Long voyage brings to mind outsize players from history

As the Hokule‘a sails to the island of Saint Helena, the first planned port stop from South Africa en route to Brazil, during the longest leg of the Malama Honua around-the-world voyage, I am reminded of Napoleon Bonaparte, who was exiled there.

During his lifetime, Napoleon created a philosophical and legal framework that served as the underpinning of modern liberal society and democracy. Our previous port was Cape Town, South Africa, where Nelson Mandela championed the end of apartheid and the long road to freedom for his country. Despite being starkly different characters, these two men would have agreed that society should be egalitarian, where there is no privilege by birth and where jobs go to the most qualified.

Saint Helena was not the first island to which Napoleon was exiled. Initially, he was sent to Elba after the sixth coalition formed to defeat him was finally successful, but he soon escaped. Sometime later, he was defeated for the second and last time by the British-led seventh coalition. He was then exiled to Saint Helena in 1815, where he died in 1821. Napoleon, who led numerous military engagements in Europe and one in Egypt, was known to be a brilliant strategist. His most vital and memorable legacy, however, is the Napoleonic Code, which calls for equal opportunity, freedom of religion and a robust sense of community built upon these liberties.

Mandela, born almost 100 years after Napoleon’s death, lived under South Africa’s apartheid laws, which represent the antithesis of an egalitarian society. Apartheid was formed in 1901 to separate prisoners of color from whites, but it was not until the 1950s that a multitude of additional laws enforced comprehensive segregation based on ethnicity.

While in South Africa, I spent a couple of hours with two men who had grown up in Cape Town’s “District Six,” which was, in their experience, a model of harmony within a heterogeneous, multi-ethnic, multireligious community. While the rest of the world was licking its wounds from World War II after defeating Hitler and the Axis forces, South Africa tightened the grip of apartheid, declared District Six a “White Zone,” forcibly deconstructed the existing community and relocated its inhabitants to townships, separated by ethnicity, on the outskirts of Cape Town.

The new generation is called the “Born Frees,” explained my new friend, Sbusiso Nkosi, who brought me to these townships. Born Frees are the new generation of South Africans of color who grew up after apartheid ended in 1994 and Nelson Mandela became the first black chief executive of the country. There is a sense that South Africa is on the precipice of another great transition, according to Nkosi, a Zulu. Tremendous optimism in the country is giving way to deep questions about the political process and how to keep South Africa moving on the path toward a healthy, egalitarian society.

Unemployment in the townships is high, and while there is no starvation and access to modest health care exists, living conditions are meager. Yes, there are dynamic community centers checkered throughout that offer opportunities to learn to make a living with mosaic and ceramic artwork, but unlike the traditional villages, now largely vacant, there is no farming and their tribal cultural fabric has been lost.

South Africa, like our next destination, Brazil, is among the BRICS, countries with economies that had expanded rapidly before Chinese growth slowed, and with it, demand for their natural resources. The strong dollar and the drop in the price of oil and gold has placed these countries under tremendous economic pressure. Despite India’s emergence and the U.S. recovery, South Africa’s post-apartheid, post-Mandela period faces an unprecedented economic challenge to realizing its vision of an egalitarian society. In addition to a sagging economy and a weakening currency, South Africa also continues to struggle with a high rate of HIV as well as drought, the result of climate change.

The Born Frees of South Africa, with a fierce yet heartfelt resolve, remain inspired by the words of Mandela: “Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will experience the oppression of one by another.”

The small remote island of St. Helena and the large country of South Africa that we just left were both touched by great people who affected the course of history. Both Napoleon and Mandela, in their unique ways, tell us a story of Malama Honua, caring for the inhabitants of our blue planet, the mission of the Hokule‘a’s around-the-world voyage.

Ira “Kawika” Zunin, MD, MPH, MBA, is a practicing physician. He is medical director of Manakai O Malama Integrative Healthcare Group and Rehabilitation Center and CEO of Global Advisory Services Inc. He is now serving on board as medical officer during the Hokule‘a’s Atlantic crossing. Manakai remains open with full services during this time. Please submit your questions to info@manakaiomalama.com