Get It - Dec 2012

Get Local
I’m dreaming of an African Christmas...
just like the one I used to know...
I will forever cherish the
memories of my early
childhood days when Christmas
approached.
Those magic days will never
return, but at least nobody can
take away the recollections
forever ingrained in my
memory.
As children growing up in our
dusty neighbourhoods, we had
so much fun and no care in the
world as we went about our
daily, uneventful lives.
When Christmas approached
it would be a big affair in our
neighbourhood, as it was the only
time of the year when all members of
our families would come together for
some memorable times.
Uncles, aunts, mothers and fathers
all came home during that time of the
year in anticipation of the big family
feast, culminating with the slaughter of a
beast. The feast, singing and dancing to
African rhythms went on till the wee hours
of the morning.
Those were the days of celebration and
having fun, while enjoying the time spent
with uncles and aunts and even fathers
who worked in big cities like Durban and
Johannesburg.
I remember as a herd boy looking after
my grandmother’s cows in the fields, that
I never cared for fancy things life could
provide. I never knew anything better.
With the little that we had, my
grandmother and I took life in our stride.
Christmas came only once in a year.
We had no fancy food, no fancy clothing
and absolutely no partying or anything
like that as we went about our daily
normal lives. We were content with the
little we had.
During the festive season though,
all around there would be an air of
celebration and jubilation as everyone
began to anticipate what Christmas could
possibly bring for us.
When the schools closed for the
Summer holidays we would start doing
rehearsals to sing Christmas carols, buying
each other little presents like sweets and
looking forward to the time when we all
would enjoy fancy foodstuffs, as perhaps
an uncle who worked in Durban would
present us with fancy goodies like biscuits.
I remember these guys in the
neighbourhood who, when their mothers
and aunts came home for Christmas,
would buy them suits and fancy shoes
and hats, and on Christmas day they
would be wearing them right there in the
fields while running after the cattle.
This was a time for merriment, a time
when we had a little happiness and a spirit
of giving prevailed; something we didn’t
usually have during the normal days of
our lives.
22 Get It Zululand December 12