Well, Wouter’s back! He’s just finished a three week holiday in beautiful Capetown, South Africa.
You’ll see him around the hostel because he’s part of our staff. He’s not hard to recognize either. He’s thin as a rail, tall like a giraffe and gentle as a meerkat (as he is sometimes referred to).
He’s a member of a somewhat endangered species. He’s a “White African” – a born and bred Boer.
Wouter and his three siblings have left South Africa and and have settled in Canada. They will be joined shortly by their parents who are planning to leave the land their people have called home for more than three centuries.
The Boers (meaning farmers) or Afrikaners as the original settlers (circa late 15th Century) are called, have a passionate connection with the soil of Africa.
They are known to be a hard-working, self-sufficient, stubborn and iconoclastic people. They once ruled Southern Africa politically, militarily and economically.
We won’t delve into their excesses when they were masters of the land but will leave that to the judgment of history.
What we can say is that however their record will be judged, the fact remains that they are a race of people who once tamed an unforgiving wilderness – and thrived.
If you take note of the work-ethic of Wouter (and his brothers and sister) you might conclude that they should do quite well here in their new homeland.
We’re glad to have him back.
