rather in shades of gray. Robert Mugabe's control of the military is considerable and he is not likely to be removed by insurgency or coup. After numerous discussion with people, there seems to be three viable solutions. 1. Do nothing and hope the sanctions work. 2. Use external force to remove Mugabe and install Tsvangirai. 3. Support the unity government.

The first solution has been in place for the past eight months and has had little movement in removing Robert Mugabe or creating the atmosphere in the country for rebellion or by the military for a coup.  The people who are being hurt are the common citizen.  The end result is increased poverty, lack of food and increase in health issues like cholera. There has been a constant stream of refugees seeking asylum in South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique and Zambia.  There is mounting pressure in those countries to resolve the situation because they cannot handle the influx of the refugees.

A military solution is off the table for a number of reasons.  The UN Security Council couldn't even agree on tougher sanctions so the hope of an umbrella global response with peacekeepers is unrealistic.  The African Union has called for a "unity government."  South Africa which is now suffering from the large influx of refuges and the Zimbabwe cholera epidemic is coming into its borders has the military force but not the standing to make it happen.  Any military action from the outside does not eliminate the potential for long term insurgency from the loyal Mugabe military.  It would become their Iraq and they know the Rumsfeld Doctrine though we didn't- "You break it-you buy it."

In the end result, the only viable solution is to end the suffering of the people and bring some stability to the region both on a social and economic level through a unity government.  Of course, it is difficult for people to come to this conclusion because it rewards the thuggery and illegal behavior of Robert Mugabe. But others look the other way, because they hope the infusion of the MDC and Morgan Tsvangirai will be the right influence to set the course on track for the country. 

The recent power-sharing arrangement that was reached earlier this month between Mugabe and Tsvangirai has been endorsed by a cadre of leaders that I respect like Archbishop Emeritus Tutu, Nelson Mandela and President Jimmy Carter.  Though it wasn't these leaders that finally tipped me over to supporting the unity government, it was a shoe cobbler from Zimbabwe that fixed my sandals the other day in Gaborone, Botswana. After fixing my sandals, we had a fairly lengthy conversation about the unity government and his hope for his home country.  He had to leave the country in order to provide for his family and he hopes to be able to return when things stabilize.  He supported the unity government and gave me this example.

He said, "The best way to scale a mountain is to climb straight to the top from the bottom.  But if you don't have the tools or support from those that have the tools you can only climb the mountain by going around it slowly. Slowly rising with each turn until eventually you are at the top. There is no other way-- is there?"  He was right. There was no other way of conquering the mountain.  The rest of the world and the rest of the continent were not giving the tools to the MDC and Morgan Tsvangirai so they had to slowly circle the mountain patiently waiting to get to the top.

I hope there is some lifting of the sanctions and increase of aid from other world countries that can help move this country forward.  I understand why countries like the US are skeptical of this unity government so any changes in sanctions or aid should be done on incremental basis with strong benchmarks showing full implementation of the unity government.

In closing thoughts, I am sure I would have got there on my own. I had seen the refugees in South Africa. I had seen the constant reports of the struggle of those that were left in the country. In the end, it was a simple analogy from a person who is suffering because of the turmoil that made it crystal clear to me.  Neither he or I are sure that the medicine will work but all we know is that the country is sick and we might as well give it a chance because doing nothing is just making it worse.