Shane Wood

 “Far away in Africa, Happy, happy Africa”

By Shane Wood cfc

These lyrics from a 1940s song, re-recorded in the 50s, kept returning to my mind as I spent time recently in South Africa (Johannesburg) and in Kenya (Nairobi).  The song comes from an era when most of us were pretty ignorant about such “faraway places with strange sounding names”, as another song lyric goes; we knew of them as “the missions”.

Many people still think of Africa as a country rather than a continent encompassing some 52 formally recognised states, most having several different tribal groups and languages in their population.  South Africa alone has eleven recognised official languages.  I was gifted with much during my stay; including a greater understanding of the complexities of the social situations facing these countries where universal democracy is relatively new.  I also learned that Africa might be “far away” (especially if you fly via Dubai to get the cheapest fare!), but not all are “happy” there, and that our Indigenous peoples share much in common.

I was in South Africa at the Catholic Bible College taking part in a 2 week program devised and delivered by Australian Kevin McDonnell cfc, former rector of the College. There were 17 of us participating – the majority from education institutions in the Broken Bay Diocese in New South Wales, Australia (including two Indigenous people), five South Africans (including two Christian Brothers, and one lady currently resident in Australia), three other Christian Brothers (one from Tanzania working in South Africa, and two from Australia), and the Director of Catholic Earthcare Australia.  The group bonded together well, as Australians tend to do wherever they are and we also tend to try to include others as much as possible.

There were three focal points for the program on Creation and Reconciliation – the origins of all creation and therefore our interconnectedness; the processes of reconciliation in South Africa following the apartheid era and the arrival of full democracy; and, the implications for our reading and living by sacred scripture, and our understanding of Catholic theology.

South Africa is the cradle of humankind; incontrovertible evidence is provided in the archaeological finds there that all humans share a common ancestry in Africa.  I was very impressed with the way in which this fact has been documented and celebrated in the various sites and museums around Johannesburg.  The city is ideally placed to tell this story through resident experts and sites of international, even cosmic, significance.

However, as a result of ignorance and a sinful deliberate misuse of Christian Scripture, South Africa has also had a most brutal and racist past that made the transition to democracy a most difficult and delicate process, achieved only through the magnanimous and statesman-like leadership of people like Nelson Mandela, who in my view stands as a human monument to what can be achieved by forgiveness and a movement towards genuine reconciliation.  His leadership is a modern-day miracle of the triumph of all that is good in the human spirit.  Again, Johannesburg, as the site for much of the unrest and protest, as well as for the brutality of the minority white population, but now with its Apartheid and Hector Pieterson museums, its preserved gaols and new Constitutional Court, is an ideal place to imbibe this more recent story, encompassing as it does the horror and shame of an oppressive past together with the struggle of the present to achieve reconciliation, harmony, and justice for all.

Nevertheless, not all is “happy” in Africa.  Not all leaders are of the same quality as Nelson Mandela.  As he said in his most recent book Conversations with Myself, it is difficult for people who come into positions of power from a past of oppression to avoid the temptations to use that position for personal gain.  It would seem that in both South Africa and Kenya there is much corruption, which has resulted in the misappropriation of millions of dollars that should have been used to alleviate the massive poverty and to improve the poor infrastructure that still persist in parts of both countries.

Despite the coming of democracy, the institution of truth and reconciliation processes, and the partial restoration of law and order, much is yet to be done in terms of restitution to those harmed by a violent and oppressive past.  For Australian Indigenous people this is a familiar story.  The wealthy sectors of our world (including me and the vast majority of Australians) need to do more, to sacrifice more, to restore the balance and to make the provision of clean water, nourishing food, substantial shelter, decent health services, and basic education a reality for all the people of places like South Africa, Kenya, and remote Indigenous Australia.  If we want peace, we must work for justice. All this can go hand in hand with a restoration of the fragile ecosystems of our planet.  We cannot have peace on the earth without restoration of peace with the earth.

This valuable course will be offered again in 2011 just prior to Easter.  I would strongly recommend the program to anyone considering a short sabbatical or time of professional or personal renewal.   Philip Pinto, Leader of the worldwide Edmund Rice movement, encompassing Brothers and others inspired by Edmund’s charism, has recently asked

each of our Brothers around the world to do what is necessary to educate himself on what is happening and to consider how he might respond . . . Very few of us are unable to educate ourselves about this. Most of us can do something to educate others about it. We would love to see all our institutions highlight the issue, use occasions to speak about it, advocate a life style that is simple and sustainable, protest about what is happening to damage the environment, and encourage and support those showing us the way forward.

In my view, we could do much towards achieving these goals by ensuring the continuation of this program in Johannesburg, and by encouraging and assisting more people to experience the marvellous learning and insights that it has to offer.   Those left untouched and unchanged by it will not be touched or changed by anything.