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Matumi: Mom and Josiah



I remember Josiah from Tanzania. Did Mom and Dad know him from S.A. days? I don't know. I'll ask Pam. What I remember, and what I think Andy and Chris remember, is that he laughed a lot and that whenever Mom and Dad was there with Josia and the ANC comrades he often brought with him, they all quickly relaxed. And both Mom and Dad were always happy when Josiah was there and they were constantly joking about people and places I knew of, but didn't know and Josiah's laugh was very deep and infectious. Mom and Dad said that he had been torured by the special branch in South Africa and we looked at him with great respect. But being together in the evening with Josiah was just so much enjoyment for Mom and Dad.

The best fun we had was at Imjinwayma beach. There, together with Florence (Flo) Mposho, the ANC rep. and Pam and Marcelino and Ilundi and Geoff, Barbara and Lisa Lamb and Josiah and other freinds, we would go in convoy anong a dusty road.

Somehow the coconut sellers would find us and the heart of palm salesmen and the people selling green mangos with gritty chilli. Ocassionally there were jelly fish, but not often, occasionally the seaweed would wrap itself around your ankles and occasionally the sand would burn your feet or or the sun your back, but otherwise it was a perfect beautiful beach. I think we were completely happy.

Mom and Dad saw Josiah and Catherine Jele again in Harare a few times as they passed through on the way back to a thawing South Africa and then visited them in New York and stayed with them when Josiah was the UN ambassador, but when Mom and Dad were in Matumi they hardly saw him partly because of his delicate govermental role. The picture above is of Josiah in Matumi with Mom and you can see how happy she is. The postures are roughly the same as I remember them in Dar. They are both relaxed.

We were in Dar in 1972. The picture must have been taken around 2006. That makes it 35 years since Dar. The last time I saw Josiah was at Mom's funeral.

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