Jonas Krombach Living In Nu 9 In Mdantsane - They Gave Me The Best Time Of My Life

The House of Jonas Krombach's Guest Family in Mdantsane NU 9

Jonas Krombach is the other half of the twin volunteer team, that was sent to Mdantsane for a year to assist and coach an environmental youth club at a High School in Nu 6.
Well, they are not real biological twins but they became twins in spirit during the course of one year. We have spoken a lot about Theresa Ekpa's experiences, she made during her stay in Mdanstane. Ladies first and that is the only reason. But now it is Jonas's turn. 

Jonas, Jonas, Jonas.... what we can we say!

This guy is the archetypal German man. He is straightforward, controlled, as punctual as it gets and hard working. Often he can also be full of sh......!

But he belongs to a new breed of Germans. 

He is a wonderful representative of a new generation of open minded, exploring, very well educated, adventurous but all the way still careful young men, who are not afraid to show their emotions and who have made it their mission to transcend the boundaries, they were raised in and to see and understand as much as possible of this beautiful world we live in.

Over The Roof Tops In Mdnatsane

One year ago Jonas said to himself, after he had finished his abitur which is the German version of the matric: "I want to see and experience something completely and totally different from what I know."

And Jonas came to Mdanstane and he got a full dose of what he had asked for. 

The Sisters Star And Nolubabalo - Jonas Krombach's Two Mothers in Mdantsane

Yebo! For our foreign readers one more time: yebo is something like a South African exclamation for OK!

Jonas came to live with two sisters, Star and Nolubabalo, who became his mothers in Mdanstane.

The first thing he was confronted with, was the fact, that family structures in Mdantsane differ very much from what is considered a classic family in Germany. 

Of course, you can find the classical core family like everywhere else with a simple father-mother-and-children structure, but very often households are headed by women only. The are headed by grandmothers, sisters and even young children. The reasons for this are the high aids mortality rate in South Africa and the loss of the old South African moral family values in the black and white culture.

Star and Nolubabalo live together and raise the two children they have in their house in NU 9. No husband, no man. Just the women.

A typical dirt road in Mdantsane NU 9

And Now Jonas. 

Jonas faced many challenges, like having to deal with electricity cuts or no lights at all, having to shower with a bucket and cold water. Yeah, and the occasional mice and other rodents making their way through his new home. 

"But there was so much love", he said, "the love of Star and Nolubabalo and the two boys was simply unbelievable. I will miss them so much. It is hard to believe that someone can give so much love to a stranger who has just come to live in his house".

Jonas with his younger brother Lilitha

Jonas is a single child, he does not have any brothers or sisters in Germany and out of a sudden he was living in the second largest township in South Africa, had two mothers and two younger brothers and was sharing a small house with them. 

He is passionate about handball and plays in Germany in a club. Handball is not a sport that is known and played a lot in South Africa. So everything familiar and known had been taken away from him!

You can call that a culture shock!

"But was that not exactly what you wanted, Jonas", we ask?

Yes it was!

"And I have grown so much through this intense life experience", he says. 

This is the exact and best term to describe it - an intense life experience, that has the power to change you from the inside out in a relatively short time.

Between Houses in NU 9 In Mdantsane

But belonging to that new breed of young German men we mentioned before, there was no doubt, that he would cope and that he would enjoy his stay thoroughly including the fact, that he now had to share a small space and was not the only child in the house anymore.

We can only say, well done German man! Well done Jonas Krombach! 

Jonas with his two younger brothers Lilitha and Lutho in the families home in NU 6

Jonas experienced strong contrast. Contrast of all sorts. Contrast between rich and poor in the Mdantsane township itself. Contrast between the German life and the South African township life. Contrast is not easy to understand, when confronted with it in a harsh way. There is a big difference between watching a "documentary" on television or being thrown into the documentary and being part of it in real life.

"It takes you one year before you really know and understand how life functions here in the township. In the beginning you are just an observer and you have to find your way. This can take a long time because you have to overcome your own insecurities to socialize with the people", he said.

Corrugated Iron Shacks In NU 6 In Mdantsane

Why is an intense life experience so good! Why are we advocating this and are talking so much about these young Germans?

Because it is the first step, the beginning of a long journey, helping you to transcend the boundaries in which you have been raised and which hold you back. 

It is the first step, that makes it possible for you to keep the love for the place you were born and to treasure it, but to move on and free yourself from its limitations.   

And it is so good because you drag others into it, like your parents, friends and lovers who get send on the same path by you, just by knowing you and following you. 

And gradually it is the only way of freeing yourself and others of prejudice, racism and  the fear of foreign cultures.

Jonas And His German Parents Who Came To Visit Mdantsane With His Mdanstane Guest Family

The moral of the story: Do something extreme to yourself and not to others!

Jonas Celebrating Birthday With His Mothers And Brothers In Mdantsane

All Images Jonas Krombach, Article by Chocolat

The Love Of Mdantsane

A whole lot of love

Noloyiso Mtoko has left us a comment on our article "This is also Mdantsane":

"I love this blog, it brought tears to my face. I grew up in Mdantsane, even though my parents moved I still regard Mdantsane as my home!
Now I'm so far from home, currently in South Korea but I feel so close to home as I'm going through this blog!" 

This comment has in turn brought some tears to our eyes and we are seizing the moment to say: Thank you Noloyiso. This means a lot to us.

Coming Home

We can understand what the ones who have left Mdantsane and are living abroad now are missing. Mdantsane is one of the poorest townships in South Africa but it is a place whose streets and most homes (at least the ones that we have visited) are filled with love.

When you are far from home, after a while you come to the point, that you realize all the positive things, that the place you were born has given you when you were a child. Not without regret you realize the distance that is between you and your place of birth.

Our article today is for the ones who are far from their beloved Mdantsane.  It is for the ones who are a little home sick. We are sending some pictures of love from their township out into the world.

The eternal and never ending bond

The afternoon is a time spend on the street in front of the houses of your immediate environment.This is so because we are in Africa and people do not retract to their houses. They like to be outside.The afternoon is a time for mothers and their children. It is a time when mothers listen to the stories their children tell them about what they have experienced in the creche and in the school. 

A mind of her own

It is a time of bonding and exchanging mutual love.

Patience is the rule here and love again!

Sometimes it ain't easy because the little ones have a head of their own with definite ideas of their own. But never loose patience is the rule here.

Walking with you mother

It is a time to come home, but not necessarily to stay in the home. It is a time for the children to be free under the eyes of their mothers, who in turn have time for a chat with a friend. The afternoon is "social time" in Mdantsane and it is very easy to be social because everything is right in front of you. Just step out of your door. It is the classical traditional way of being social that costs nothing. It is the way of enjoying each others company and being with friends before there were coffee shops and malls. No, really we do like the mall a lot but our point is that everything you do there costs money and not everybody has it.

The Freedom Of The Streets

Kids walk the neighborhood together with their friends collecting the small adventures that they will remember later when they are adults. 

Who wants to be beautiful sometimes has to suffer

And some have walked it so long, that the shoes are giving trouble. It is the usual story! Who wants to be beautiful has to suffer! It is a story that starts young when you are a girl.

On a commission

Mdantsane is a place, that has a lot of acceptance for people who come to visit the township. As a foreigner you might see a face and think, this person has a grim look and is going to reject me. But the moment you open a conversation and you talk to that person you will find an open ear. What you initially thought was rejection, was only an expression of surprise to see you here.
Without exception everybody we have met, was willing to talk and to listen to us and we experienced great and heart felt hospitality.

A Look Of Surprise

A chat between friends while you walk slowly down the street, at your own pace, is the right thing to close a busy day off. And the old rule of conversation, that every good conversation should follow is still very alive here! 

One listens and the other one talks!

Time to talk and walk

It can take a while until everything is said what has to be said! But there is no problem with that because the one who listens understands this fact completely and knows his turn will come in a while! No books are needed to explain this. That you listen to understand and you do not listen to respond comes as a natural thing. It is the old African way of talking.

You talk I listen!

No hurry, no rush. It is Saturday afternoon!

We have all the time it takes

Your husband is at the shebeen, or at a friends house or may be he his watching a soccer match. So there is time!

But some thoughts are still left unsaid!

Mdantsane - Sikho African Funeral Services

Business From A Container

Mdantsane City Mall - Last Day Of The Month Impressions

Why are we showing pictures of a shopping mall some of our overseas readers might ask?

The Mdantsane City Mall was opened in April 2008.The opening was attended by the then Premier of the Eastern CapeNosimo Balindlela, Executive Mayor Zintle Peter; the chairman of developers Billion Group, Sisa Ngebulana as well as retail managers and local business people.

With 91 shops Mdantsane City is the second biggest mall in the province behind Greenarchers in Port Elizabeth. 

Balindlela said at the opening:

"Mdantsane people will not have to go to East London now, they will have their own mall, and this is thanks to the Billion Group. I urge the people to seize this opportunity and use this mall and be part of its success."

She also thanked the private sector for coming up with an initiative that would help create employment for the township's people.

 "The government cannot succeed without assistance from the private sector and this mall is proof of that. Every citizen of Mdantsane has a place in this mall, and we should all take ownership."

The chairman of the developers Billion group Sisa Ngebulana expressed at the time his happiness that the mall was completed on time so that the people of Mdantsane could use it.

"Before this mall was constructed local people had to go to town to do their shopping; they also went to Vincent Mall, spending around R50 on transport. Now with this mall here, people will be able to shop closer to home," he said. The mall, which is in NU6, was easily accessible as it was on the main road and had a taxi rank inside it. Ngebulana said that before the group decided to build the mall, it had undertaken a lot of research, which had found that Mdantsane residents had considerable buying power.

"The Mdantsane people spend about R650-million annually and we feel that this mall's turnover could be around that figure. I want to urge people to use this mall so that retailers continue investing here."

The mall was expected to create about 1 200 jobs.

And this is how the mall looks like in 2012 at pay day.

Plan for a long wait at the cash machines 

The images are not that great because we had to take them in our secret manner. In South Africa you are not allowed to take pictures in a shopping mall.

When The Winter Wind Blows Over NU 6

When the winter wind blows at the end of July, beginning of August then East London is a very cold place to be. But it is still colder in Mdantsane. You can argue with me - but everybody says so. If you have experienced a day in Mdantsane when the outside temperature is about 12 degrees Celsius, the wind blows with gale force and the sky is grey and gets greyer by the minute, then you know what I am talking about. Or let me put it that way, it feels colder in Mdantsane.

The wind whistles and races over the hilly slopes of Mdantsane and makes the shacks rattle. Only occasionally the doors of some houses and shacks open to let the smoke out and a breeze of fresh air in. Fire and coal stoves are used to heat the houses. Inside, you might sometimes get the feeling that you are listening to some strange orchestra playing a modern opera on the roof of the house.

Mdantsane is beautiful and picturesque because the terrain is not flat. 

It is hilly with man view points but the fact that there are hardly any big trees or old vegetation that has grown over the years and could serve as a wind break, gives the wind full power to play its game. 

You know that it is really cold in Mdantsane when.....

even the ladies who usually do not like to wear pants at all - are wearing them under their dresses!

It is winter when the streets of Mdantsane seem so quiet like suburbia.

Bring Out The Washing, It's A Really Windy Day

All Over The Place!