This Side Up
Robert Mazibuko
This Side Up is an intriguing autobiography by Robert Mazibuko, who served as an Xhosa translator from 1968 to 1987, as a member of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of South Africa, from 1975 to 1985 and his involvement in the formative stages of the Bahá'í faith in Africa. He translated the Book of Certitude (Kitáb-i-íqán), into the Xhosa language between 1972 and 1979.
We follow a young man wending his way between the demands of his existing African culture and the needs of a newly-emerging global Faith. He captures memories of his time with Emeric and Rosemary Sala, Michael Sears, and many others from this special time in African history.
ISBN: 9781894747592 | WMPub#1047 | 5½" x 8½"
228 pages, paperback | $19.95
Table of Contents
3 Dedication and Acknowledgement
5 Preface
7 Table of Contents
9 Part 1: From Childhood to the End of High School
My Grandparents; My Father; My Mother; Relatives; The Times Of My Birth; Beliefs In Childhood; My Father And Herbs; My Father And The Bath; Mornings With My Mother; The Sons And Daughters Of Mazibukos; My Predicament In The Family; My Mother And Employment; Beginnings Of My Life; Primary School And Prizes; Reading, Religion And School; Childhood Events; Adventure With The Snake; The Fright In The Night; A Remedy For Tonsillitis; Snake In The Woodpile; Birthdays; Expensive Two Pennies; The Hard Punishment; A Frightening Time; Our First Visit To A Movie Theatre; I Defend My Little Cousin; I Start Work With My Father; Father Christmas; Finding Work As A Boy; Reading And My Life; Early Days At Junior High; Loss Of A Book; Glorious Punishment; A Teenager Wants Recognition; A Fight Diffused; A Dip In The Pool; Electric Current; Pleasing My Mother; Young Music; The Completers Dance; Arriving At High School; Assistance; A Bout With A Bully; A Change Shows Itself; Results Of An Attack Of Tonsillitis; The Fight With Roland; Cultural And Religious Difficulties; A Search Begins; Learning To Pray Again; The Research And Cultural Club; High School And The Play Is Staged; I Leave High School; I Become A Bahá'í
55 Part 2: From First Employment To Departure for U.S.A.
Being A Baháí; Employment And Friends; College; The Big Bird; Arguments And Victories; Friendships And Advantage; Studies And Desire To Change; End Of The Year; The Assignment; Registration Again; Departure From Norm Again; The Results Of The Year; The Hospital And My Sister; The Change Again; The Breakdown; A New Job And Aspirations; Memories of Rosemary And Emeric Sala; Condition Of The Faith In Port Elizabeth At The Departure Of The Salas; A Sad Story Of A Friend; Translations At The Convention; More Translations and Travelling; Durban and Natal; Transkei A Second Time; Port Elizabeth And Slide Programs; Cape Town And Learning; Beaten Up In Mossel Bay; Another Visit To The Transkei; A Discovery Of Music; The Reports; Sickness Again But Work; Strategies Learned On The Trips; An Unexpected Journey And An Arrangement; I Find Marriage; Election To The National Spiritual Assembly; Translations; The International Convention; A Strange Encounter; Results Of First International Trip; The Journalist And The Passport; Amorphous Growth; Zwide And The Functioning Assembly; Family Difficulty; Representing The National Assembly; A Change In Pioneers; I Marry A Second Time; Decision To Arrive At A Year Of Patience; The Assistance of Eghbal and Sarah Maani in the Locality and Area; Stories about Eghbal and Sarah; Forming Assemblies in Riotous Times; A Surprising Deepening Class; A Challenge Met; Pressures Introduce Possibilities; Alienation From Co-workers; Being Questioned; Popular In The Wrong Area; Pilgrimage to Haifa Commences; Preparations; The Pilgrim House and Invitation To Dinner; The Shrines; Invitation to Shrines; Observations; First Day Together; The Parting; Pondering The Meeting; Reward Of Pilgrimage; A Duty Discharged; Returning Home and Plans To Leave; The Move to Swaziland; Opportunity in Swaziland; Swaziland, Work Tapering Off; Experiences in Swaziland and Mozambique; Mozambique And The Job Location; The Scared Fellow; Baháí Teaching Experiences In Swaziland; A Rainy Night; Precious Meeting; To Leave Africa and Be In Africa
136 Part: 3 From Departure for the United States to the Present
Moving To The United States; Preparing To Leave; The Transition; My Thinking; Some Transition Stories; Holidays I Could Not Understand; Where To Eat; Socialization And Assistance; The Box and the Newspaper Stand; Camping Trip; Work and Education; An Attempt at Employment; A Threat; Drama; Using My Hands With No Success; Sickness And Surgery; Visit Home; An Offer Of Work; Register For Classes; The Finances And The Move; My Children Plan To Arrive; Arrangements For The Trip; Lowell and The Plan; Apprehension; Diverse Decisions; The War And Its Pressures; Advice On Teaching; Adjustment Of Medication And Re-assessment;A Happy Consolation; Racial Issue; Funerals And Graduation; The Shrine In The West; A Visit Home; Return And Move; Family Enlarged; Studies And Pilgrimage; Stories Of Identity; Recognition By The Church; An Encounter With Bravery and Martyrdom
171 Postscript
173 Part 4: Some Special People I Have Met
Friends And Teachers: Rosemary and Emeric Sala; Lowell Johnson; Rose Gates; Sadri Farabi; Shamam Bakhshndeghi; Michael Sears; Michelle Bergman; Valera Gogo Allen; Michael Moorshead; Peter Persicaner; Miriam and Earl Denman; Sister Myra Morgan, the Assistant Matron; Ronald Fudu; Ivy and Thembu Gcume; Michael Walker; Graham and Lesley Hodge; Viola Thembeka Mda; Martin Konstant; Baha'i Randall; Isqaak and Jasmine Gallow
225 Glossary
229 References