Rachel is a Grandmother of ten and a Mother of seven from Hangburg, a small impoverished fishing village, historically a township for people categorised as “Coloured” during the apartheid-era in Southern Africa. The local people, over 40% of which are unemployed and many living 10 people to a single one bedroom apartment, are marginalised by fishing quotas that are controlled by mafia and private interest, forcing them away from the seas that their ancestors treasured. Rachel use to work in one of the fish factories for years deboning and gutting fish until her brother fell ill and she chose to quit her job and care for him until his death. Unable to regain her place in the factory she began lurking around the harbour and found a niche training the seals to jump out of the water for scraps of rotten fish fed by hand and by mouth.
We will never be able to repay our mothers for what they gave us, as we are not entitled to anything in this life but trials to test our goodness. Were we to spend our lives embracing the vast wisdom of “Honour thy mother and father†given to us in all three of the holy books: Quran, Bible, and Torah, we would certainly free ourself from much pain and sadness. This wisdom is not for the mind, it is for the heart. Surely, our parents test us.
Rachel is a Grandmother of ten and a Mother of seven from Hangburg, a small impoverished fishing village, historically a township designated for people categorised as “Coloured†during the apartheid-era in Southern Africa. The local people, over 40% of which are unemployed living 10 people to a single one bedroom apartment, have been marginalised by fishing quotas that are controlled by mafia and private interest. A man or woman who’s grandfather was free to fish from the sea for a living, and for food, is now forced to work long hours in a bright florescent lit factory deboning and gutting fish caught by large companies for International export, working on the boats for R100 ($7) per ton, or begging.
Rachel use to work in one of the factories for many years until her brother fell ill and she chose to quit her job and care for him until his death. Unable to regain her place in the factory she began lurking around the harbour and found a niche for herself training the seals to jump out of the water for scraps of rotten fish fed by hand and by mouth, one of which even hops up onto the side walk for tourists to take pictures with. But the social life of those at the harbour is that of drugs and prostitution. “I get my drugs for free,†she said, as she spoke about her nine years at the harbour. “Yes, I have the anchor of Cancer,†she said when discussing her health.
As we sat in her one bedroom brick home surrounded by shacks, the sounds of yelling and bass taxi music from the neighbours wall vibrated the floor and tears swelled in her eyes as she began to talk about her children: The son who has threatened to kill her many times unless she agrees to put the house she inherited from her mother, in his name, the daughters that criticise her and spew nastiness at her and the many acts of violence that took place in her home that as she says, “Makes me crazy, I just cant take it, everyone is against eachother, that’s why I take the drugs.â€
Yet, she remains positive and ever humbled by her creator. She wakes up early everyday and goes to work with the wild seals to take care of her family. She has the most lovely way about her among many who have copied her working with the seals, for drug money.