amaXhosa country through an umlungu's eyes

I spent two years in Mthatha or Umtata as it was when I arrived there in mid 2001. I left mid 2003. I was working with the Umtata Business Service Centre. I had a camera (film) and quite a passion for taking photos and ended up with hundreds if not thousands of shots and lots of words I had written in reports suggesting ideas for development. I intend to share some of both over the next few months. Mthatha has changed very little since I left from what I read and see so I thought maybe my photos were still worth publishing online. I had and still have a love for the place and wish it could become better known and loved by more people around the world as well as in South Africa. It does provide some nasty statistics but also deserves having its praises sung, its beauty, struggles, people and history talked about. I would welcome comment from others, especially locals, to bring another perspective and up-to-date news.

I hope to provide a little link for those interested in 'Mandela country'. One of the spurs for me to begin this is the blog that I discoverd by Jesse Zink: mthathamission.blogspot.com. Jesse, an Episcopalian missionary working at the Itipini medical clinic in Mthatha, South Africa writes long, interesting posts with great photos. Unlike me, he is also managing to learn and use the local language - isiXhosa. A beautiful soft sounding language with 'clicks' - sounds made by the placement of the tongue in particular spots agains the wall/roof of the mouth. I will probably also post some material I have on Lesotho (as Jesse has done) as I too visited the "Kingdom in the Sky" for a week. All of this will take some time as all my photos from that time are all on negative film. . .