Guilt, Gifts and Gratitutde

2019/02/06 FishHoek Library

Prologue

Guilt, Gifts and Gratitude

I’m a white woman. I’m seventy-seven years old.

And I have a burden - a burden of Guilt.

I also have a basket - a basket of Gifts.

Before I end this life’s adventurous journey

I’d like to shed the Guilt, share the Gifts,

And express my Gratitude.

Let me explain.

The Guilt blossomed during my childhood,

growing up in a life of white privilege,

 in apartheid South Africa.

The Gifts to share are stories -

gleaned from experiences over the years in Southern African countries.

And told in Gratitude, for lessons learned

from African wisdom, generosity and resilience,

especially in the face of ongoing arrogance and inhumanities[1] of my race.

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[1] [explain my version of inhumanities: capitalist inequalities esp. through “upsucking”].