BOEREMAKIETIE 2022

BOEREMAKIETIE 2022

If you think of the province Saskatchewan in Canada, what comes to mind? From what I experienced driving there from Alberta, there is a whole lot of nothing! The endless rolling hills with groups of trees in the distance indicating that there might be a farmhouse there, a sign of life! You can spot your dog who ran away 2 days ago right from your front porch. To put it into perspective, the population in Saskatchewan is 1.114 million, less than the population of the city of Calgary (1.307 million) or the city of Dallas, TX (1.4 million).
It is not a surprise to find so many South Africans there, since Saskatchewan is a Boertjie’s dream environment.

We traveled 400km to join in on the party, but oh boy, it exceeded our expectations. The Boeremakietie2022 was held in Swift Current, SK on July 16 th , organized by Nicoline van Aswegen and Merigen van Staden which ended up with approximately 150 guests. I was fortunate to have a space to sell my goodies from Baobab (www.baobab-sa.com) together with Out of Africa Deli and Sweets.  When I went to the location to get set up, I was met by lots of friendly faces all hard at work, volunteering their time to get everything ready for the “stof op skop”. They decorated the venue with bright colored themed strelitzias, entry drinks to match and little vetplantjies to take home. We were treated with cupcakes, a food truck, a bar and a photobooth. There was a South African shaped pin board so all the guests could pin the location they immigrated from.

The organizers spared no detail, and it was obvious they had to jump through a lot of hoops to make it happen. The vibe was awesome and the guests even more so. I particularly enjoyed seeing so many barefoot children running around, I even sold out on my ketties (slingshot) as there was a line of naughty faced boys buying them to go off and get up to no good! It wasn’t too long after 6pm when we enjoyed a speech and thanks which ended with prayer, just before we satisfied our cravings at the food truck.

A special guest message was played for us from Jo Black, telling the guests to enjoy the event and thanking us all for standing together here in Canada. No need went unfulfilled. It felt like I was back home, engaging in Afrikaans conversations, hearing everyone’s stories of how long they’ve been in Canada and what jobs they found themselves in. There were guests that’s been in Canada for many years and even a few newbies. I don’t think there was a single couple or family there who didn’t go home with either a melktert, malva pudding, biltong, pair of vellies, or a new friend. Dancing to Afrikaans hits, new and old, the night ended with sore feet, full bellies and great memories. I hope there will be a Boeremakietie2023, because I will be at the next one too!