We(?) Bless the Rains Down in Goedgedacht:A Morning of Reconciliation, Accountability, and Restorative Justice in South Africa

By Alessia Eckelaert (Nutrition Science ‘26)

Hello from Goedgedacht!

We arrived at the Goedgedacht farm last night at 18:00. The winding driveway up off the dirt road led us to see only a small portion of what this establishment had to offer. A flock of chickens, a grove of olive trees, and at the back of it all, Kasteel mountain was towering above it all. We quickly settled into our rooms in the Wildflower Villa, which overlooks the Goedgedacht manor and rolling fields of farmland. Our rooms are all strung together by a wraparound porch overlooking it all. Once greeted by our generous host Deon Snyman, we tucked in to a chicken braai dinner, a traditional South African barbecue, accompanied with cheesy potatoes and what is a contender for the best bread that I’ve ever had in my life.

After dinner we had a quick check in session with Deon. Deon taught us the history and programs and all that Goedgedacht has to offer.

Goedgedacht is one of the oldest Dutch farm settlements deep in the Swartland region of the country, dating back to the 1700s. After being bought out by a group of Catholic missionaries, the farm property now serves as many things including a community center that supports women from the moment they know they are pregnant and their children all the way up until they reach 22 years of age. As the token nutrition science major on this trip, I was pleased to learn about the farm to table and nutritional meals that Goedgedacht offers to their community members. After a quick introduction to get to know our home for the next 3 days, we were all eager to get some rest and see what Dion had in store for us.

After some of the best sleep I’ve personally had on this trip (mostly due to Lydia’s sound machine), we headed down to the manor building for breakfast, facing the (much needed) rain pouring down outside. (When visitors bring rain to semi-arid agricultural regions like the Swartland, it is considered a blessing.) We were delighted to see coffee, tea, and yogurt and granola parfaits waiting for us. After eating and feeling quite satisfied, we were then greeted with our main course of scrambled eggs, beans in tomato sauce, roasted tomatoes, and some fresh greens on the side.

Post breakfast sleepiness hit us hard, with most of us getting seconds or thirds of our choice of caffeine right before our first session of the day with Deon.

A little bit of background information on our lovely host Deon:

Deon Snyman is an Afrikaner man who grew up in Apartheid era South Africa. He grew up in a very traditional, Dutch Reformed family in an all-white community, with limited understanding of the experience of what life was like in black communities. He went on to study theology at university and became a pastor. In his last year, just as South Africa was transitioning to democracy, he made the decision to seek out a call to be pastor in black congregations in KwaZulu Natal – the province we will be heading to next week.

Today is the first day we’ve truly implemented the “study” part of this study abroad trip. With the wood fire stove burning and rain spitting on the windows surrounding us, we settled in our seats to begin our morning session with Deon. We started with a conversation about the Apartheid state, and what our own personal views on the steps of reconciliation are and what it means to live them out.

We then delved into the film “Black Christmas”, a documentary available on YouTube about the 1996 ShopRite supermarket bombing that killed 4 and left countless victims wounded. The bombing was carried out by Stefaans Coetzee of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB), an Afrikaner nationalist and white supremacist paramilitary organization. More importantly, the film focused on the reconciliation of Coetzee, and the ways he was able to challenge his own hate-filled beliefs to grow into a channel of understanding, forgiveness, and accountability. It’s a fantastic film, I would highly you recommend you check it out on YouTube.

After the film, Deon led us in a Socratic discussion about the film and our takeaways, acknowledging that the film is best as a conversation starter, since the film often raises strong emotions and does not give way to a consensus view on reconciliation and forgiveness in South Africa. We reflected on what forgiveness and reconciliation looked like in a post-Apartheid South Africa. Have the words “I’m sorry” come cheaply as a nation? Or are they said only after proof of transformed behavior? From our experiences, you can ask any South African, and they will tell you that social aspects of Apartheid are still very much alive here. 

My biggest takeaway from the morning session is that no community, from a small commune to a nation like the U.S., can reach their fullest potential if any of its members are experiencing any kind of divide, from social to political. Concerns about corruption and mismanagement in government have caused a tremendous loss of hope for many in South Africa. This manifests in South Africa in declining voting rates, a loss of trust in the government, and further divides the nation in terms of race and socioeconomic status. It is okay to critique politics (including the ones you support, not just the ones you don’t). We all have the capacity for self-reflection. It is okay to challenge your country at times, and it is okay to love your country at times. Life is all about balance, and recognizing and respecting the integrity of all humans, regardless of their identity or status.

Hey Heidi, you’ve studied humanities. What is your biggest takeaway from our conversations today?