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December, 2007, The Kombi, by Janine Oddishaw

There is no shortage of drama here in South Africa. Only two weeks after the excitement of purchasing our new Land Rover, we had the unfortunate event of having our VW Kombi van stolen in Durban. Following a meeting with a family literacy specialist in a coffee shop located in a residential area, the Canadian contingent of the Edzimkulu team returned to the vehicle to discover that it had been taken. Although we have heard many reports of theft and car-jacking in larger city centres, we had escaped any incident of the kind up until that day.

The loss of the Kombi has been felt by both the Edzimkulu team and the Ndawana residents. Despite the mechanical difficulties of the Kombi, it has, over the years, been a main source of transportation, particularly for residents receiving medical treatment at St. Apollinaris Hospital. Although we had little hope of finding the Kombi, we realized that when purchased from its previous owner, the vehicle came equipped with a GPS tracking system. However, given the cost, we were unable to continue with the services originally provided through Netstar. Netstar was informed of the theft, and to our surprise and delight they continued to track the vehicle.

They told us that if they found a signal, we would pay R 8,550 (almost $1,300) for the first hour of the helicopter and $18 per minute thereafter for them to recover it. The vehicle is worth less than $5,000 and we declined, given that it could be found demolished or otherwise unusable. Nevertheless, they phoned again with a location, and when we declined again, they asked us for our story. We told them that we are a small NGO working with people affected by AIDS. They then offeered to apprehend the vehicle free of charge! Two days ago we received the call that the vehicle had been located and recovered by the police. This Good Samaritan act is evidence again of the support that Edzimkulu is receiving from local South Africans. We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks!!

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