Far From Home

I saw a camel just eating grass beside the road near Pierre, South Dakota. I wonder who is raising the camel and why. I presume this was home for the animal. What does the person raising the camel do with the animal? Just questions, no answers.

Later that same day I met Charles who  came here from South Africa to work ten months of the year in South Dakota and then goes home for 2 months. He called out to me from the combine he was working on as I rode by. I didn’t stop but met him at the gas station a mile down the road. He is a large muscular man with a thick beard and big infectious smile. He was very interested in my trip and loved that I was raising money for climate solutions. He has a British type accent so I asked him where he was from and he said I’m from South Africa. And I then asked him why he was working here and he said, because I can’t get a job in South Africa, because I’m white. He said it very matter of fact w/o bitterness. He misses his daughter greatly as he only sees her 2 months of the year. He does love being in South Dakota and farming there.

I was surprised by his situation. I didn’t know about white people not being able to find jobs because of their race. I read a little bit about the situation online and like many things I don’t understand and won’t know the full story. I feel sad that Charles can’t work close to his family because of unjust situations back home just like I feel for other immigrants in our country who are working far from their families and others in our country not working at all for unjust reasons.

It helps me to hear the stories and know about people’s struggles. Knowing people’s stories is the first step in solving the world injustices. If only that camel could talk my language I’m sure I would have heard a fascinating story about their life story.