Gaborone, Botswana
Johannesburg, South Africa
Maseru, Kingdom of Lesotho
From Namibia we returned to Johannesburg, restocked some materials and traveled by bus to Gaborone, Botswana the next day.
Botswana, land-locked in Southern Africa, has a population of 1.2 million in an expansive country that is largely desert (The Kalahari Desert, home to the 'Bushmen'). It is a land rich in diamonds, with a great deal of construction and development throughout its capital city, Gaborone. Unlike South Africa and Namibia, Botswana has never felt the suppression of Apartheid. This is said to have contributed greatly to the warmth and friendliness of the people and the safety in the streets.
The people of Botswana are predominantly Christian and very strong in their faith, to our knowledge; Falun Dafa hadn't reached this part of the world, except through media reports.
We delivered letters along with Dafa materials to the Vice-President's and the Foreign Affairs Minister's assistants and obtained an interview with the Foreign Affairs director in charge of Asian affairs. In all three cases, these officials were receptive and sympathetic, but non-committal. Each of them promised to look at the material and pass it on accordingly.
The next day we obtained an interview with a local newspaper and visited the university for potential future lecture venues. In the afternoon we demonstrated the exercises and handed out fliers at the city mall. We were surrounded by interested people and had to resort to making photocopies of fliers, on this occasion, to meet the demands for information.
Early Saturday morning, half an hour before our bus was to leave for Johannesburg, I found myself locked in the bathroom with the remains of a broken key in my hands. While sitting on the edge of the bath I recalled Master's description of an elderly lady who could unlock doors by pointing at the lock, and how practitioners imprisoned in China could unlock doors with righteous thoughts. Why couldn't I do this? There had to be another solution. Was I meant to stay in Gaborone? What predestined relationship was yet to be fulfilled? What purpose had Master in store for me?
I realized that I needed to calm my mind; there was no way I could find release with a restless mind. Eventually the idea of a solution came. I asked the other practitioner to try her room key in the lock. The door swung open. A human answer to a human dilemma. Calmly the answer had revealed itself and I was amused at myself for the momentary panic, and encouraged by the result of a clear, rational mind that had resolved what had seemed at first to be an impossible situation. Again I thought of those practitioners in jail, wondering what depth of tranquility they must find to escape from their cells.
As the sun was coming up we pulled out of Gaborone and headed for Johannesburg, I reflected upon the events of the last few days. We had only been in Botswana for two days and three nights yet we had achieved a lot. We made a few valuable contacts, which repeatedly asked when and if we would return to share the exercises and teachings of Master Li.
In Johannesburg we held two workshops, one in Chinatown and one in Midrand (situated between South Africa's capital, Pretoria and Johannesburg) where we began to establish a working relationship with a group of new practitioners, who were planning to gather to practice exercises in our absence.
We continued with Hong Fa activities in Chinatown. Apart from demonstrating the exercises and revealing the truth, we were hoping to make contact with any practitioners who may be living in Johannesburg. It was unlikely that in a city as large as Johannesburg that there were not any practitioners. As yet we haven't met any; we suspect that they aren't willing to come out into public. This is a shame as there are many people who appear to have been waiting for the Fa. They need ongoing assistance and examples from experienced practitioners to become solid in the Fa. As most of us know, a cultivation environment is extremely important to speed up one's growth.
The interest in Falun Dafa is growing in Johannesburg. As a result of one newspaper interview, other newspapers and radio stations have sought us out. People who heard the radio interview have made contact with the new practitioners and are planning to learn. Once again we are shown the value of the media as a tool to spread the Fa, reinforcing in us the importance of developing relationships with the media as quickly as possible when we arrive in town.
Late Thursday 14th June in the afternoon, we left for Bloemfontein by bus. Five and-a-half hours later we were picked up by an African practitioner from Maseru, The Kingdom of Lesotho.
Lesotho's lowest altitude is 1000 meters above sea level. It is a small, mountainous region land-locked in South Africa. It has a population of approximately 2.2 million and there are reports that 10,000 Chinese live in Maseru. Many Chinese responded negatively to Falun Gong when they were approached to join us for a lecture. However, the local people were very interested, open and curious about us.
On Saturday we held a very successful lecture and workshop, despite the Chinese Embassy forcing us to relocate. With only 2.5 hours notice, we found a new, bigger place and managed to redirect people to it. The Chinese Embassy learned of our lecture, which was to be held at the hotel that we were staying in. The Hotelier received pressure directly from the Chinese Embassy and the Lesotho Foreign Affairs department. The Dutch Embassy is on the premises of the hotel and the Hotelier (we later found out) is the son of the Honorary Consul for the Netherlands. Chinese Embassy officials approached him and he did not want to jeopardize their "good relationship." He heard that we were an xx organization, and that was not welcome in his hotel. We were welcome as guests but he insisted that we cancel the lecture.
The workshop attracted many people from various backgrounds. In the audience were a radio announcer/reporter and a Roman Catholic Nun. That evening the radio announcer described us as innocent, peaceful, spiritual people who were no apparent threat.
The radio announcers' program is very popular and unbeknownst to us, by late Monday afternoon we had become somewhat of a talking point around town.
Sunday we had a practice session in the park where only a few people came. We also began to make plans on how to address the circumstances of the previous day.
Monday was a frustrating day, spent researching on the Internet and drafting letters. The events of Saturday needed to be thoroughly addressed and we considered that the content of the packages we had been presenting to government officials had been insufficient
We were aware that the Netherlands government supported Falun Dafa and were surprised at the position that the Hotelier/Dutch Embassy had taken. The next three days, during business hours, we spent most of our time compiling information for presentation to the local government.
On Tuesday we were enjoying breakfast with the radio announcer, discussing Lesotho culture and how Falun Dafa could enhance the peoples lives, when the Chief Immigration Officer visited us. After lengthy stonewalling and viewing our passports he finally told us that the reason he was interviewing us was because we had overstayed our visas! When we entered the country, we had asked for a one-week visa but had only received one day. Not realizing the error, we trusted the border officers' professionalism. We immediately contacted the Lesotho practitioner, who then contacted a respected lawyer, who quickly arrived to support us. We were then escorted to the Principal Immigration Officers office, along with the radio announcer and the practitioner. The Lawyer advised that if we had any trouble to contact him.
The Principal Immigration Officer advised that in many countries we would have been taken directly to jail for overstaying our visas and to be more careful to check the passports ourselves when crossing borders. After lengthy deliberation, they extended our visa for a further week. We were convinced that if we hadn't been in the company of our radio announcer friend, we would have received very different treatment. The Home Affairs Ministry had to be seen to be diplomatic, otherwise it would have been reported on the radio. Our friend understood the role that he played, and even though he was new to Falun Dafa, he understood that what had occurred had not been a coincidence.
Throughout the remainder of the week, we often felt that we were not achieving much; that we were moving far too slowly, given that we had a busy schedule ahead of us. We reassured ourselves that we were strengthening the relationships with many people and helping to lay solid foundations for the Fa. Before the week was over, we met with a group of Roman Catholic Sisters and instructed them in the exercises. We delivered letters and Falun Dafa materials to secretaries or assistants, to his Majesty the King of Lesotho, the Prime Minister, Minister for Home Affairs, Minister for Health, Minister for Human Rights and Justice and to the Honorary Consulate for the Netherlands, with a copy to the Netherlands Foreign Affairs department.
We departed Lesotho on Saturday evening; we had stayed there nine days. In hindsight, these were very eventful days, sharing with street children, nuns, the local practitioner and his family, new practitioners and the community in general. We learned a lot, gained a great deal of experience, and also became better prepared for the next city or country.