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| Countryside near Phokeng |
I arrived at my post a little over a week ago. I am posted
in Phokeng, which is in the Northwest Province of South Africa and
approximately 20 minutes from Rustenburg.
Phokeng is the capital of the Royal Bafokeng Nation.
The Royal Bafokeng
Nation
I’ll share with you more about
The Royal Bafokeng Nation (RBN)
as I learn more, but here is quick background on them. The Bafokeng trace their ancestry to the
Bahurutshe and the Bakwena, which settled in this region in the late 1600s. The Bafokeng are ruled by a
kgosi
(king). Today, the RBN is comprised of
29 villages that are governed through a mix of democracy and traditional
leadership. Kgosi overseas several
institutions such as The Royal Bafokeng Holdings, the Royal Bafokeng Administration,
and the Royal Bafokeng Institution, that oversee everything from education to
road construction within the RBN.
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| Phokeng Countryside (taken from Bafokeng High) |
RBN has a quite unique history. Feeling that their land was threatened by the Boers or Afrikaans they determined early on that they needed to formally buy their
land. By the late 19
th
century the RBN had established themselves as a private, corporate land owner. Platinum was then discovered on Bafokeng
territory in 1924. In fact, Bafokeng land
contains some of the world’s richest deposits of platinum and chrome, as well
as rare and valuable types of granite.
To my understanding RBN is the
wealthiest tribe in Africa with assets
worth billions of dollars. I also just
learned the RBN is the
sister city to Prince Georges County, MD (the “area” where
I am from) How cool is that!!!!
Phokeng
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| Royal Bafokeng Sports Campus |
So with that said, Phokeng is a “developed village” (not
quite a village, but not yet a township). A lot of the RBN investment has taken
place in Phokeng. Phokeng has a sports
palace, with a FIFA certified stadium where some of the
World Cup games took place;
a sports campus that has a 5 star hotel, a rehab center, a state of the
art gym, and a sports academy (to groom future athletes); and a state-of
the-art school,
Lebone II, that goes from primary to high school.
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| Royal Bafokeng Sports Campus |
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| Lebone II Outdoor Amphitheater |
I am staying at a B&B that is owned by a very nice older
couple. I call them Mey (Mom,
respectable way to address an older women) and TaTi (Father/respectable way to
address older men). Mey said I am the
daughter she never had! Their 3 year old
grandson stays with them so I play with him and his neighborhood friends
sometimes. Here are a couple of pictures
of my new home.
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| My B&B from a distance |
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| I stay on the 2nd Floor |
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| View from the 2nd floor terrace |
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| Another view from the 2nd floor terrace |
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| My bedroom |
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| My bedroom from another view |
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| I use the B&B service kitchen, there are no other guest so I have it to myself |
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| I eat in the kitchen instead of the dinner room |
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| My new sporty look |
Right now I am spending my time going around and meeting
people. Got to make sure I get
alignment, buy in, and support for my marketing plan (I thought corporate
America was political), especially since I want to start youth clubs in the
schools. The cool thing though is that Royal Bafokeng Sports (RBS) is
sponsoring the Special Olympics Africa Unity Cup. So my work is filtered through them. So everyone I work with is involved in sports
in some capacity whether it’s managing the RBN’s professional soccer team, the
Platinum Stars, or coaching handball, rugby, or track and field. The NBA even
has a partnership with the RBN so there are 3 American guys here starting a
basketball program in the RBN. Funny
thing everyone keeps asking me what sport I do and I am like uuuuhhhhh…I was a
Pom in High School and College. I actually may even work a bit with the
cheerleading program the NBA is starting. Sometimes I am like how did I end up here? And I am still like, am I really a
Peace Corps Volunteer, rotfl?
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| My workout equipment |
Other then that I spend my spare time working out (I
purchased some workout equipment and work out in the parking lot in front of my
place), making jewelry, watching movies, and surfing the net. I have also had
the opportunity to attend 2 Platinum Stars games. I have quickly realized I am not a
football/soccer fan, plus I have never enjoyed sitting in VIP areas at games---I
like being with the people (I have to try one more game to see what it likes to
sit with the vuvuzela folks). One of my
Special Olympics coworkers is from Phokeng and she introduced me to her
brother. He has been really cool as well
and has taking me out a couple of times. Just hoping to continue making friends, but I
have felt at home and comfortable here since the day I moved here. Weird considering I freaked out the first
time I saw where I will be living, LOL.
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| Platinum Stars vs. SuperSport |
--Mei
