Briewe van Elders/Letters from 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 Men...

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 ...

Before I really start writing this blog, I should first explain who I am, what qualifies me to write a blog and where the name of the blog comes from. Let me start with the last because it is the easiest.  I grew up in the ‘50s, ‘60's and ‘70's on a farm in the south of the old South West Africa, today Namibia.  Or maybe I should say “started to grow up”, because I'm still busy doing it.  On the farm we only had radio reception on short wave.   We used to call it “railway radio” because it whistled (static) on all stations.   With weather forecasts there was a forecast for South West Africa, maybe saying something like "hot in the south", and then something like: "... and extremely hot elsewhere."  In our part in the far south we believed "south" referred to the bigger towns of the south, Keetmanshoop and Mariental, and "elsewhere" was us.  It was a place nobody knew about.  Everyone was always speeding through to the north, becau...