Andrea Hudson

“My name is Lutendo, not Wilfred”

These are the words of a man who created an alias in order to survive post apartheid racial barriers. Lutendo was the driver for the vacation segment of POA’s South Africa trip. It was through Dr. N. Z. Haniff’s encouragement, to learn more about Lutendo, that all of POA learned that Lutendo was a phenomenal and unsung historical figure.

Lutendo is the 5th child of a 14 member family. His family was able to send him to school up until the University level. Due to financial difficulties his family was unable to support his education and his younger sibling’s education simultaneously. Lutendo decided to leave behind his education in order to support his family financially and send his younger siblings to school. On a hunch, a family member introduced Lutendo to the travel and tourism industry during the early 1990’s. Just on the heels of apartheid, Lutendo met a multitude of racial barriers in a predominantly white Afrikaner industry. Lutendo learned quickly that he would never be able to occupy jobs historically held by Afrikaners in travel and tourism if he was automatically categorized as a person of African decent. It was at this time that he assumed the name Wilfred in order to disguise his racial identity and to make it easier for his employers to acknowledge him by name. Lutendo knew that if potential employers saw his African name then they would be reluctant to hire him. The name gave him a foot in the door, an opportunity.

After using the name Wilfred, he did get the opportunity to prove himself. Lutendo then excelled in the travel and tourism industry as a tour guide and quickly became well known within his company. During this point in his career, his colleagues became jealous and many times Lutendo was discouraged from taking the examinations for certification with the South African travel and tourism board. However, Lutendo did not let the negativity of others disturb his conviction of being a certified tour guide. Lutendo took his examinations and became the first African to be a certified tour guide in South Africa with 9 provinces; it was at this time that he revealed that his true name was Lutendo. Even today most Black South African tour guides are not qualified to work as national tour guides. They can only work in one province not all nine.

As a result of Lutendo’s courage and perseverance, he not only triumphed for himself, but he set an  example for other African’s who had been previously discouraged from pursuing life to its fullest extent because of the apartheid. It is men and women like Lutendo who demand to be treated on the content of their character and not the color of their skin who are creating a new history for South Africa.

Andrea Hudson -Teammate Pedagogy of Action 2009

Conclusion

On returning from South Africa with the Pedagogy of Action Team, I found that even though I went to South Africa to teach people about HIV/ AIDS prevention, the people of South Africa taught me about my own humanity. While teaching in a children’s home in Johannesburg, I found that I could have an impact on young lives by not just teaching the Module that was developed by Nesha Haniff, but by giving my time, effort, and presence to the young people. As much as I believe that I contributed to the people I taught the HIV Module to, I know that I received more in return from my students. They taught me how to live life to the fullest, to laugh easily, and to love without preconceived notions.

The trip to South Africa truly changed the direction of my life and where I thought it was going. I would have never dreamed that in my lifetime I would want to work in the field of HIV/AIDS. However, by having the experience in South Africa, I have now decided that this field is one in which I see myself working in for a lifetime. I never thought that this experience would have this type of impact on my life, yet here I am now, five months later, and my life is no longer my own, it is dedicated to others as I continue to stay involved with the fight against the HIV.

In essence, I found myself in South Africa; surprisingly, who I am now was not hiding behind a wall. It was always there, peaking through in the rare moments of truly living and the interactions with the people. I am not sure if I found myself while at God’s Window, in Mpumalanga Province, or if it was in the classroom at the University of Zululand, but one thing is for certain, it was the resilience of the people that allowed me to understand that the life that I lead can be instrumental in saving lives and empowering others.

Andrea Hudson – Teammate Pedagogy of Action 2009