I had no reason to dislike anybody

Reviewed by SHERIDAN GRISWOLD
Correspondent | Friday November 14, 2008 00:00

Enole Ditsheko's partial memoir of his preparations to go to America, his first six months there and then some aspects of his return to Botswana, is told in 24 chapters across three books. It won the British Council and Books Botswana award as the best non-fiction memoir received in 2007.

Ditsheko, now 35 years old, is a child of Maun. In 1979, when he was six, his father 'disowned' him, his four siblings and his mother. She struggled to sustain her family and became Rev Kebinang Ditsheko in the African Spiritual Church. An important personage in their lives was Bishop Moruti. Ditsheko went to Botswelelo Primary School in 1980, then proceeded to Tshwarango Community Junior Secondary School and on to Selebi-Phikwe Senior Secondary School where he was active in the history debating club. What makes his 'story of my education' interesting are his vivid memories well selected for recounting, his talent for hearing, remembering and recording lengthy conversations and debates and his ability to deal with issues that are greater than himself.

Ditsheko adroitly recounts his experiences with school bullies, and what happened when one, his friend Mathata, became part of the Quad gang and risked expulsion from school. The events that helped turn his life around came through contact with the Mennonite Ministries in Botswana. During the long summer of 1989 he taught Timothy Bertsche Setswana and they became friends. Tim sponsored him to a youth retreat in Swaziland the end of 1993. Then he was recruited to go to North America with 87 other youths from around the world as part of the International Visitor Exchange Programme (IVEP) of the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). Ditsheko was impressed that the Mennonites believed in the 'age of accountability', in non-violence, pacifism and supported conscientious objection to military service. He apparently failed to learn that as one of the so-called 'Peace Churches', along with the Brethren and Quakers, the Mennonites also worked for social justice and against racism (he appears to accept a Baptist critique of the Mennonites as true -page 42).

One of the requirements before the Mennonites accepted someone on the IVEP was an endorsement from their church. When the bishop of the African Spiritual Churches refused to sign, because we 'follow a different doctrine from theirs', he intended to prevent Enole from going to America. The MCC waived this requirement and in 1994 Ditsheko flew to New York City and then travelled by bus to Chicago and then on west to Henderson, Nebraska, a strong Mennonite farming centre, where he was the only African and person of colour - 'Now I know what it feels like to be different'.

Ditsheko was placed to live with Grandpa Abe Thieszen on Birch Street. His work placement was to teach seventh-grade English and media studies at the local public school. Grandpa lived alone and ate most meals out at restaurants, something Enole never quite adjusted to. Ditsheko's record of how he learnt about 'insiders and outsiders' in Henderson is fascinating. He explores similarities and differences between Botswana and Nebraska. He relates his confusion as he learnt American English and dropped the use of terms he was familiar with like boot, bonnet, cattle post, dungarees, express mail, football, maize, petrol, sprinklers, trousers and so on. He also learns slowly about the hidden sides of a small farming community including abuse and state run homes. When he teaches the history of independence in Africa he begins with 1957 and Ghana, forgetting self-government and what went before it and the unique differences in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Egypt and Ethiopia.

He faces lots of questions and in the process of finding answers learns a lot more about himself, his country and elsewhere in Africa. 'Grandpa was not alone in seeing Africa as one big country with countless fleas sucking her blood and causing her to die slowly without dignity' (page 115). Enole had to explain that Africa was not homogenous, but more than 50 countries. A lot of the news then was on Angola, Mozambique, South Africa, famines, genocide and wars. He was asked about tigers, but didn't know there was a Botswana tiger, otherwise he might have joked more with his hosts and challenged their stereotypes. Botswana came in the news while he was there when 'university students stormed parliament in 1995 to demand an explanation concerning the mutilated body of a school girl in Mochudi'.

Some of his more fruitful contacts were with an 'alien' postmaster, who was interested in cross-cultural experiences. His new friend taught him to drive and took him right through to getting his driving license, and then taught him the possibility to 'pay it forward' rather than pay a debt back to the person who helped you; 'You must serve other human beings wherever you meet them in need' (page 123). When soccer was introduced in a Henderson primary school, Enole was asked to coach them, as it was a new sport in the community. Thus began his career with the Nasty Boys and an unfortunate incident that resulted in his being called a 'Nigger'. 'My encounter that day put to test the greatness of the Mennonite heritage that Grandpa had praised and celebrated' (page 128).

On Botswana's Independence Day he was asked to address a 10th-grade history class. He was amazed when the band played Fatshe Leno La Rona. His request that the assembly open with a prayer, but was greeted stonily. He then records a long history lesson in the separation of church and state in America and the role of the US Constitution and Supreme Court over 218 years. As someone who is very religious he has difficulty understanding this separation, but as a Bayei, a member of a minority group in Botswana, he also has insights into the reasons behind such rulings. He is cautioned not to think of America as a utopia.

The normal procedure for a youth on an IVEP placement was to change after six months and live and work somewhere else to get a comparative and broadening experience. Ditsheko was allowed to stay in Henderson, but he left Grandpa to live with the Gottsch family. One event he will always remember from there is when on February 23, 1995, the school gave 'Noel' (some people preferred one syllable over three, more like a nickname) a resounding 22nd birthday party.

Ditsheko returned to Botswana in July 1995. He found work as a journalist, first with The Voice for a few months and then at the Okavango Observer (edited by Caitlin Davies, see Mmegi 29 July 2005). He describes eloquently concerns over orphans, HIV and AIDS sufferers and rape victims. He reprints a letter (pages 172-173) on the fate of rape and defilement victims in Maun that is quite chilling. He also tells the story of Maduo, raped by a teacher with AIDS, she then died six years later in July 1999. This book, which in many ways belongs to old Abe Thieszen, ends with a long cross-Atlantic phone conversation between Ditsheko and his white Grandpa.

Not told in this memoir are Ditsheko's other adventures, returning to Nebraska to complete a first degree, earning an MA in English from the University of Botswana (UB), and his various work experiences, from journalism to public relations with the European Union (EU) and more recently NACA. Perhaps this will all be in his next book.

E-mail sheridangriswold@yahoo.com