September 24/99

College ambassador
spreads goodwill in Africa

On February 1, 1999, counsellor,
David Jones, and his wife, Barbara,
arrived home from a world excursion.
He claims he was “too tired and worn
out” to send this in until now. We forgive
him, although we wondered who could
be that weary after a six month
vacation?!

n the summer of 1998, my wife and I

were able to fulfil a longtime dream
when, as part of our trip around the
world, we were able to spend two
months travelling in South Africa. It
seemed an especially exciting time to be
there, because all South Africans are
deeply engaged, some fearfully, others
hopefully, but all passionately, in
deciding what the new South Africa will
look like.

Because of the contacts we had, or
made, while were there, and the
openness of the residents, we were able
to talk to scores of people (black, white
and coloured) from street people to
township dwellers to journalists to
educators. (Cape Town almost came to
seem like home to me when, as a result
of a few days volunteer work in a soup
kitchen, I would find myself recognized
and greeted on the downtown streets by
the local street people.) As an interracial
couple, we also heard views from all
positions on the political spectrum —
which position often depending on
whether one or both of us was present.

Although I am not much given to
hero-worship, it was memorable and
especially moving for me to be there
during Nelson Mandela’s 80th birthday,
and to visit the Robben Island Prison and
see the cell where he was held prisoner
for so many years.

Another highlight of our trip was to
spend a few days travelling with our
friend of a friend, Mike, into the
townships south of Durban on the east
coast. (For those of you who have seen
the movie Shine, Mike was the real life

Capilano College is well-represented
in the Zulu tribal lands, thanks to
David Jones and Sportsplex
employees.

impresario who promoted pianist David
Helfgott’s first comeback concert.)
Mike is now involved in community
development work in South Africa, and
his job is to help township inhabitants
set up small businesses. In the process,
he also seems to do a lot of informal
social work. He covers a wide area and
does most of his travelling in black taxis
(the minivans used by the local people),
or in the back of Toyota pickups.
Before we left Canada, we had faxed
Mike to ask if there were any useful
items we could bring with us. He
replied: “Musical instruments, hearing
aids, and sporting equipment.” We were
able to take along only one trumpet and
one hearing aid, but thanks to the
generosity of Joe (Iacobellis) and Milt
(Williams) and others at the Capilano
College Sportsplex, and a few local

sporting goods store managers, we did
have a pretty good supply of soccer
balls, volleyballs and basketballs. We
also had enough old Capilano College
uniforms to outfit two soccer teams,
two basketball teams, and one
volleyball team.

All of this we schlepped from
Vancouver to London (transport on the
tube from North London to Heathrow
airport was a challenge) to Cape Town
and then across South Africa to a rural
school in the Zulu tribal lands on the
East Coast. Like many rural schools, it
had no electricity, the buildings were
dilapidated, and it seemed to lack many
basic resources, so the contributions
were much appreciated. The principal
promised to share the equipment with
two other schools in the district, which
is great, although I anticipate some
confusion when opposing teams both
show up wearing Capilano College
uniforms. Cap can’t lose! Recently,
Mike sent the accompanying photos of
the uniforms in use, so the College’s
fame spreads.

Since our return home, we have
heard mixed reactions from other
visitors to South Africa, but because of
experiences like the above, our
memories are mostly positive. It is a
beautiful, fascinating and still tension-
ridden country, where divisions run
deep and where political apartheid may
have ended, but where economic
apartheid is still all too evident. There
are dangers — both real and imagined —
but in spite of (or perhaps because of)
these, my two months there rate among
the most interesting that I have spent
anywhere.

Zimbabwe, Mauritius, India and
Malaysia were, of course, each
interesting in their own way. But, that’s
another story.

Submitted by David Jones

@nformer