Letters from Africa Preview

Taken from my introduction to Letters from Africa. All the other excerpts will be italicised. I created a small book on my return home for an extra credit of high school work in creative writing. I am still shocked that they chose to recognize this artistic endeavor as I felt so strongly that my voice was never heard in those halls. Nevertheless, I am grateful and humbled that I was granted this extra room to run with my words.


August 2009:

My Mother and I decided that I was to have monthly newsletters to update all of my friends and family on my adventures in South Africa. From those letters I was able not only to record my thoughts as events took place but to explore a voice in writing that I never knew I could muster. In addition to writing the letters; I wrote at least 30 poems in response to my experiences.

My English teacher in South Africa, Ms. Felton was particularly instrumental in my start per se as a writer. In her class I wrote a lot of assignments and she always encouraged me to write freely and she read much of what I wrote outside of class. She taught me to be fearless with words and a deep respect for the English language. I am forever in indebted to her.

In South Africa, as I came obviously fluent in English, I began to read some of the country’s most celebrated authors like Nadine Gordimer and JM Coetzee. I also completely fell in love with the English language books of Afrikaans poet Antjie Krog. Through her writings I was able to acquaint myself with Afrikaans society and get a harrowing and personal view of South Africa’s recent history. Because of all of the reading I was doing, my drive to write became a force I just had to succumb to. Through writing this year I was able to preserve a first person account of my exchange year which will be something I can treasure for the rest of my life. I also found I LOVED exploring myself and the world around me in words and images. I became a writer whether I intended to or not.

Letter #1

The Orphanage is seated on a huge hill overlooking savannah like grounds and the town, its magnificent scenery. It’s in that place you can feel the heartbeat of Africa—it’s embodied in those children and their smiles.





It was while playing with all of the children that I realized why I had come. I came to give love and comfort to these little ones. They come up to you with open arms and big smiles. It’s quite unnerving for they have all the reasons in the world to be sad.






Letter #2

I love breathing in Africa’s air it’s so stimulating and makes me feel very alive. There is something so soothing about nature, nature is right. In this country two groups of people are struggling to live together and the natural surroundings are witness to their battles.



I have settled nicely into school. I am with the grade 11 class 1. I have joined choir, debate, and Interact. I really do enjoy school here, the only cons being that there are a lot of rules. We have this thing called assembly every few days. It scares the hell out of me. All of the girls file into the main hall, standing until we are told to sit by the headmaster, “Good Morning, Girls” to which we answer in unison “Good Morning, Mr. Nell.” The teachers line the hall looking at us strictly, then we sing, it’s the most terrifying thing ever especially since some of the songs are in other languages—I’ve taken to mouthing “pink elephant, pink elephant” when I don’t know a word. If one of us is caught talking or doing anything seen as wrong or inappropriate, that girl has to stand. The hall is quite small and when sitting one has to be very fast to sit on her piece of hard wood floor for if you aren’t fast you have to stand. It feels quite military, I asked if yawning was seen as inappropriate and heck can I breathe??



In my time here I have been introduced to a South African playwright called Athol Fugard, he is so lyrical and his country’s hardships seep through every pore of his writing. Two girls in my class performed a piece from one of his plays, as rehearsal for a competition they were entering, I watched and ten minutes later tears where streaming down my face. These girls are the soul of Africa, being African themselves—their words are the reason I came.




Letter #3

The game reserve was beautiful, it’s just that simple, it’s stunning. The land is so vast and open—we as the people are so small compared to the land. The land is a character unto itself, it seems to breathe and swell. It bears witness to the human suffering that occurs on it. When one is driving in the country, one can’t help but notice the black townships. While blacks and whites can live together, they don’t for the most part. It’s still very separate. Poverty is South Africa’s new Apartheid. The land cries….

The Free State is very different than the Eastern Cape, where I live. I could feel in the air the tensions between black and white—the wounds very evident from Apartheid. It’s a very different set of social codes than I am used to it was very strange that’s for sure. I love listening to all of the different languages that are spoken in this country, it’s so interesting—it fascinates me—it’s a gourmet feast for my mind.


Letter #4

On the actual date of Halloween—the 31st I left East London for Durban, South Africa and my two week Cape Tour. The tour was hosted by another neighboring Rotary District (based in Durban) for their district and our districts’ exchange students. I don’t think I have any words for this wondrous two weeks. I am void of all language for my soul and self have been quietly and powerfully expanding. We drove across South Africa in our tour bus—22 students from all over the world bound together by a sense of isolation in our new country. We became a merry band of musicians (we had one guitar and African drums and our voices), writers, artists, budding politicians, photographers, and of course film makers and actors. We learned the South African National Anthem and another African song and sang Beatles songs (“Let It Be” and “Imagine”) ---it was incredible. We all agreed we had to be a bit insane to go on exchange to South Africa.


Isabelle from Sweden


So in our merry bus we drove across the vast space of South Africa. The landscape is stunning, kilometer after kilometer of beauty passing across our fields of vision. Sparkling lakes of deepest blue, vast savannahs, the Klein Karoo’s desolate beauty, and the lush land of the Western Cape—home to South Africa’s vineyards and Cape Town. Once South Africa gets under your skin you never are the same—I am in awe of this land. (As was everyone else—cameras never ‘slept’)
Some highlights of the trip besides visiting Cape Town were riding Ostriches, visiting the Cango Caves, stopping in a town called Graff-Reinet, watching some of our crew dive with crocodiles, pet Cheetahs, and staying at an old farm house in the Karoo.







Letter #5


Amalie and I arrived in Johannesburg with our Rotarian guide, Edric. Our first day of sightseeing had us taking in the Apartheid Museum. Which was such an amazing journey to go on, it made me love South Africa even more, if that is possible. To see how this country has fought out of the darkness of one of the most oppressive regimes into the democracy that it is today is incredible. I left feeling both light and heavy at the same time, happy that I could walk away free



During my time at Kidd’s Beach I “worked” part-time at the Ganes small restaurant called The Mcantsi. I got lots of nice tips and met lots of interesting people. The restaurant is situated on top a large hill overlooking the lagoon which leads out into the ocean. It’s simply breathtaking.
I’ve had a magical and all too short time at Kidd’s beach. Because I was able to spend most of my time with the Gane family (I had no school since November) we’ve become very close and I don’t want to go back to East London. I’ve had endless days of sand and surf and being in the pool. I’ve gotten the most major tan ever and have been losing weight by doing aqua aerobics everyday in the pool—sometimes twice a day!





TBA Letters 6-8 in one more post...