Damascus moment

Nostalgia 1 - Fadwe

On the 30th of August 1991, a 3 year old sat on her mother’s lap in her great grandmother’s kitchen in Orange Grove, Johannesburg. The smells of Lebanese cooking filled her tiny nostrils. The sounds of pot lids vibrating, knifes chopping and spoons clanking entered her sensitive ears. She persisted in clinging to her mother’s body as she listened to her mother record an audio interview with her great grandmother- Fadwe. Throughout the duration of the interview, in the sun kissed kitchen, Fadwe cooked.

The interview was conducted by my mother. Fadwe is my great grandmother. I am the little girl who sat on her mother’s lap. I was there. One can hear both Fadwe and my mother address me in the audio recording. Listening to the recording not only takes me back to Fadwe’s kitchen, but it also thrills me to know that I was there on that momentous occasion, where history was recorded.

Fadwe was born in Ferrierasdorp, Johannesburg. At 6 months old she moved with her parents to their home town of Sibhel, Lebanon where she remained until she was 16 years old. Fadwe returned to Johannesburg in 1890. Like most of the Lebanese people in Johannesburg (at the time), she lived in Ferrierasdorp. It was in Ferrierasdorp that she bore 5 of her 7 children. It was in Ferrierasdorp that she ran her shebeen, and it was in Ferrierasdorp that the police arrested her for selling alcohol to black people. .

Nostalgia 2 - A Syrian and a Lebanese go clubbing in President Street in downtown Johannesburg

The club was owned by a Lebanese man and the young man in the photograph is my Grandfather - Dougie and the young woman is my grandmother – Georgette.

My grandfather’s surname is Sham. The name ‘Sham’ is derived from Ash-Sham, which is another name for the capital city of Syria – Damascus. Once upon a time in Johannesburg my grandparents fell in love. They married, had five children and remained in Johannesburg.