David Olayinka (Yinka) is a
Yinka describes his work and life as follows:
We are a Christian family and are close knit. I get ‘bullied’ quite a bit as the only male in the house! But I’m used to it by now. Lesotho is a small country with extremes of weather and mountainous terrain. Winter temperatures can go as low as minus 6 degrees centigrade with snow and ice. That was a major adjustment for us coming from Nigeria with a hot and humid climate. I work very hard as there is a lot of trauma due to the terrain. But I really enjoy the challenges. The kids love their school and are doing very well. Basothos are relaxed laid back people who welcome foreigners. We are also able to visit South Africa easily. All in all it’s been nice.
August 2001 We’ve now been here 4yrs plus and our views have changed a little. We still find the winters quite tough especially as there is no central heating! We have tried all the methods; a roaring fireplace – nice and warm but you can’t carry it into your bedroom! (Quite messy the next day too). Paraffin heaters – averagely warm but the smell! So we settled on a combination of electricity plus the others.
It’s still difficult to believe that we are in Africa when we hit minus 10 degrees!
We will post up some pictures of snow in Maseru. Lesotho was nice until Sept
1998. The demon of African politics hit and there were post election riots.
Maseru’s CBD was gutted and the people woke up to the reality of lost business
and jobs. We got out of the country for a few days and took the opportunity to
visit the Province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Durban is a hot city with
West African type humidity. Richards Bay is just the quaintest little
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coastal town ever There’s been a lot of rebuilding of Maseru but It’s never been quite the same. Then there is the "big bad wolf" of Inflation. Not quite on a Nigerian scale but it’s still the dreaded “I” word in any color. Work? Increasing as always. AIDS is a big problem but injuries from road accidents and personal violence still form the bulk of my work. Its good experience. I have rapidly become a fracture "guru". Quality schooling has been a challenge but God always make a way. All in all, God has been very good to us. Moni has started a small computer training business and it’s proved challenging and interesting. It’s still growing and is teaching us all management skills, the ups and down’s of business and the varied nature of God’s greatest creation "the human being". Being able to visit home every couple of years is so nice especially for the food. I tell you folks nothing beats the variety of Nigerian cuisine. The food here I think is quite boring. Moni has become quite innovative in trying to keep us motivated to eat. I usually don’t need motivation! I turned 40 on the 24th June. I’m still not sure how I should feel but I’m starting to notice a little “Michellin man” spread around the middle and I feel some muscles now, that I did not know I had, after a hard day in the theatre. But we just give glory to God for all His mercies. We are grateful to God for the opportunity to watch our children grow and also to relate with family members all over the world. We are most grateful for our parents. Daddy and Mummy you did a fantastic job. God bless you. |
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Yinka and his family have moved to Nelson Mandela Teaching Hospital situated, of course, in Mandela's home province and in a town called Umthata, South Africa. Yinka has promised to update this page for the next update. Webmaster |
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