Freedom

Today it's Freedom Day. It's celebrated on the day the first democratic elections were held in SA in 1994. I think it's a great reason for a holiday. When I think back of '94 with those long lines of people waiting to cast their votes for the first time in their life, I get the shivers. So impressive, such a great moment.
South-Africa isn't just free for the South-Africans themselves, to a lot of other people it means freedom too. Two days ago we went into town, because we had something to celebrate. The waitress we had, spoke with a beautiful french accent. It turned out she was from the Congo. "Things are bad there", she explained herself. She and her sister managed to get to South-Africa. The rest of her family was still there. The thought of them made her look sad.
After dinner we went to our car, where we were approached by a man. He asked, no begged, if we would listen to him. He explained he was a refugee from Sudan and needed money to get to Plettenberg Bay, where his brother was staying. He showed us the piece of paper with the directions and the money he had saved up until now. It was 40 rand and he needed 85 rand for the taxibus. He started crying. He lost all his family in the war in Sudan and was breaking down in front of our eyes. He hadn't eaten the whole day because he was saving his money for the bus. We helped him out. There are a lot of beggars in SA, but a grown man crying for money is an uncommon and awful sight. I feel bad at having even the slightest doubt about his story. I so hope he got on that taxibus and is ok now.