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3.1 Om te wat

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  Wat doen ‘n mens in ‘n post-oorlog Eritrea, waar gemoedere nog hoog loop, en ons in sommige kringe nie al te welkom was nie?   Net eers ‘n bietjie agtergrond.   Ek gaan julle nie verveel met die koloniale geskiedenis van Eritrea nie.   In kort kom dit daarop neer dat Eritrea sedert 1888 ‘n Italiaanse kolonie was. Sedert Desember 1950, na WOII, het die VN ‘n resolusie aanvaar wat van Eritrea ‘n federale deel van Etiopië gemaak het.   Dit was teen die wil in van die Eritreërs. Op 1 September 1961 begin die Eritrese Bevrydingsfront met ‘n gewapende stryd om onafhanklikheid.   Hierdie stryd het gewoed tot 1991, toe die rebelle die Etiopiërs uit hul land uit gejaag het, en onafhanklikheid verklaar het.   (Lees gerus Dan Cornel se boek, Against all odds oor hierdie redelik onbekende stuk geskiedenis.) Sekere grensgebiede is egter deur beide Eritrea en Etiopië betwis.   Etiopië het in hierdie gebiede al dieper in Eritrea in beweeg, wat uitgeloop het op die Eritrese-Etiopiese oorlog va
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3.2 To do what?

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What does one do in a post-war Eritrea, where moods are still high, and we were not very welcome in some circles? Just a little background first. I'm not going to bore you with the colonial history of Eritrea. In short, Eritrea has been an Italian colony since 1888. Since December 1950, after WWII, the UN has adopted a resolution making Eritrea a federal part of Ethiopia. It was against the will of the Eritreans. On September 1, 1961, the Eritrean Liberation Front began an armed struggle for independence. This struggle raged until 1991, when the rebels expelled the Ethiopians from their land, declaring independence. (Dan Cornel's excellent book, “Against all odds”, tells the story of this relatively unknown piece of history.) However, certain border areas have been disputed by both Eritrea and Ethiopia. Ethiopia moved deeper into Eritrea in some of these areas, culminating in the 1998-2000 Eritrean-Ethiopian war. These protracted conflicts led to pollution of, especially
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To run, or...

Writer's block?  It was quite a sturdy block.  It was a while since I last wrote anything.  This edition doesn't really has anything to do with "elsewhere".  Nevertheless, I hope it will motivate me to continue writing. . Saturday 16 November was a very special day.   Gerhard, the youngest of my two boys, and I ran together for the first time in years.   It was the 5 km of the Valhalla Parkrun.   With that in mind, and to explain why it was such a special day, I turn the clock back to January 1994.   We had just moved to Pretoria, and the schools would start in a week or so after the Christmas recess.   Both the boys, who were still in the primary school, took part in the 1 200 m, and I thought they should make a good impression at the start of the athletics season in the new school.   I commandeered them that afternoon to go for a run. What a shock it was.   We had just started running when they left me behind.   I realised that since I stopped playing ru
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Om te hardloop, of...

Skrywersblok?  Dit was 'n stewige blok.  Ek het lanklaas geskryf.  Hierdie aflewering het min te doen met "elders".  Maar hopelik help dit om weer te probeer. Gister, Saterdag 16 November was vir my ‘n besondere dag.   Ek en Gerhard, die jongste van my twee seuns, het vir die eerste keer in jare saam gehardloop.   Dit was die 5km van die Valhalla Parkrun.   Met dit in gedagte, en om te verduidelik waarom dit so ‘n besondere dag was, moet ek die horlosie terugdraai na Januarie 1994.   Ons het pas Pretoria toe getrek, en die skole sou oor ‘n week of so na die Kersreses weer begin.   Beide die seuns, wat toe nog in die laerskool was, het 1 200m gehardloop, en ek het gedink hulle moet darem ‘n goeie indruk maak met die begin van die atletiekseisoen in die nuwe skool.   Ek het hulle die namiddag opgekommandeer om te gaan draf.   Wat ‘n skok was dit nie vir my nie.   Ons het pas begin toe hardloop hulle vir my weg.   Ek het besef dat ek die drie jaar sedert ek o
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2.2 My First Journey to Elsewhere

It was Saturday, March 20, 2004.  Piet Botha, the mechanic, and I were in a Samil 50 recovery vehicle, fitted with a mine protected cabin on our way from Asmara, the capital of Eritrea to Shilalo in the south-east of the country. I arrived in Asmara just before midnight on March 18, 2004.  I would work for Mechem, a South African landmine clearance organisation, which had a contract with the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), for three months, standing in for another person who was home on sick leave.  On Friday, the administrative process was completed and I became the proud owner of a UN ID card. And so my first trip to elsewhere began.  But that was not all.  Piet also had a trailer behind the vehicle with a front end loader loaded on it.  And 30 bags of cement and some other stock.  It was intended for the UN's mine action coordination centre’s office in Shilalo.  It was a tarred road for the first 50 kilometres to Mendefera, the last big town we would
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2.1 My eerste Reis na Elders

Dit is Saterdag, 20 Maart 2004.  Ek is saam met Piet Botha, die werktuigkundige, voor in ‘n Samil 50 herwinningsvoertuig met ‘n mynbestande kajuit op pad van Asmara, die hoofstad van Eritrea na Shilalo in die suid-ooste van die land.   Ek het pas, net voor middernag op 18 Maart 2004 in Asmara geland.  Ek sou vir Mechem, ‘n Suid-Afrikaanse landmynopruimingsorganisasie, wat ‘n kontrak met die VN se mynaksiediens gehad het, vir drie maande op aflos-basis daar gaan werk.  Die Vrydag is die administratiewe proses afgehandel, en het ek die trotse besitter van ‘n VN identiteitskaart geword. En so begin my eerste reis na elders.  Maar dit was nie al nie.  Piet moes ook ‘n sleepwa gelaai met een van daardie masjiene met ‘n laaigraaf voor en ‘n slootgrawer agter.  En nog 30 sakkies sement en ander voorraad.  Dit was bedoel vir die VN se mynaksie koördineringsentrum se kantoor in Shilalo.  Dit is teerpad vir die eerste 50 kilometer tot in Mendefera, die laaste groot dorp waardeur
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