Old Ettie And The Collapsing House
Correspondent | Monday August 11, 2014 13:21
He ran out of money and could not buy building material. But Ettie decided to move into the house all the same. Half a dream is better than nothing at all. That was many years ago. Old Ettie still sleeps in the structure, rather, what used to resemble an incomplete house. The tortured building is now collapsing. It has become a forgotten monument in the village of Sikwane.
Ettie is as tortured as his house and looks like he may slump into a heap anytime, what with the battering he has been getting from the elements. The last time Ettie had a blanket or jacket was many years ago.
He spent the night and mornings of this retreating winter hugging himself – both in an attempt to keep warm and in bafflement at how humanity could so much ignore one of its own. No shelter, no food, old and all alone. That is the definition of Ettie’s circumstances.
Ettie never went to school. Perhaps his life would be different. Instead he spent his childhood days tending his parents’ livestock. Then, when he was of age, he went to look for work in South Africa where he worked for construction companies. He later returned home and did piece jobs.
These included working for Botswana Railways as a labourer and later for Kgatleng district council under the then Ipelegeng project. His piece-jobs took him to places such as Khurutshe and Kgomodiatshaba, where he was engaged in fence construction works.
When projects were concluded Ettie returned to Sikwane where he used his fence building skills to render services to the community for pay. All the while he was saving. Then, one day he started molding bricks.
Then he bought building material, but his money ran out. He believed he would get another fencing job, but no jobs were coming his way as he had expected because there were now new entrants in the market who were younger, whose turnaround time was better than his.
Ettie was stuck having himself built the house, brick by brick. Just a little help would have seen Ettie roof his house, for he had stopped at roof level.
Now he could not get a job, and his health was deteriorating as he was struck by that old age malady called hypertension. Now he is in danger of being killed by this disease as he is not able to get to the clinic.
Since he is often frozen cold, he needs time to warm up, as the air outside thaws. Only then can he walk to the clinic. But by the time he gets to the clinic to fetch his medication, it would be too late, as the clinic would be closed.
With all the worries over his health, the trouble of a collapsing “house” and the torture of fetching water with a 20-litre bucket – some 3 km away-Ettie could do with the help of fellow humans, and may live long enough to pronounce a blessing upon his helpers.