Back home on leave, awaiting demobilisation.

Today is the first day since leaving Australia that I have driven on a road - there were no pedestrians on the side of the road except for one jogger, and instead of spotting Impala, Kudu or Buffalo I was admiring the beef cattle, the flooded gums and the iron barks. That and the rain.

It was an odd feeling not having Fran yell at me "Smile, damn it! Keep frowning at the camera like that and you'll crack the lens!"

My time waiting at the Oliver R. Tambo Airport (Johannesburg) was rewarded with the purchase of 4 locally printed books regarding southern Africa which I am unlikely to find in Australia - I would like to thank the hosts who allowed me to rummage through their libraries and quiz them incessantly about what were and weren't good books worth my reading. Many things are cheaper in southern Africa than in Australia, and some things are more expensive. Books are one of the things that are more expensive, and with a low rate of literacy there is a low market, coupled with a low average income, which is a vicious circle coming against the spreading of literacy, education and an informed society.

Against this backdrop the Rotarians of Bedfordview, Johannesburg, are distributing superceeded textbooks from America free of charge to underprivileged schools in South Africa. With the extra distances and hold ups the cost would be significantly more for them to get these same books (which we wouldn't doubt would be very much needed in many of the schools we've visited on our exchange). South Africa also has its own problems in education: we were told by one of the Rotarians that 12 teachers died per day of AIDS in S.A. Although the parts of Johannesburg our hosts showed us through was very beautiful and well kept, they acknowledged there was a high rate of violent crime in the city (higher than anywhere on our exchange) and as a result many residential areas are now enclosed behind gates and fences.

Also whilst in Johannesburg we were able to gain extra insight into the violence against Zimbabwean and other African immigrants; on arrival at my host's house we waited for his wife to come home from a meeting at their church which was helping to coordinate a relief effort. The fine line which had to be walked was that they didn't at the same time neglect poor South Africans who were also inn need and thus provoke further resentment against the immigrants. There are problems of unemployment in South Africa among those who compete for low-paying work, and in places like Johannesburg this is exacerbated by an additional 1-4 million illegal immigrants - South Africa could nearly cope with its own unemployed, I was told, but to add so many from neighbouring countries makes a solution to the problem so much harder. There is also then the issue of people who used to cross freely the borders that now exist that were set up by Europeans.

These issues not only dog security and the economy but also the ability to provide free public health care.

Something to think about.

Greg.