The City of Roses.
Bloemfontein, the judicial city of South Africa.
My host told me the name comes from two words, “Bloom” + “Fountain”, i.e from blooming of roses and fountains of water. At least that is what it was, before 1994, my host asserts. Before 1994, the city used to be sparklingly clean, with rose gardens and well -trimmed pavements.
I had flown to the city to attend and present a paper at the IEEE South African Universities Power Engineering Conference (SAUPEC) hosted at the Central University of Technology by the South Africa Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (SAIEE).
Overall my flights had taken roughly 9 hours accounting for stop overs at Lilongwe and Johannesburg.
As a Flâneur, these were my first impressions of the city.
- It is under populated
- Nice and wide roads.
- Drivers seemed to strictly obey the traffic rules.
- Very tall buildings (I counted 3)
I was hosted by a white couple, Keith and Lorna and I got to learn a lot from them.
Keith, when I asked him about marital advice said this:
- Once married, do not let the courtship die.
- Do not take each other for granted.
- Compliment and complement each other.
- No one should dominate another person
- Trust is key, be truthful to each other. May be the main key. Once trust is gone, you are done.
For the few days I was around, we had stimulating conversations regarding health, food, geology, vaccines. I was surprised to know he is great fan and follower of Prof.Walter Veith, a great Seventh-day Adventist author and speaker known for his work in nutrition and creationism, and also a fellow South African. Keith was a watcher of skies and insisted that I should start being keen on the same. That climate and weather was being regularly manipulated through the clouds. I also had an opportunity to observe how his family run. They are great time keepers. The wife, a meticulous planner and had had everything in its place. To visit them, you had to make an appointment. No time wasting sauntering. No uninvited guests or random unarranged visits as it is the norm in my home country. Was impressed.
I later visited several places in the city. I got the chance to visit the Naval Hill and posed with the famous and imposing Mandela Statue.
Mimosa mall was my favorite and I routinely strolled there every evening. Got to make a few friends there as well. One, a Zimbabwean who was working in South Africa. Another from the bookshop as I was looking for a gift book for lady friend back in Kenya. I regularly steer conversations towards familial matters and this one particular guy was quick to advise me.
- Women are generally objective and you are the one cultivate them to whatever you want. He echoed Myles Munroe advice on the same. That, it is the Man’s role to cultivate the woman.
- What you give them they multiply and give back to you.
- Do not insist on perfection. No one is perfect.
- Buy her gifts regularly, take her shopping once in a while.
- Invest in her, pay her fees, etc.
The conference run from Monday to Wednesday, and I attended all the sessions. My presentation was on Monday evening and it was generally well received. I made a couple of friends amongst the engineers and professors present.
On the final conference day, we had a breakout session where researchers, engineers and Eskom representatives sat together to brainstorm on challenges facing the utility and how the academia can chip in. I got to learnt that Eskom has a program for sponsoring research students at MSc and PhD level. I wished Kenyan corporations adopted the same mindset.
I also got to learn that South African universities value research highly and they well compensate their staff and students who publish in accredited conferences and journals. They pay for conference attendance, transport, etc. No wonder their staff are highly motivated and their universities keep topping the ranking lists of Excellency in Africa and the world. I kept wondering what is Keeping Kenya from adopting such a system.
