Ek het die Transkei van weleer, dus voor dit 'n onafhanklike tuisland geword het, geken; bv die pragtige, netjiese dorpe en die mooi, goedversorgde plase. Nadat die Transkei in 1963 selfregerend en veral nadat dit in 1976 onafhanklik geword het, was agteruitgang toenemend waarneembaar. Dit was nie net die dorpe, plase, paaie en ander mensgeskepte dinge wat verwaarloos is nie, maar ook die natuurlike omgewing. Dit het gelyk asof daar eerder met bv dongas as met vee geboer word.
Die Transkei was die eerste tuisland wat onafhanklik verklaar is. Dit het binne enkele jare duidelik getoon hoe die hele Suid-Afrika daar sou uitsien as 'n soortgelyke politieke lot die land in sy geheel tref. Die Transkei het geblyk 'n kleedrepetisie vir die nuwe Suid-Afrika te wees. Ek onthou hoe grenselose weemoed in my opgestyg het wanneer ek deur die Transkei gereis en die verval gadegeslaan het. Ek het terug gehunker na "the old good days" (Barnes, bron hieronder, Kindle 2857).
Wat ek waargeneem het, was: "A world I couldn't fathom: a jumble of potholes, litter, goats, chickens and loitering people" (Barnes, K 2295). Ek is 'n sensitiewe mens met Westerse waardes. Ek kan nie in 'n onbeskaafde (of onontwikkelde) omgewing (optimaal) funksioneer nie. Die bestendige voortgang en verkieslik vooruitgang van Westerse beskawing is iets wat in my gemoed ononderhandelbaar is. So nie, ervaar ek 'n gevoel van ontheemding, heimwee, nostalgie, onstilbare droefheid, ens. Dit is waarom ek deesdae daardie verlangde milieu eerder in boeke as in my getransformeerde omgewing vind.
Tersaaklik vir my skrywe vandag is dat Robert Paul Wolff geen negatiewe opmerkings oor Kenia in sy boek, A Life in the Academy (2013), gemaak het nie. Hy het egter skerp kritiek op die ou Suid-Afrika gehad. Ek het hom onder meer soos volg oor Johannesburg aangehaal: "The Black population ... had built the road I drove in on from the airport, and indeed the airport itself" (SêNet 26 Julie).
Ek het onlangs oor die Kenia van weleer geskryf (SêNet 9 Julie); maar ook oor hoe baie mense deesdae in die vervalle huis plak waarin die hoofkarakter, Idina Sackville (1893-1955), eens gewoon het. Oor hierdie en ander huise en ander verwording (of ontaarding), wat sedert Kenia se politieke onafhanklikwording ingetree het, het daar pas 'n boek verskyn: Juliet Barnes se The Ghosts of Happy Valley: Searching for the Lost World of Africa's Infamous Aristocrats (London: Aurum, 2013, 304p).
Ek moes die boek dalk liewer nie gelees het nie, want dit het my te veel ontstel. Baie van wat daarin staan, is 'n spieëlbeeld van wat ons daagliks in ons jong demokrasie ervaar. Sodanige politieke opset bied onbeperkte moontlikhede vir agteruitgang. Eufemisties word dit bevryding genoem. Deesdae word ons sonder ophou wysgemaak dat kolonialisme en apartheid net sleg was. Dit is 'n hoogs eensydige en dus misleidende siening.
Barnes is 'n derde geslag Keniaan. Meer as 'n dekade gelede het sy 'n boek oor die lewe en natuurbewaringswerk van Solomon Gitau begin skryf. Uitgewers het egter nie daarin belang gestel nie; ook nie in net nog 'n boek oor die destydse hedonistiese Britse setlaars van Happy Valley nie. In haar teks gebruik Barnes hierdie twee temas as agtergrond, maar spits haar toe op wat oorgebly het van veral die huise waarin daardie setlaars gewoon het. In dié proses kry lesers 'n goeie idee van hoe Kenia se Wanjohi-vallei in die Wit Hooglande deesdae daar uitsien. Dit blyk dat sowel die mensgeskepte as die natuurlike omgewing sedert onafhanklikwording drasties agteruitgegaan het.
Ten spyte van die voorneme om nie nog "wildly embellished" "decadent white-settler stories" (K 4109) oor die destydse plesiersoekers van Happy Valley te skryf nie, word baie inligting uit reeds gepubliseerde boeke herhaal. Die newetitel van Barnes se boek verwys hierna. In werklikheid was dit "just a dozen or so people" wat seksueel uitermate losbandig gelewe het (K 724), bv deelgeneem het aan "'pick-a-dick' parties" (K 1914) en aan "sexaholism" gely het (K 4640). Hulle leefwyse was "not remotely representative of the majority of settlers" (K 2749).
"The majority of farmers ... were working extremely hard" (K 727). Byvoorbeeld: "We all worked very hard indeed, in fact my brother had his tractors working all night to try to get in the maximum acreage the first year" (K 2639). "There wasn't much time for anything other than hard work" (K 2702), want "farmers [were] ... struggling to save up enough to repay" die koopsom van hulle plase (K 2735).
Van die destydse grappies word in Barnes se boek herhaal, bv "Are you married or do you live in Kenya" (K 317). As 'n vrou afgevry word: "You've got the bitch. Now buy her the kennel" (K 829). Sy was "no one-man mare" (K 4531), ens.
Die outeur het Happy Valley telkemale saam met Solomon in haar Land Rover besoek. Hy ken die Wanjohi-vallei en het goeie kontak met die inwoners. Hy praat Kikuyu, terwyl sy Kiswahili magtig is. Hulle het tee saam met die swartes gedrink, soms saam met hulle in hulle huise geëet en selfs daar oornag; dermate dat Barnes siek geword het. "I had gone down with brucellosis, tick fever and two types of amoeba - all at once. 'Probably as a result of spending time eating and drinking in strange places when you're in Happy Valley,' said a friend" (K 3038). Hierdie besoeke het die outeur in staat gestel om vertellings oor die Kenia van weleer te hoor, bv oor die setlaars en ook oor die Mau Mau, 'n "bevrydingsbeweging".
"In 1951 the British government refused to increase the number of elected Africans on the colony's legislative council and the Mau Mau began in earnest, with the state of emergency declared the following year" (K 2582). In 1954 "Treetops [Hotel] was burned down by the Mau Mau ... as was Nyeri Polo Club, allegedly in protest at British anti-terrorist operations" (K 2599). Die blankes het hulle huise gefortifiseer. Sekuriteitsheinings is opgerig en uitkyktorings is gebou sodat die aantog van terroriste betyds waargeneem kon word. Oorblyfsels van enkele van hierdie torings kan steeds gesien word. Kragopwekkers is gebruik om sekuriteitsheinings te elektrifiseer.
In 1895 het Kenia 'n Britse protektoraat geword. Die volgende jaar is begin met die konstruksie van 'n spoorlyn van Mombasa aan die Indiese Oseaan via Nairobi tot aan die Victoria-meer in Uganda teen 1903. Afrikaners het na die Anglo-Boere-oorlog hulle van 1904 af op die Wit Hooglande as boere gevestig, gevolg deur die eerste Britse boer in 1906. In 1920 het Kenia 'n Britse kolonie geword. Na albei wêreldoorloë is Britse oudsoldate aangemoedig om in Kenia te gaan boer. In 1963 het Kenia onafhanklik geword.
Die Kikuyu-leier, Jomo Kenyatta (gebore Johnston Kamau), se KANU-party het beheer oor die land oorgeneem. Dit is uhuru ("freedom") genoem. "Margaret was the English wife of Kenya's first president" (K 3437). Die kleure van die landsvlag is: "Black for the people, red for the bloodshed while fighting the white men, green for the country" (K 1833). "Kenya was the first white-settled colony to achieve African rule" (K 361).
"The passenger train ... no longer runs daily from Mombasa to Nairobi" (K 262). Die Gilgil-Thompson's Falls spoorlyn, wat in 1930 voltooi is, het heeltemal in onbruik verval. Dit is deels te wyte aan die matatu-verskynsel: "Kenya's answer to public transport, which involves cramming as many people as possible into a minibus" (K 409).
Deesdae is die posdiens baie onbetroubaar. Ook telefoonverbindings: "Too much rain and the lines go down, then it's anybody's guess how long they will take to fix them, if ever" (K 3741). Daar word melding gemaak van hedendaagse "police incompetence and corruption, not to mention the inflammatory remarks made by those in power" wanneer 'n witte valslik van moord op 'n swarte aangekla word (K 4127). Dit was "a thinly disguised attempt to grab his land" (K 4127). Die aangeklaagde was nogtans verplig om van sy grond te verkoop ten einde sy regskoste te betaal.
Die Mau Mau het in die woude geskuil en snags hulle aanvalle op wittes geloods, hulle vee vermink en hulle besittings gesteel of verwoes. Byvoorbeeld: "Cows with their back legs broken and innards gouged out" (K 2756). "Once you took an oath, you must die if you break it" (K 2610). "Stories whipped round of grisly murders, of faithful servants taking Mau Mau oaths before opening doors to gangs of men who would murder their white employers" (K 2659). Byvoorbeeld: "The cook threw soup in his face before they chopped him up" (K 2968). "The cook ... [had] been forced to take the oath" (K 2975).
Swartes wat nie met die Mau Mau wou saamwerk nie, is uitgemoor. Byvoorbeeld: "The Lari massacre of 150 Kikuyu women and children whose husbands were loyal to the British" (K 2759). "Mambo's father had been burnt alive in front of him" (K 3528). Die ironie is dat die Wit Hooglande tradisioneel Masai-gebied is. "The Maasai had been here first - the Kikuyu came later, with the white settlers" (K 2183; ook 3197). Weens onafhanklikwording het feitlik al die blankes na lande soos Brittanje, Suid-Afrika, Rhodesië, Australië en Nieu-Seeland uitgewyk.
Die Afrikaners het na Suid-Afrika teruggekeer. Daar word verwys na vanne soos "Potgeiter [sic], Van Rensburg, Nel, Kruger, Steyn, Pieters" (K 2632). Van die Britse setlaars word net goed gepraat wanneer die outeur ou swart inwoners ondervra. Daarteenoor word gesê: "The Boers from South Africa, they were very bad. They beat their workers" (K 2463). Barnes wys meer as een keer daarop dat hierdie swartes nie noodwendig betroubare inligting gee nie, maar eerder vertel wat hulle dink iemand soos sy wil hoor. "Kruger's old farm had been grabbed 'by somebody high up in the forestry department'" (K 3532).
"Mau Mau in Kenya has often been selectively reported, even misinterpreted, in history books, and it remains a popular modern trend to heap all blame and shame on the British side" (K 2575). "Mau Mau was indeed ugly in its time" (K 3877). Daar is die terroris, Githuku Githaiga, wat baie wittes vermoor het en wie se gewete hom nou in sy ouderdom pla: "He is feeling too much the blood of the white people" (K 3800). Baie feite kom steeds nie aan die lig nie omdat die Mau Mau swartes 'n eed van geheimhouding laat sweer het.
Naas die wittes wat gedroom het van "Kenya being a self-ruling white man's country" (K 4134) was daar wittes wat die Mau Mau ondersteun het "to save their own skins" (K 3839). Nou swyg hulle, insluitende 'n Malan, oor hulle dade (K 3835). "Many must have hoped to stay on after the inevitable advent of independence" (K 3839). Die Keniaanse geskiedenis voor onafhanklikwording word nie geag nie. Tekenend hiervan is 'n kerk met "a register of services dating back to only 1963" (K 3000). Net so tekenend is dat die orrel met die hand gepomp moet word omdat daar nie elektrisiteit is nie.
In die dorp Ol Kalou is daar nou "six Europeans, a hundred Asians and three hundred Africans" (K 2836). Elders "you won't see a white face there nowadays" (K 276; ook 2876). "In some villages we visited, the children I met had never seen a white person" (K 301; ook 1200, 2930). Wanneer Barnes by 'n skool aangekom het, is die onderrig ontwrig omdat al die kinders uit hulle klaskamers gestroom het om na haar as blonde vrou te kom kyk. "They streamed out of their classrooms, surrounding us on the playing fields: at least 400 wildly excited children" (K 1197).
Die Kikuyu, die grootste van die meer as 40 stamme in Kenia en die oorwinnaars in die "bevrydingstryd", het die blankes se eiendom ingepalm. "Happy Valley was the best land so it was given to us Kikuyu as a reward for our fighting ... The government also gave us building materials, fertiliser, seeds, gum-boots, pangas [machetes], coats, cows and money. You had to repay these loans in thirty years to get your title deed, so now most people here have no title deeds!" (K 1416).
Die wit setlaars moes tevrede wees met die karige bedrae wat die Britse regering as vergoeding betaal het. "£1 300 was the most any settler got for a house from the British government, so those with pretentious houses lost out!" (K 4134). Vir 'n plaas van 600 akker is £4 000 uitbetaal. In 'n ander geval is £10 000 vir 3 000 akker betaal. "The launch of the 'million-acre scheme' saw more than that amount of land owned by 780 white farmers bought to settle approximately 35 000 Kenyan families by the end of 1971. No white farmers stayed on in Happy Valley" (K 365).
"Violent crime ... couldn't be stopped because there were so many unemployed, hungry and landless people in the area waiting for their free gifts of promised land" (K 1532). "Land-grabbing is a Kenyan grievance that has wormed its way into this century, with title deeds either not existing, or appearing in triplicate as many people lay claim to one piece of land" (K 2843). Later: "Tribal clashes hit the area, accompanied by violent killing, looting and burning" (K 1621).
Van 'n setlaar is gesê: "She had lived off lorry-loads of Champagne and booze" (K 1889) en van 'n ander een: "She ... did about one mile to the gallon on gin" (K 1295). Elspeth Huxley het oor die Britse setlaars geskryf: "Gin-soaked as they were, they enhanced rather than damaged the natural charms of their valley by leaving the native trees alone and creating gardens of outstanding beauty" (K 187).
"Today's significant landowners in Happy Valley are vastly wealthy black politicians" (K 255). "It's not uncommon to find a farm owned by a powerful politician, an absentee landlord with numerous other business interests. While his wife flies to Europe to buy designer clothes and his children are privately educated in Britain or America, his farm workers are seldom paid much above the minimum wage for unskilled labour, living on less in a month than their boss will spend on a bottle of imported Champagne" (K 259). "Today's moneyed crowd, mainly black politicians, own all the glitzy palatial dwellings, surrounded by security gates and electric fences and are watched vigilantly by minimally paid guards" (K 2172).
Die woude word op groot skaal verwoes. "Now the forests does not even begin until halfway up the mountain and ... the vegetation is thinning out daily, well-worn paths of charcoal burners and poachers like a growing spider's web networking new routes between remaining pockets of forest" (K 2656). Barnes skryf van die "mindless destruction of the indigenous mountain forests" (K 237). Enersyds word dit gedoen om hout te bekom wat vir bv konstruksiedoeleindes verkoop word en andersyds om houtskool te maak, wat vir vuurmaakdoeleindes verkoop en gebruik word. "Even the forest guards are cutting the trees and selling the wood ... the problem is just greed and corruption everywhere" (K 1380).
"Colobus [monkeys] are dependent on indigenous trees for their food, homes and protection" (K 878). Woude is die natuurlike habitat van bv die colobus-ape, maar hulle wend hulle nou noodgedwonge tot die stroping van groentetuine en vrugtebome. "An increasing number of local Kikuyu landowners were demanding financial recompense for damage the monkeys had done to their crops" (K 2113). Die ape word uitgeroei deur bv valstrikke te stel en hulle velle word dan verkoop. "A handsomely paid project researcher had turned her back on the fact that a cage left behind after the translocation was now being used as a trap" (K 2103).
Olifante word vir ivoor en renosters vir hulle horings uitgeroei. Kontrasteer dit met 'n Britse setlaar wat Beethoven destyds op sy "grand piano" gespeel het ten einde 'n trop olifante van sy plaaswerf te verwilder (K 2691, 2727). "The chameleon, for example, is often killed for bringing 'bad luck'" (K 2133). Weens bygelowigheid word uile ook uitgeroei.
As gevolg van die stroping van die woude en ontbossing, spoel die bogrond weg en droog die riviere op, of daar is periodieke vloede. Daar word verwys na 'n watermeul wat eens, voor die opdroging van die riviere, vir die opwekking van elektrisiteit gebruik is. Grootskaalse besoedeling van waterbronne, bv met plastieksakke, vind ook plaas. Die blankes het forel in die riviere en mere geplaas en toegelaat dat hulle aanwas. "Happy Valley's rivers were stocked with trout: [Ewart Grogan] originally imported 40 000 of the fish to Kenya in 1906" (K 2417). Besoedeling en oorbenutting het veroorsaak dat daar deesdae feitlik geen vis oor is om te vang nie.
Weens roofbou is die pragtige natuurskoon gewetenloos vernietig: "It was hard to believe that all this had disappeared under the flimsy shacks and exploding new population" (K 2649). Dit kan deels aan die hoë geboortesyfer en ook aan werkloosheid toegeskryf word. "Most of them are now on less than a quarter of an acre" (K 1413). "The area's human population grew massively after Kenya's independence" (K 170). "Some families still have ten children" (K 1376). "'The problem is God's' - as many Kenyans say" (K 898).
Daar is nie sprake dat huise op groot skaal vir swartes gebou word nie. Hulle woon meesal in selfgeboude "one-roomed houses on small plots" (K 297). "Untidy tin-shack village[s]" kom algemeen voor (K 2642). Daar is nie elektrisiteit of lopende water nie. Daar word 'n enkele keer na 'n "solar-powered TV" verwys (K 1455). Dit sou geen sin hê om spoeltoilette van die regering te eis nie. Die swartes leef in die voor-emmer-era, want puttoilette is die norm.
"There were no institutions for the elderly up here, just extended families ... Traditionally, when elderly Kikuyu were close to death, they were left outside the hut to die and for the hyenas to dispose of" (K 1423). Daar word na 'n hospitaal verwys wat die Rooms-Katolieke Kerk gebou het. Die gordyne en selfs medisyne ontbreek. "Finding medicines is bahati [luck] ... People just have to go to the private clinics" (K 1656). "How can we work here when the government gives no money or equipment?" (K 1660). Die outeur het in 'n huis langsaan oornag, maar daar is nie elektrisiteit nie. "Once there was a generator, but it was stolen" (K 1674). In die stort is daar darem koue lopende water. Toe Solomon se vrou dood is "the hospital refused to release Esther's body before the bill had been settled" (K 2137).
Daar is nie busvervoer vir skoolkinders nie. "Most had walked to school barefoot" (K 1328). "The school is supposed to be free, but parents have to pay for books, uniforms and harambee funds" (K 564). "A school harambee usually meant that parents must donate money or risk their child being thrown out ... the combination of lack of government funding and mismanagement of what was available, due to the corruption of many of the Kenya government's educational employees, compounded the problem" (K 572). "There is a shortage of funds. The parents must pay for books and uniforms, as well as activity fees, a district education board levy, cost sharing levy, evaluation tests, exam registration fees and development funds" (K 1978).
Daar is baie ongeletterdes in die hedendaagse Kenia. "In most of rural Kenya you put up with any sort of teacher - you're lucky if you have one" (K 1783). In 'n klaskamer was daar "an odd assortment of stools and benches, sharing desks and pencils" (K 1972). "There are no pianos or flutes or art materials" (K 1986). Omdat daar so baie skoolkinders is, is daar by sommige skole twee skofte: "Half of them attend in the morning and the other half in the afternoon" (K 1978).
'n Setlaarshuis sou as blyplek vir skoolkinders ingerig word. Pleks daarvan "some schoolteachers had moved in" (K 3578). "There was a smell of open drains and nobody had cut the grass, cleared the nettles or collected the unsightly litter" (K 3581). "The walls were plastered with mud, grime and graffiti" (K 3585). Omdat daar nie elektrisiteit beskikbaar is nie, word outydse naaimasjiene met voetpedale deur die leerlinge van 'n Rooms-Katolieke skool gebruik.
Wanneer iemand soos die outeur 'n skool besoek, word daar van haar verwag om haar naam en kontakbesonderhede in 'n besoekersboek skryf, sodat sy as 'n "stakeholder" na fondsinsamelingsbyeenkomste genooi kan word (K 1992). "Meanwhile, African MPs and their cronies blithely send their kids to vastly expensive British public schools and to universities in the States" (K 1989).
Die paaie word verwaarloos. Soms is dit onwys om 'n "shortcut" te gebruik, want dit "took longer because it was so rough" (K 2166). Waar daar voorheen paaie vir voertuie was, is daar nou paadjies wat net deur fietse en voetgangers gebruik kan word. In 2009 het Chinese 'n teerpad in hierdie gebied voltooi. Hiervoor is 14 000 werkpermitte aan Chinese arbeiders en ingenieurs uitgereik. Die Chinese het skynbaar verkies om eerder van hulle eie arbeid as dié van die plaaslike bevolking gebruik te maak. Tydens die konstruksiewerk is baie ape en honde blykbaar deur die Chinese gevang en geëet.
Daar is min oor van wat die blanke setlaars tot stand gebring het. "'Why destroy it?' asked Finchie. Solomon sighed, 'That is Africa'" (K 3566). "It all looks completely different" (K 2846). Na meer as tien jaar van besoeke aan wat oorgebly het van setlaarshuise, skryf die outeur: "I felt I'd been on a long archaeological dig into tragedy" (K 4022). Telkens word verwys na bv "the decaying ruins, once people's homes" (K 283). Soms het net die fondament en skoorsteen van eens pragtige huise behoue gebly. Ander kere is daar letterlik niks van 'n plaashuis oor nie, "not even a stone" (K 2908). 'n Swart opsigter het verduidelik: "The natives they come and destroy everything - they pull down the roof and all the wood. They steal the furniture" (K 920).
As die gebou nog bewoonbaar is, is die inwoners "undeterred by fifty-plus subsequent years of neglect" (K 307). "The bathrooms were devoid of fittings" (K 3644). Die ongevoeligheid van die nuwe huiseienaars oor die ooglopende verval, is opvallend. "'It was a big house,' Mwaura explained, showing us around as proudly as if it were still there in all its 1930s splendour" (K 1925). Die setlaars het grasperke gehad: "Short, green grass where no cows were allowed to graze" (K 2310). Deesdae: "We stood on the front lawn, cropped short by cows and sheep" (K 3637). Wat eens 'n poloveld was, is "still a flat open space, providing excellent grazing for cows and sheep" (K 3766).
"Solomon pointed out the one surviving walnut tree ... looking as if it had come under frequent assault from an axe" (K 1211). "The walnut trees had been cut up into firewood, then stacked in a beautiful old pink bath" (K 2720). Die dipgeriewe op die plase het in onbruik verval, gevolglik het baie vee gevrek. Die setlaargrafte is geskend, bv "the smashed pieces of the old headstone" (K 2937) en "old stones with missing plaques" (K 2993). Erger, daar is gevalle waar die kopbene gesteel is. "The skulls of wealthy or influential people are taken to be used as tools of witchcraft" (K 3513). Ander grafte is gevandaliseer omdat "they think you people bury their dead with valuables" (K 3521).
Die outeur het "The Bolter", Idina Sackville, se plaashuise gaan soek. By Slains, waar Idina van 1924 af gewoon het, was die oorblyfsels van die mure kniehoogte en die kliptrappe buitekant was nog daar. "The roof, windows and doors [were] all taken" (K 1155). "Old furniture and cedar window frames [were] used as firewood" (K 1163).
By Clouds, waar Idina haar in 1930 gevestig het, het dit ietwat beter gelyk. Met die outeur se eerste besoek: "I sat in the car, barely able to believe this was it: Clouds!" (K 420). Te midde van al die verval, was die "faded elegance" steeds waarneembaar (K 438). Die dak en vensters was stukkend. In die mure was gate waar daar eens boekrakke was. Van die oorspronklike meubels was daar geen teken nie. Op die vloere word mielies gedroog. In die hoeke van vertrekke hang vlermuise en spinnerakke. Snags skree die krieke. "Unfortunately we cannot repair the old house" (K 561).
Van die roos- en vrugtebome het oorleef. In die binnehof en op die werf was daar hoeders en honde. In die huis het katte en talle mense, die uitgebreide Nuthu-familie, gewoon: "Now I have twenty-five grandchildren" (K 561). Hulle het in 1967 ingetrek. Die nuwe huiseienaar was 'n politieke aangehoudene tydens die Mau Mau-veldtog. "Thus he ended up getting a valuable piece of land during the redistribution" (K 557). Die outeur was braaf genoeg om in 2000 'n enkele keer in haar eie slaapsak in Idina se slaapkamer te oornag. Saans word 'n paraffienlamp aangesteek. Vandaar die "smoke-blackened ceiling" (K 540). "We ate African style, with our hands" (K 550).
Ek sluit af met voorbeelde van ubuntu, dus waar van een groep verwag word om te gee en 'n ander groep ontvang. Wanneer die outeur haar motor êrens moet laat, is daar swartes wat teen betaling van 'n fooi dit wil oppas. As 'n (wit) mens dit êrens alleen waag, is dit op die gevaar af dat "protection money" van jou geëis word (K 536). In Nairobi kla die wittes: "There's nowhere to walk" (K 3408). As swart kinders 'n witte sien: "They didn't speak English - except for one word: 'Sweet!' they chanted, holding out dirty hands" (K 1556).
In 2008 wou een van die kleinkinders van eertydse setlaars na Kenia kom om die nuwe graf van haar ouma te besoek. "She also planned to restore the old manager's house, intending to provide funding to convert it into a school library" (K 3179). Sy het egter nie gekom nie omdat daar naverkiesingsgeweld in Kenia was. Die skoolhoof "smashed" toe die graf. "No stone now and no fence" (K 3182). Hy was kwaad. "He says the white people promised to help them but they didn't ... He explained that the fence around Alice's grave and the gate had been 'taken'. He said the old wooden manager's house had been 'terribly destroyed' and would now be impossible to renovate. The new headmaster and chairperson of the school were selling the timber from the old house" (K 3186).
Toe die outeur 'n voormalige setlaarshuis van die Buxtons besoek het, het sy, soos haar gebruik was, tee en suiker vir die inwoners en koekies vir die kinders gebring. Van die eienaar, Karanja, se kant af was daar egter "persistent demands for money ... the fees he demanded for allowing us to photograph the outside of his decaying house far exceed[ed] any I'd ever paid at the stateliest of Britain's National Trust properties. 'The roof is leaking badly,' Karanja said gravely. 'We need assistance for the repair.' But we were welcome to picnic in his field, he said, so we sat on a rug and tucked into a deliciously elaborate picnic provided by Finchie. The Karanja family joined our feast" (K 3602). "'Perhaps your family would like to renovate the house,' Karanja said hopefully to Buxton's descendants as we left. 'You can see we have no money for this ...'" (K 3648).
Insgelyks het Peter Nuthu tydens een van Barnes se besoeke aan die vervalle huis op Clouds gevra: "Do you know of anyone who might like to repair this home and use some of the rooms for the tourists to come and stay?" (K 4569). Daar is hierdie wedervrae van 'n Italiaanse setlaar: "Why would anybody want to visit an area now ruined by the Africans? Who would want to look at destruction and ruins, at wasted farmland?" (K 1022).
"White mischief has become black mischief" (K 1507). Die Wit Hooglande is nie meer wit nie. "Happy Valley has become Problem Valley" (K 1376).
Johannes Comestor
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Aardeland! Tragies.