Vir die doel van ons gesprek oor die vreemdeling het ek gedink hierdie gedeelte uit die artikel praat lekker met my:
"As Dean of Education, he was once invited to address a meisies hoërskool Grade 10 camp. After relaying the story of the Good Samaritan as a way to teach the group a lesson on crossing bridges, one of the girls raised a hand and said, "Well Professor I agree with what you say about crossing borders and stuff. But tell me this, how do I cross bridges toward someone who looks like the people who almost killed my sister and me a few weeks ago in a violent car jacking?"
The question was honest and brave and Jansen didn't know how to answer it. After much deliberation he finally answered her by telling them about a particular incident in his life.
A young Jansen, 17 years old and already quite politicised, was walking to the shops when he was hit by a brick that came flying from the hands of a young white boy. He reacted by hitting the boy, whose father was an off-duty policeman. Jansen was thrown into the back of a police car and the boy's father repeatedly beat and humiliated him - a memory that clearly haunts him even today.
"So you see," he tells the Grade 10 girl, "I too have this terrible knowledge of what happened to me, and all my life I have been struggling to cross this bridge toward people who look like you. And I must be honest it is very difficult.
"And so all I can ask of you is that you try to cross the same bridge from the other side and maybe we will meet each other somewhere in the middle. For the sake of our country, we must at least try."
This moment, said Jansen, and others like it - moments of honesty and sharing with young Afrikaans children who in the end were battling the same fears as he - had changed his life.
"I am deeply aware of how my encounters with young Afrikaans children have helped to make me more human, more tolerant and to deal with my demons. I was transformed by my white kids and am eternally grateful to them." "
The question was honest and brave and Jansen didn't know how to answer it. After much deliberation he finally answered her by telling them about a particular incident in his life.
A young Jansen, 17 years old and already quite politicised, was walking to the shops when he was hit by a brick that came flying from the hands of a young white boy. He reacted by hitting the boy, whose father was an off-duty policeman. Jansen was thrown into the back of a police car and the boy's father repeatedly beat and humiliated him - a memory that clearly haunts him even today.
"So you see," he tells the Grade 10 girl, "I too have this terrible knowledge of what happened to me, and all my life I have been struggling to cross this bridge toward people who look like you. And I must be honest it is very difficult.
"And so all I can ask of you is that you try to cross the same bridge from the other side and maybe we will meet each other somewhere in the middle. For the sake of our country, we must at least try."
This moment, said Jansen, and others like it - moments of honesty and sharing with young Afrikaans children who in the end were battling the same fears as he - had changed his life.
"I am deeply aware of how my encounters with young Afrikaans children have helped to make me more human, more tolerant and to deal with my demons. I was transformed by my white kids and am eternally grateful to them." "
Ek sal na 'n paar afsprake weer hieroor gesels onder die opskrif 'Brug-fobieII'
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