Current Release: September 11th, 2007 | Vol. XXIV Iss. 10

Photo By laura norris

Via South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Northern Ireland: Exchange student comes to Norfolk

By laura norris

lenorris@vwc.edut

Most of us think that failing a history final, forgetting to turn in an assignment, or sleeping through a class is the end of the world. For Lance Hartley, an exchange student studying this year at VWC, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Growing up in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Northern Ireland, Hartley has experienced the harsh realities of living under the control of an authoritarian regime as well as living with a serious congenital heart defect.

Hartley was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and remained there through nursery school, pre-k through kindergarten, and primary school, grades one through seven. Prior to entering his eighth grade year and high school, Hartley and his family moved to Zimbabwe.

It was in Zimbabwe where Hartley experienced the realities of a desperate President Mugabe and his struggling political party who were willing to abuse their power to retain control at all cost.

Predictions called for President Mugabe, leader of the Zanu-Pf party, to lose the upcoming election. Hartley recalls  that he (Mugabe) was slowly losing support because he hadn t fulfilled the promises that got him elected in the first place. With a last attempt to save his presidency and secure his spot in office, Mugabe ordered land reform to win the support of the poor masses.

It was this land reform that would change Hartley s life forever. With a ranch and home in Zimbabwe, Hartley states that  my family was soon to be victims of Mugabe s reform measures.

Attempting to seize ranches and give them to the less fortunate, Mugabe sent in his militia to force the existing land owners to  leave, pack up your car, (or get killed) said Hartley.

Hartley, away at school, says  My family followed the order and in a short period of time left our land and our home taking with us as many of our possessions as we could.

Some farmers, however, refused to cooperate with the militia. Hartley read in a local newspaper about a farmer who wouldn t give up his property within the short time period. Hartley explains,  The farmer barricaded up his house and participated in a violent gun battle with the militia until the militia finally sent a petrol bomb into the farmer s house.

Hartley adds,  Other farmers were radioed, and only one was able to gain a view of the blockaded farm via a small aircraft only to bear witness to the farmer climbing out of his window and being massacred with machetes by the militia.

However, this wasn t the only time the Mugabe regime reared its ugly head. Hartley s father supported the opposition party to the Zanu-Pf called the MDC or the Movement for Democratic Change. Hartley explains that  because my father also managed a private slaughter house, many times when the government needed meats, they turned to him.

Hartley proudly affirms,  Holding strong to his beliefs, my father denied their requests.

Hartley says  As a result, my father was inundated with death threats ordering him to leave his land, and on one occasion received a gift of a dead owl; a bad omen in the Zimbabwe culture.

After leaving Zimbabwe and returning to South Africa, Hartley experienced another devastating blow. Born with a bicuspid aortic valve, his heart naturally leaked blood. At the age of seven, Hartley recieved a balloon catheter insideheart to temporarily alleviate his condition. In 2002, he realized that he was going to need a more serious surgery because of the rapid loss of cardiac capacity. Hartley describes his mother efforts to save him:  She used all of her resources and flew in a German cardiologist specializing in the Ross procedure to perform the required operation.

But that wasn t the end of it. While playing in a soccer match in 2004, Hartley experienced severe chest pains due to his tremendous growth and its strain on the donor valve. Hartley says,  The pains turned out to be a minor heart attack.

After a trip to the emergency room and yet another open-heart surgery, Hartley now has been given a clean bill of health.

After finishing high school in 2004, Hartley recalls,  I stayed in South Africa to study at the university there. My mother and sister, however, moved to Northern Ireland. My father, three years earlier, had moved to the United States in order to gain refugee status for our family.

However, this was not to be. Because of a visit to Vancouver for a day, his father was forced to stay in Canada and file for refugee status there. Hartley continues,  I wouldn t see my father for four years, not until June 2005.

In 2005 after a year of study at the University in South Africa, Hartley then transferred to a well-acclaimed university in Northern Ireland and received an exchange scholarship called the Business Education Initiative to attend Virginia Wesleyan this year.

If you see Hartley on campus, ask him to share some stories from his many travels. Not only has he lived in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Northern Ireland, but he has visited places such a Namibia, Malawi, United Arab Emirates, Canada, Spain, Greece, Holland, and the United Kingdom. Hartley says the American culture is the closest in comparison to the culture of his homeland, South Africa.

He states that  South Africa is very Americanized, with a few major differences. In South Africa they have eleven national languages and seven biomes, some of the most in the world.

Hartley s favorite quote coincidently is from another Lance: Lance Armstrong.

 Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever. Hartley has truly lived by this creed and how he s lived his life thus far serves as an example of determination for us all.