10/06/2010 by Russell.

Can you see my 50p piece on the grave?

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20/05/2010 by Russell.

Buntu’s Life

Who is he? How do I know him? What has shaped his life?

Buntu is our night security man, he is 23 and ensures the safety of the volunteers with Umzingisi. He works here in Newton Park, PE, 4 nights a week and travels down from one of the many townships around PE. He plays pool with the ‘inmates’ and chats to us all. He has treated some of us to the local speciality – goats head, very tender, but it is a head. I didn’t eat the tongue, but this is delicious, so Buntu says.

Buntu’s family consists of a twin sister an elder brother (who’s just been released from prison) and an older sister. But more of that later.

Buntu is just like every young man, he chases women, drinks, listens to music, loves to dance and watches television and sport, and just like every African this summer is looking forward to the world cup. Nothing different then to any normal young mans desires at his time of life, he wants to study to be a social worker at the university, he wants to own a scooter, he seeks a better life, believes in being lawful and follows the bible and attends church, so in many respects a better Christian than many in the UK. However, here ends the similarity, and here is a snapshot of his life, and it makes you marvel at the sane level headedness Buntu possesses amid all the chaos he has had to endure through his very formative years.

Buntu’s parents were -perhaps- even well off by South African standards, particularly for blacks. His father was a Lieutenant in the army, they lived in a 10 room house, he lived on the bettter estates and had good schooling. Schools are very important in the communities here.

When he was about 10 or so, his father was pensioned out of the army with a payment of R3,000,000 and he also had another job. It was about now when his parents split up and his father went to live with another woman, divorce followed and the court decided that his mother could keep the daughters to live with her, but Buntu and his brother lived with the father, the army pension was to be kept by his father etc..For a while everything was good, the girlfriend of the father was pleasant and kind. The army pension was spent on a bar, the furnishings and décor was provided by the local government, so his father was still earning a modest income.

Time went by, and his father married the girlfriend and the bar started to get run down, the father and new wife were getting drunk, his father owned 3 cars, the bar was making a loss, at the same time the new wife began to pressurise Buntu for chores and became more demanding.

His father and new wife were blesed with a child, this now became Buntu’s main chore, looking after his step brother whilst his father and step mum plied themselves with drink. Buntu had to drop out of school for a year to look after the baby, then another child was born. The whole process was repeated again, Buntu wanted to enjoy childhood by playing with other children and not be looking after babies.

The straw which seemed to break the camels back, was school shoes, his father had to ask the step mother for permission to buy Buntu shoes he couldn’t do without. School shoes here in PE are very much cherished as is the school uniform. This was the turning point and Buntu returned to live with his mother. As you can imagine, Buntu’s father didn’t appreciate this and further court action followed.

His mother is a seamstress and made little money, and currently lives and works in East London, some 40km away from her children.

At one stage the family moved from small one room houses with great regularity and schools with the same frequency. At one stage Buntu was living with 6 families under one roof all with different age groups, older men out drinking, younger children needing their sleep, all wanting to wash at the same time, invariably these houses only have one tap and no toilet. How would you cope? the nearest I come is queuing with 11 other people here for the bathroom in PE. This bathroom has a toilet, a shower and a bath.

So to summarise, Buntu moved in with his mum at about 12 years of age, and changed schools as regularly as we change our clothes. His education became harder to complete.

Now if I had this kind of upbringing, I guess I would be an angry young man and wonder why on God’s planet did I deserve this? I guess I would also be demoralised too.

As Buntu took up his schooling, he was fortunate to come across Pascal, who is part of Umzingisi, who through luck and perhaps good fortune was able to secure a form of scholarship for Buntu.

Buntu, has finished his schooling, and at times has been met with futher disappointment just at the time when he was studying the equivalent of GCSE’s at 16. His mother was diagnosed as HIV positive. Not good. Buntu again came to the rescue. He took another year off school to nurse his mother. Who had also given birth to a baby. Sadly the baby contracted HIV, presumably through breast milk (one of the easiest ways for kids to be infected). The baby died at about 3 years old. His mother follows a drug programme which abates the virus(?) and goes about her business in a normal fashion.

Thus Buntu has not experienced any part of his formative years with a normal childhood or stabilty, which is probably central to the development of any child. Yet Buntu is just like you and me despite this hardship.

Today, Buntu lives with his twin sister and her two small children, His elder sister and her husband and their one child, until recently Buntu lived in a wooden shack in the garden, which he built and has been been given over to his brother since his return from prison.

In their one room home, there is one cold tap, a toilet without a cistern, no shower, it’s full of clothes, one double bed, a sink, no cooker, a fridge freezer and a tv. Buntu and the children sleep on the floor. But life goes on.

His girlfriend, Nomthetho, sleeps in a bed with her ageing mother who can’t walk, her twin brother sleeps in an adjacent room, they too have one tap, no toilet (it’s derelict outside), a room with a tv, a separate kitchen, and yet they are proud citizens of the world. They have to stand up in a plastic bath to wash, and wash their clothes in the same manner. Would you live like that year in year out? These people have no choice, the government give them the house, and it is their duty for its upkeep, these houses were new in the 1950’s with asbestos roofs, they have sagging ceilings, they are akin to a modern slum.

These communities are by modern standards poor in everything they do and yet they invite you in to share their lives, and hopefully by individuals such as myself who will write about it and tell more people will the situation change through communication.

There is no refuse collection, there is limited sanitation, the public coin operated phones don’t exist – stolen of course – card operated phones survive. They all have a mobile phone, where airtime is consumed by the second, not minutes. These communities are very supportive to each other and in many respects Christianity has kept a balance on their lives. In Britain we wouldn’t stand for it one minute, but seeing and experiencing the hospitality of Buntu’s family has been a marvellous moment of my visit to PE, nay change that to a privilege, and I will be round Buntu’s again at the next invitation. Pictures are posted up for you to see at http://www.getjealous.com/rustycarno

Posted in Port Elizabeth, South Africa | 1 Comment »

29/04/2010 by Russell.

Thursday April 15^th The main event World Cup tickets went on general sale today, we queued at the official ticket office in the local shopping precinct before 7am. A queue – or rather- a group outside the entrance had formed, once out of our mini bus, the 11 strong mix of English Spanish Swiss and American , the crowd formed a defensive wall to stop our gang dominating the crush for tickets. As in everything, the best laid plans didn’t work, we were told the ticket shop opened at 7, alas, we had to wait until 9.00am.  Let the stampede commence…we wanted our 140 rand tickets, but not being South African residents we quickly learnt we had pay top dollar, $80, $100 etc.  Our wait was almost over…the tension…the hype..the camera’s..the flash guns popping…only to stand for another 3 hours before getting served the the booth. One PC not working, chronically slow system, hand written numbers on tatty pieces of paper to signify our places in the queue. Shambolic. Reminding me of the rush for FA Cup tickets in 1997 for Chesterfield, can Fifa and visa do no better then this in 2010? 3 hours inside the ticket office to purchase match tickets for Port Elizabeth. Job done, forget the volunteering to coach kids on our first day here in PE. So the net result, we all managed to get the tickets we wanted, England vs Slovenia, the top group match of Portugal (Viva Ronaldo!) versus Ivory Coast, Germany v Serbia (Nemanja)and a potential quarter final match ticket for me with the potential visitors to town being Brazil. To top it off I had my photo taken with the official mascot for the World cup website here in PE, anyone seen it yet? Oh and in the afternoon I did some basketball coaching with Toby my German room mate, forget football, too many coaches and too few kids.  It’s a start anyway. Monday 18^th April What to do on a weekend in Port Elizabeth?  Our first weekend in the city with Umzingisi, namely our hosts Hannah and Kurt?  Many of the young rat pack were taken up river to have a paintballing, quad biking and drinking weekend, leaving myself, Eduardo, Toby, Nick and Fran at the house.  Saturday should have been a golfing weekend, however, we had to make do with a driving range, using Kurt’s clubs -  must say I played par golf mainly. Thrilled with some of my iron shots! The afternoon saw us watch United vs City at the Hockey club where we went to watch Hannah play.  Big screen – duly noted for forthcoming world cup – and a great last minute goal, where I had to give a chorus to the gathered ensemble of – UNI – TED, United are the team for me etc… The demented englishman must have looked as though he had arrived from a different planet. Sunday was to be Kurt’s hockey match, I declined and went to the beach with Nick and Fran, for all the locals would have gathered they (Nick and Fran)could have passed for being my children. Still the boardwalk market was popular and prices for prints and carvings could be negotiated. Next Sunday is the Ironman challenge in PEMonday quickly arrived and we drove some 60km to two schools for coaching, at last we found some grass.  The kids enjoyed their sessions as I did too.  Mainly because I could run the session myself with the aid of Nick, and control the activities for an hour and a half. More of the same in the afternoon. Poker in the evening – which I was awarded poor hands. For example losing a full house to another full house!’ Weds 22^nd April Coaching has been a mixed bag, some playing fields would be shut automatically in the UK on grounds of ‘health and safety’.  Already one of our football coaches-nick- has been taken to hospital for stitches to ahead wound. The pitches vary from all loose stones and soil, to grass and stones, to clumps of weeds, it is incredible that these children play all the sports here with determination and without fear despite the conditions of these pitches. Among the children I have witnessed playing football, there are some very talented individuals. Skills are part of the game, and they have mastered many of the complex techniques from an early age.  However, there are those who are not so skilful.  There is no fear to head or tackle, this remember is done in sock and bare feet but not often in shoes unless the conditions dictate. The kids need formulate team play, and are willing participants, I will soon run out of drills to do.  Some of the younger coaches here are very limited in scope which they can offer children, luckily I have been fortunate to team up with Toby and Nick, and we have more variety than the ‘penalty shoot out’. It is exhausting, and often end they day having travleed between three schools aand offered an hour and a half’s coaching.  Today we sit and wait, the weather is windy aand rain is expected, which because of bare feet and socks -coaching is cancelled. Do the kids play in sports gear? No Do we see football boots? One pair seen so far Do we see happy smiling faces? Yes Do we see pride in their uniforms? Yes Do we see innocence of youth? Yes Do we see poverty? Yes Oh and by the way the bathroom has no hot water or ceiling, we had a flood and water throughout, it all happens here.

Thursday 22^nd April

 Thursday(23rd) arrived with imminent rain, so no coaching, it was a hastily arranged set of visits to 2 museums – Red Location Museum and South End Museum. Red Location depicts the story of the Apartheid years around Jo’burg such as Sharpeville massacre and the impact of apartheid around Port Elizabeth.  Surprisingly PE has been at the centre of the political movement against apartheid, namely some of the leading activists have lived in PE, such as Nelson himself and of course the late bantu Steven Biko.  The museum features his life and his development into a key activist, immortalised in Peter Gabriel’s song ‘Biko’, “September 77 in Police room 619…Biko..oh Biko..”  His life was, like so many,was curtailed far too soon by the politcal events of the 1970s. South End museum was altogether more focussed on the area in which the museum was located, including some sports memorabilia. Did it rain? Only after 6pm. So no schooling completed.  I started reading Larssons third book of the Millenium trilogy, ‘The Girl who kicked the hornets nest@ Friday 23rd Nil coaching, rain, well it rained overnight, hence damp grass and pitches, although the Umsingisi School of excellence was on.  We turned up to coach/mentor young teenagers, however, we played football amongst ourselves whilst the HIV project continued unabated in the playground.  Well at least our team won the footy.  Evening spent 10 pin bowling, one of the crew returned home with his bowling shoes on, oh well….more reading Saturday 24^h Shopping, internet, and golf, the rest were bunjee jumping.  Nearly finished the book. Sunday 25^th Ironman was in town, the event consisits of 3.8km swim, 180km cycle ride, and 42.5km marathon.  The winner completed this in 8hours 28mins 23 secs in searing heat.  I saw the event down on the boardwalk, music, tv, etc..and quietly read my book in the sunshine. A very hot day indeed. Monday 26^th Bank holiday on Tuesday, so no schools are open on the Monday, this is normal practice in SA.  So I looked for cards and presents for forthcoming birthdays, cards no problem, presents all in vain. It was decided to play a round of golf, we had decided to look for second hand clubs, since Eduardo and I concluded there is going to be a lot of down time, so golf would be a suitable alternative to while away the hours. We played, I faltered on the only birdie opportunity in our four ball, with Kurt, Oscar and us two.  I hadn’t played in over 5 years – but hey, I had some good shots with borrowed clubs, can only get better. Finished 746 pages just after breakfast – a record for me or does this tell me that there is far too little activity to occupy us here? Tuesday 27^th Football tournament in motherwell district, exciting, only we were giving coaching to the kids who came along for the HIV testing and tournament to watch.Stood around for another 3 hours watching the kids play football on wasteground, whilst the tournament went ahead in the background.  Shamefully we left early and was unable to see a single game played. Everyone wanted to return home. I got another new t shirt for my troubles today.   Arrived back and slept. Knackered for doing nothing. Tonight to the casino to watch the match on a big screen. Yawn…coaching in earnest tomorrow?

Posted in Port Elizabeth, South Africa | 1 Comment »

08/04/2010 by Russell.

One day left in blighty, am about to set sail (fly really) to the ends of the earth (globe which has no end) on a voyage of  discovery.  I am about to embark on football coaching for 14 weeks in South Africa, based in Port Elizabeth.  I am the only over aged numpty on this programme, everyone else are 20-25 or so.  I am the grandad.  Although there are 26 on the range of activities (cricket, rugby, netball coaching, orphanage volunteering) only 5 of us are completing the 12 weeks footy.

My jobs list before departure has been a mixed bag - I haven’t completed the decorating,  I have got my India visa, but not China.  I am outside 6 months of arrival, so thats something i will have to arrange on the road, somewhere.  I have sold my car : ( but to compound things only yesterday, my bank card has split along the chip - problem there, how do i get money out?

What to look forward to? certainly the world cup, England, Germany, Portugal, Ivory Coast come to town, but tickets are hellishly expensive, the cheapest ticket I can apply for is $160 to the Portugal vs Ivory Coast game.  How do locals afford that? A festival of football, is an expensive affair, plus you are only entitled to 7 tickets for the tournament, and have to pick up your tickets in person only.  I am sure some tickets will be available to chancers like me.

I hope to whale watch in Cape Town as well as climb Table Top Mountain and visit Robben Island.  Above all I am worried about travelling on my own from PE to CapeTown, security and all that…

From here I am off to Delhi belly in India, got my Immodium, by the bucket load, got re-hydration tablets and ‘deet’ spray and roll on! will abandon ‘Sure deodorant’ for the month. My arse is ging to suffer, but guess it comes with the sanitation and water.  Still had my Typhoid booster to combat this along with Hep A and Hep B jabs.  also got my anti bacterial wipes to clean my cutlery and plate lol! - Taj Mahal, Jaipur, Jodhpur await.

Bangkok offers mysery and golden buddha’s, people tell me it stinks and is smelly, well, I’ll head for the beach then.

Cambodia offers malaria, I have 10 days to get thru this with my tablet supply to get to Vietnam.  if you saw BBC’s ‘Top Gear’ you will have seen some of the spectacular coastline, absolutely unspoilt in Vietnam.  I thought how beautiful, when I watched the programme, I would love to see that, and here i am 2 years later on the brink of seeing all this.

From here I am going to catch a train from Hanoi - yes you can - into China, where my destination will be the Terracotta army in Xian.  That is something which I am very excited about.  You read these things asa kid, you see the pic of Prince Charles face to face with them, and it makes you think about the incredulity of it all.  Then Hong Kong, before going to Australia.  I cannot believe my luck, good or bad, as its an Ashes Cricket series. Wow!  This is where i hope to rendezvous with at least one family member.

Well I guess this compensates United not making the Champions League Final in Ronny’s backyard.

So am off to pack and stuff…you can find a dedicated travel blog at http://www.getjealous.com/rustycarno

So keep watching and reading my progress…

Love to Barry ( he started ‘rustycarno’) love to all my U15 footballers (Chesham Strides) love to Brenda (Dads old girlfriend) love to Kevin (and family) for the miles we have travelled to United, love to Simon Standish (top bloke) love to some great work colleagues, love to BB for undiminshed support without whom this wouldn’t happen, and above all love to Captain, Phillip, Emily and Gregory without whom life would be untolerable.

sa

Posted in Barry, BB, South Africa, ben Standish, Emily, kids, Greg, Kirsten, Phillip | 1 Comment »

17/03/2010 by Russell.

The clock is ticking, time for farewells, time to look to the future:

Football coaching in South Africa in Port Elizabeth

Delhi

Bangkok

Cambodia

Vietnam (tribute to Top gear)

China - Terracotta Army?

Hong Kong

Sydney with the criminals

Brisbane

Los Angeles

Miami

and its 2011!

Posted in Uncategorised | 1 Comment »

24/01/2010 by Russell.

Back to winning ways in a keenly contested game against Widmer End.  After taking a lead somewhat against the run of play after 10 mins played, the first half ended with Strdies 2-1 down. An end to end game with both sides playing competitively.

The second half saw Chesham conceded a goal against the general direction of play.  Not to be deterred, CHesham game back gamely to score a second goal fromEric’s corner.  As the minutes ticked by and with ten minutes left Eric scored only his second goal of the season with a swerving drive from the edge of the box, 3-3- and game on.  With only miutes left, the ball dropped to Eric on the edge of the box who shot unerringly into the net from 20 yards, the ball was parried on to the crossbar and over the line.  Eric has been consistently one of our top players all season.

The last minute wasn’t without its drama with Tom, clearing a ball dropping over the line for a corner after Toby had been lobbed by the Widmer number 9.

We march on……….

Posted in Keiran, Eric, chesham strides, Tom, Greg, ben Standish, Football | No Comments »

17/01/2010 by Russell.

Posted in Emily, Wingerworth, Greg | 1 Comment »

13/01/2010 by Russell.

Is it really a year ago my father died, seems so long ago, but alas the events of the day won’t be forgotten by Brenda, his nephew Robin, Isabelle or indeed me.  We loved him to the end. Here are a few photo’s, but not the ones I was looking for….. 

Here is the man looking out from Curbar/Froggat Edge, Derbyshire. Derbyshire was really his favourite place.

Posted in Wingerworth, Grandad | 1 Comment »

13/01/2010 by Russell.

Posted in Greg, snow | No Comments »

09/01/2010 by Russell.

Went out on my travels again, the roads were very dicey, even in town, had to dig the car out first.

Obviously I upset Emily again, about looking at these postings on the web, childish, but not much to ask for? can’t help but nag unnecessarily ie take some interest in what her Dad does. Am trying my level best to get more interaction from her, but if she’s not willing to at least have a surf even when a link is sent…. then I have no answer.  I know facebook, social networks and friends are far more important, but why do I have to live at the bottom of the pecking order?  Also Telegraph leads today on A level tariff’s going up at the Universities, I hope Emily takes heed.

Looking to Ivinghoe Beacon, from the Ridgeway

The path ahead

Posted in Ivinghoe, Emily, snow | No Comments »