Earth Mother

Today we stood inside the belly of a baobab.

Travelling on the R526 towards Tzaneen, Limpopo, a sign reads, “Baobab Tree. She is 2000 years old.” We agree that we can't drive past a sign like this, so we turn off onto a dirt road to go and see. When we eventually round the corner, the three of us gasp spontaneously, wow sjeez sjoe! I’ve seen some big baobabs, but this is gargantuan, filling the sky with breath-taking dimensions.

Dwarfed by age, atop a giant baobab, estimated at 2000 years old and still growing 1cm each year.

There’s something about gnarled old-timer trees that catch my imagination, it feels as if they’re sentinels, repositories of wisdom, having witnessed wars and storms and stars in their lifetime, and yet despite everything, they continue to survive and grow, putting forth new leaves every season and providing sanctuary and shade to life around them. (And yes, I love old Treebeard from Lord of the Rings!)

We circle the tree in awe and scramble 6m up into her branches (feeling tiny in comparison!). There is a narrow opening in her side, through which we wriggle sidewards into the trunk. At first it takes a while for my eyes to adjust, but when I’m standing inside the dim light looking up into the tree-cathedral above me, I think they’re right, she is a she. I feel wrapped up and safe, not at all afraid.

Mark sets up his camera on the floor, balancing it a rock and his wallet, sets the timer, runs and we pose (and pose again, OK we are travelling with a photographer and have to get the shadows just right!). Then it’s time to go, our world is calling us. We emerge into sunlight, blinking owlish eyes, we’ve still got another two hours drive to get to our next project. But if you’re travelling through Limpopo on the R526, stop and take some time to sit with a being who belongs to another world, another life, another wisdom. Farewell, old she tree.

Agnes Ndlovu (41) who walks from Gravelotte every day, to manage the visitors to giant baobab.

Elim is a just small dot on a map just outside Makhado (Louis Trichardt). It’s there that we find Elim Hlanganani Care for the Aged, Waterval Township.

Info-break: This is another Old Mutual Staff Charity Fund project, similar to the one that we visited earlier in Barrrydale, KAPS, the Karoo Animal Protection Society, (read 'Of Dogs and Blogs'). Old Mutual staff can choose to make a monthly contribution from their salaries, into the Staff Charity Fund, which is then matched rand-for-rand by the Old Mutual Foundation. This money is then used to support specific areas of vulnerable communities such as animal welfare, care for the elderly, HIV/Aids support, and abused & neglected children.  For staff who wish to get involved, visit: http://groupnet.intranet/om_foundation_payroll_giving.html

As we arrive, Mark starts patting himself all over. I look at him, he looks at me and Tim looks back at Mark. Oh no, the realization hits… his wallet is lying in a baobab tree 200km away! Right now, there is nothing we can do, so Mark turns and starts getting his gear ready for the project. Shame, I feel agitated and distracted for him!

Florence Khosa, Deputy Director of the Elim Hlanganani Care for the Aged, Waterval Township, Elim, Limpopo.

To be quite honest, when we arrived I was expecting a small, rather cute Old Age Home, so it was a pleasant surprise to find a much larger organization than I’d imagined. Florence Khosa comes out to greet us and I’m immediately struck by her warm, slow graciousness. Once someone had described life in Limpopo to me as “being slower, more conservative, but also more respectful.” And this is the feeling I get immediately when talking with Florence as she tells me the story of their organisation.

Started 18 years ago when the nearby Elim Hospital had to close down its frail care wards in 1993, the Elim Hlanganani Care for the Aged (working in conjunction with the hospital doctors) stepped in to provide trained homecare for the elderly folk who were no longer able to access help from the hospital.Florence describes the growth of the organization over the years. “Initially we started just with home care for the elderly, but we came to see that there were many others in the community who needed homecare, so we extended our services to include those with HIV/Aids.

Over time, we observed that many of our elderly folk were worrying over how to care for their grandchildren now that the parents had passed or were too ill to care for the children. So we set up a drop-in centre for the grandchildren of our elderly folk. At least the children could be now looked after and receive a hot, nutritious meal every day. We’ve since set up a training centre to assist those children who’ve finished school, to help them gain computer skills and find employment.

Elim Hlanangani has two drop-in centres for vulnerable children, feeding approximately 100 children at each site every day. Local farmers and retailers assist with donations to ensure that there's enough food to feed the children.

“We are so blessed and supported by this community," says Florence, "we never go without. From the white farmers in the area who provide food and meat, to the businessmen and retailers who donate material goods, to the professional children of the elderly folk we care for, who in turn assist us with donations or goods.”

So instead of a dear little Old Age Home, what I’ve found is a thriving, holistic-care organization with 32 full-time employees, integrated with the Dept. of Health, completely supported by the community, and regularly attracting foreign volunteers from Netherlands, Italy and Switzerland to live and work within the community.

Anna Maboko, (71), is a pensioner who receives home-care assistance through the Elim Hlanganani Care for the Aged.

It's getting towards evening now, but Florence still takes us to meet Anna Maboko, (71) a pensioner who is cared for by Sarah Makamu (37). Anna is diabetic and lives alone, she cannot walk without assistance. Sarah helps Anna with bathing, feeding and housework. The Old Mutual funding of R30 000 ensured that 14 caregivers such as Sarah could be trained and deployed into the community to assist pensioners such as Anna.

Florence turns to me and says, “In our community, no-one is left alone without help.” And this is the way it should be, I think to myself. Thank goodness for baobabs and women like Florence.

Trained caregiver Sarah Makamu (37) provides daily home-care to Anna Maboko (71), helping her with her medication (above) and assistance with standing and walking (below)