Local paddler loses cancer battle
2006-09-28
WITH paddles held high, local canoeists showed their last respects to a friend and role model as they formed a guard of honour at the funeral of Moses Afrika on Saturday.
Moses (23) died on 15 September from stomach cancer.
Four years ago, then 19 years old, started complaining of stomach pains.
Doctors diagnosed the source as stomach ulcers and prescribed medication.
But still the condition of the young paddler deteriorated.
Many trips to the hospital followed, but it was only after a visit to a private specialist two months ago that his illness was correctly diagnosed.
By then, however, the cancer had spread to the young man’s hips and legs.
Moses Afrika was the first underprivileged child to take up canoeing at the Paarl Canoe Club.
Growing up in difficult circumstances in the back streets of Paarl East, many would have thought that Moses was destined for a life of drugs, gangs and crime.
But like his namesake who was saved by being laid adrift on the water, so this Paarl boy too, was saved by committing himself to the waters of the Berg River.
Robin Graves, former head of development at Paarl Canoe Club, took Moses and John Stander under his wing.
He taught them the basic skills of negotiating the river in a canoe, but not before he fed them first.
Oupa, as he is fondly known among the kids, always believed that no canoeist could row on an empty stomach.
It was thus under the guidance of Graves, and Elizabeth Scrimgeour, also an avid canoeist and member of the club, that these kids blossemed into true sportsmen.
“I took them to their first SA canoeing meet. They were also the first development paddlers of the club to participate in the Berg River Canoe Marathon,” remembers Elizabeth fondly.
“I was their mommy, teaching them not to grab at food, and to say please and thank you.”
Elizabeth is also the executive officer of the Drakenstein Hospice and feels that what happened to Moses, must not be repeated.
“Moses’s illness was misdiagnosed because he was poor.
“Because you don’t have resources, does that mean that your life isn’t as valuable as the person who has?
“Who fights for these people, who empowers them to stand up for their rights?”
“Why didn’t anyone question the fact that an otherwise healthy and fit young man of 20 was throwing up blood?”
These are the questions that Elizabeth desperately seeks answers to.
Moses crept into the hearts of everyone who knew him.
“He was such a happy, wonderful chap who had the ability to rise up above his circumstances,” says Elizabeth.
Moses always had time to show someone the ropes, assisting newcomers to the group.
“He loved canoeing. He believed it was an opportunity for him, coming from the circumstances that he did.”
The likeable Moses was employed by Vital Health Foods, but could in the end not fulfil his duties due to the agonising pain he suffered.
“He had tremendous pain at the end, and couldn’t even walk. I asked him once how he handled it,” Elizabeth says.
“He replied: it is like when you are rowing the Berg River. You row and you row and your arms get very sore. But if you just continue, the pain goes away. So I just row.’”
Asked about dying, Moses again chose a canoeing image: “Dying is like going into a rapid, it’s a bit scary, but if you use all your skills and knowledge to negotiate it, you’ll come through it okay.”
According to Elizabeth the community has been amazing in assisting Moses in his time of need.
“There has been a lot of goodwill because of the many kids he has trained and because of the role model he has been for the other development paddlers.”
His funeral on Saturday was largely sponsored by the community, with Vital Health Foods, the Paarl Canoe Club and several individuals lending a helping hand.
Even though the circumstances surrounding his death are sad, and some might feel unnecessary, Elizabeth finds solace in her fondest memory of Moses.
“I remember him best as we stand on the banks of the river, shouting and cheering his name, with Moses looking up at us smiling and then paddling on.”
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