Cape Town - Sonja Kruse was determined to travel light on her long journey of discovery. So with just a 33-litre backpack containing a camera, a notebook and a R100 note, she set off on a trip around South Africa that saw her relying heavily on the kindness of strangers.
Her mission was driven by the urge to learn about her fellow countrymen and to also find out if ubuntu was a reality in modern-day South Africa.
Ubuntu is an Nguni word that is used to describe the spirit in African communities who believe that human beings can only find fulfilment through interacting with other people.
“Having grown up in the apartheid era, I realised how little I knew about the people around me,” said Kruse of growing up as an Afrikaner from Eshowe in KwaZulu-Natal.
“I realised that I had no idea how to connect to the people of South Africa. I wanted to find out who we are beyond the newspaper headlines. I wanted to get into the hearts of the people of our country,” she said.
After resigning from her job as a game lodge manager in 2009, Kruse began her life-changing trip that saw her covering 13 685km in nine provinces in just under a year.
For the 351-day adventure, she knocked on the doors of strangers hoping for a hot meal and a place to spend the night. One hundred and fifty families welcomed Kruse into their homes and hearts, with some sharing the little food they had with her.
Her journey began in the Eastern Cape without a concrete plan or even a tent.
“I went to the taxi rank and started chatting to people. While there I met a domestic worker named Nomi who invited me to her work the next day,” said Kruse
Nomi and her boss tried to talk her out of the trip with warnings that “the tsotsis are going to kill you” and “you are going to starve”.
“For me that was a sign of ubuntu, it touched me that two people who didn’t even know me were concerned about my safety,” said Kruse.
“I took a taxi and went to the township for the first time in my life. I knocked on people’s doors and told my story. Most people welcomed me into their homes, despite not having a lot,” she said.
“A lot of black families felt that what they had in their homes was not good enough for me as a white person.”
During the months Kruse slept in shacks and in mansions and met all kinds of people from farmers to rich businessmen. At some of the homes she even shared a bed with the whole family.
“The women were very protective of me and didn’t want me to go alone around the townships because they were worried about my safety. Everywhere I went people invited me into their homes, as if they would be honoured to have me there.
“From my very first night when a Xhosa woman from a township in East London slept on the floor and allowed me to share her bed with her two children, to my last night when I met the only white induna in the history of the royal Zulu household, I realised that South Africans are prepared to share their views of the world, their religion and community,” she said.
Kruse recently published a book titled The uBuntu girl about her experience.
Along the way people gave her money and food which she gave to families that needed help.
“Us mlungus (white people) in SA are spoilt because a lot of people speak English. We don’t realise that reaching out to other cultures, even if its learning how to say ‘hello’ in another language can change the way we see and live with each other.”
The most disturbing thing about the trip was getting to grips with how sexist a lot of men still are. “A lot of men still believe a woman should be married with children. I received a lot of marriage proposals.”
From Mopane worms to crocodile meat, Kruse was spoilt for choice when it came to food. “I came back weighing 5kg more. One thing about South Africans is we love to feed people. And in every culture, pap seemed to be a common thing that everyone loved.”
Kruse is planning a trip where she will visit all the 150 families that welcomed her into their homes.
Cape Argus