Day 3-072
Day Totals: 16 hrs, 0 kms

My journey is coming to an end . All I have to do now is get to the Johannesburg airport. And I'm going to do it the easy way: I'm taking a shuttle straight from Swaziland to the airport. Call me chicken from skipping out on spending a night in Johannesburg, that's fine. I had enough close calls in South Africa. I'm perfectly fine with skipping the country's largest city....

The shuttle turns out to be another 4 hour conversation trip. This time it's with Zimbabwean fellow, who I quickly realize is not your typical Zimbabwean coming desperate for any work. He's going to fly to just for the weekend... obviously not a day laborer.

Turns out, he's a doctor. He tells me he tried working in his country, but things were getting to dangerous. You had to be affiliated with the ruling party, or else you were putting yourself at risk. Turns out Swaziland welcomes foreign doctors. Why? Because when Swazis finish medical school they almost always choose to go work in South Africa with better opportunities there .

"Isn't there the issue of racism in South Africa?"

"Not really, if you're well to do and live in a walled house... nobody really notices what race you are"

I ask about what it's like going back to his country, now that he's been able to prosper abroad.

"It's hard going back. As soon as I arrive visitors start arriving, all with needs. Relatives that I didn't know existed start showing up. Now I have to make my visits short." He explains with a chuckle. "And when I help people and provide them with medicine, often they become dependant and just assume I'm going to help them all the time."

"Within the family, the brother who is working is expected to provide for the siblings who aren't working... even if those siblings aren't really trying hard to find work. And if you don't support them directly, you support them indirectly by giving to your mother and your mother gives to them ..."

He explains how ordinary life events can be financially devestating for the African family. "When someone dies, hundreds of people show up and you're supposed to feed all these people through the whole funeral process, which can last a week. So you can imagine the double blow on a widow who has to deal with the loss of her husband, plus this huge expense. So if there's some one well to do in the family, he's expected to pay for all of this"

As he talks, I'm starting to see how culture can keep a society from prospering. And over the long haul, the consequences are huge. The social model in which those who have money are expected to spend it all on those who don't sounds wonderful... but it doesn't always work out for the best in the long run.

Let's make a comparison: In Society A, those who work hard and prosper are expected to spend all their disposible income on their extended families, on expensive funerals and paying for everyones medical bills . In the long run, they get by, but don't have much wealth or investments to pass on to the next generation.

In Society B, most disposible income is put towards building small businesses... investing in things that can create future wealth. Those with money pool their resources and create more money. These businesses grow and they create new businesses. They pass on their wealth, investments and business know how to their children. People in Society A are their employees--who have to accept whatever wages Society B decides to give them. Society B can also use their wealth to buy political influence, which they use to pass laws and regulations that work in their favor. Over time the become powerful and can even block new competitors from rising up. At some point, they might even make it impossible for those in Society A to prosper at all.

Now does this mean that Society A is "bad"? Certainly not. From a human perspective, it's very noble and caring to spend your wealth on the less fortunate around you . But the motto "give and it shall be given onto you" just doesn't pan out in the real world.

It's with this troubling realization that my Southern Africa trip comes to a close.

I spend the last couple hours just chilling out at the airport. Here everything looks good... well dressed employees and waiters... People of all backgrounds working, traveling, prospering... But I know for many of them, the reality is much different when they reach their homes.

The contradictions and ironies of Southern Africa weigh heavily on me. Are things getting better or worse here? Is South Africa a "model country" surging forward or a "disaster waiting to happen"? Is Namibia a wonderfully peaceful country, or is it all just a hypocritical facade? Will Lesotho ever be able to stand on its own feet? Is the Swazi monarchy a hallmark of "preserving Africanness" or a pathetic joke?

... and Botswana... well, everything seemed pretty positive their. But I was only there for 3 days. My guess is if I had stayed there longer I would have learned some troubling things about that country as well.

I don't really know the answers. And I feel a bit tired of thinking about all these things.

One thing for sure: I will always treasure the encounters I had on this journey... my adventurous cousin Abigail... the Botswanan college students/musicians to be... The Swazi US college student turned busker... the wise Zambian health worker... the Basotho schoolkids... the golden age Austrian cyclists... the American-turned-Lesotho-citizen... the Rastafarian guardian angel... the Paarl college student guardian angel... the Bloemfontein security guard guardian angel... the Portuguese shopkeeper guardian angel...

Damn. I needed a lot of guardian angels to make it through this trip!