Language

There are 11 official languages in South Africa. The local people here in Limpopo province are called Tsonga and they speak Shangaan. I am beginning to learn a few things and I hope to keep building my vocabulary. Avuxeni [ah-vu- SHEN-ee] means good morning, and that is about as far as I have gotten. I expect the fieldworkers will have more respect for me if I am showing effort at communicating in their language. They all read, write and speak English, and many of them speak several additional languages. My unilingualism is tres gauche.

Afrikaans is the language spoken by the Afrikaners and most Coloureds. How quickly a little post about language becomes heavy with the history of apartheid. Coloureds are mixed race people who, as I understand it, did not qualify as "white" under South African law but had more privileges than blacks. From what I've been told, the white minority government's attempt to force all schools to become Afrikaans-only in 1976 led to the Soweto protests, which led to this photo and to the world learning how brutal the white SA regime really was, and eventually the end of apartheid.

The photographer is named Sam Nzimi and he lives within the Agincourt study area. I will be here on 16 June this year for National Youth Day so I'll be interested to see what happens. There is a lot to learn about the history of this place, and it is fascinating. Learn more about the history of the Tsonga here.

Around the house

Izzy's African cousin

There seem to be a lot of rat terriers here. This one is named Shusta and lives in the Wits Rural Facility near my house.

EDIT: Just for comparison's sake...

On the Road

My place and my car

 
 
 
 

Morning commute

This is the dirt road to Agincourt. You can travel about 40km/hr on most of it, but the dust can be terrible.

Wow

What a week. The Principal Investigators from U. Capetown arrived Wednesday and left this morning. We trained the fieldworkers, drivers, supervisors and data typists Thursday and Friday.

I have 12 fieldworkers (they carry out the interviews) in two teams of six, each with one supervisor and one driver. They will go to the 21 remote villages and interview every household. Sound simple? The logistics of this endeavor are so complex that at times I don't know how it will ever happen at all, nevermind on time and under budget. We need to collect 13,000 interviews in just 13 weeks!

I suppose the way to look at this is that I am learning how be an effective manager. Which is nice. But damn it can be frustrating sometimes.

Another map

I created a map with markers for Acornhoek (where I am working for now), Agincourt (the office in the study area), and Ireagh B (the place where my little field office will be). In case you like maps as much as I do.

"A healthier lifestyle"

Interesting article on the slow pace, opportunity, and safety available in parts of Africa today. The America to Africa comparison the subject describes is consistent with what I have seen and felt here so far. This area seems much safer than DC or even parts of Seattle. And no, I do not have a cup holder in my car.

Of course there is also the poverty, suffering and illness here that I will see more of next week. But it's nice to see a mainstream news feature on why Africa is a desirable place to live.

First day of work

Today I went to the the Agincourt Health and Population Unit offices, located in Acornhoek, to do work. I am still trying to verify and debug our data system and I was needed to approve questionnaires and consent forms as they come back from the printers. There is renovation ongoing at the AHPU, so they are currently housed in three mobile units. I met 7 or 8 people and the atmosphere is quite nice. Tea is at 11 in the kitchen, and I introduced myself to quite a few people then.

"Going to the office" in this case means about 20 minutes of driving from Wits Rural Facility where I am living. Half of that is in second gear on narrow dirt roads, the other half on highways. Unfortunately most of my work here requires much longer drives than that. The main office for the survey area is in Agincourt, probably an additional 25 minutes drive (edit: actually 45 minutes). I'll be stopping by that office each week to deliver completed questionnaires to our data typists. I may also use it for access to the internet, phones, and printing as needed. This is because the field office where I will be stationed most days is even farther down the road (edit: an additional 20-25 minutes) and has no phones or internet. They put me there because the annual census of the area will happen concurrently with our study and the Agincourt office is going to be crowded. I'll be in a more rural place very close to Kruger Park. My placement makes it easier for the field teams to reach me if needed. So most days I will be in the car for at least a couple of hours, and perhaps more if I am needed two or three of these offices.

This reminds me that I haven't mentioned the car. I rented a VW Golf Chico. It is cheap, but I have also been told it is one of the best for the roads here. The clearance off the ground is higher than most small cars. It has been interesting getting used to driving on the left side of the road, using my left hand to shift gears, and being on the lookout for large animals and pedestrians most of the time. So far it has gone well, but the more challenging driving will come with my near-daily commute through the bush.

I didn't get to take any pictures today, but maybe I'll put some up tomorrow.

Traveling Joberg-Hoedspruit

 
 
 

Good morning

The sun comes out around 6:30am. Viewed from the back window.