Imagine, if you can, how surreal it is (after living in a country where many people did not know that South Africa existed) to walk into a bar of a five star hotel and to see the South African flag on every single table. Or to explore the colourfully tattered streets of Havana while hearing the constant drone of vuvuzelas blasting through doorways and out of bars. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves where we are, such as when walking through downtown Toronto and being stopped in our tracks by a Bafana shirt in a shop window, or catching a fleeting glimpse of a passerby with the telltale six-colour flag on the back of their neck.

It is not only our accents that now betray us (not very well as it turns out, because almost everybody thinks we’re Australian) but the colours we wear, the flag we carry and the anthem we sing. While proudly wearing my new Bafana zip-up top on the plane I was acutely aware that despite being dog-tired and combating the after effects of food poisoning and sinusitis, I had to be friendly and polite to everyone I saw. After all, I had identified myself as South African.

Although we met many lovely people in Cuba, it was with mixed feelings of excitement and disapproval that they learnt we were from South Africa. After all – what were we doing in Havana when the FIFA World Cup was playing in our back yard? They had a point. One day, while walking through shady pre-revolution avenues to reach the Museum of the Revolution itself, different people started approaching us, shouting: “South Africa, South Africa, Futbol!” Yip, word had gone round the Havanan grapevine that South Africans were in the streets. Through the people we met, we learnt that despite not having a competing side, the FIFA World Cup was a major bone of contention within Cuba. Unable to travel abroad, Cubans are becoming more and more frustrated within the confines of their country. To add insult to injury, many Cuban soccer fans could not believe that people in Africa (who they had always been told were poorer and worse off than them) could go and watch the soccer live.

Aside from one negative article in our local town newspaper (which reads as though the journalists only made it up to Grade Two), the international feedback seems incredible. All the games look so professionally produced, the crowds are colourful and full of gees, and South Africa is once more doing itself proud. For this month anyway, the world has gone Mzansi mad. Viva Mzansi – fo ‘sho!

Sarah Laurence is The Soapbox’s travel editor.

The Jasper Park Lodge is built in the style of a Canadian hunting cabin, the main structure gazing out to the turquoise Lac Beauvert (which becomes a festive ice-rink in winter months). Established in 1915, the lodge started life as a luxury tented camp and the building rose in the 1920s. Black and white photographs of Marilyn Monroe cozying up to costumed Mounties adorn the walls in the main dining room – she stayed at the lodge in 1927 while filming “River of No Return”.  Other esteemed guests include King George VI, Queen Elizabeth II and an entirely different sort of royalty: Bing Crosby. After a devastating fire in the fifties, the current building was developed and since then more log cabins have been built along the lake shore. Costly boutiques, great restaurants and good service give visitors a taste of Canadian class, all year round.

Two hours drive away past the spectacular Athabasca Falls, glacier at Columbia Icefields and surreally azure Peyto Lake, the road veers off to Lake Louise. The town is tiny, and most of the action centres around the lake and the ski slopes. Famous for its colour when the sun shines, the lake becomes a teal-green turquoise with Fairmont’s Chateau Lake Louise the only accommodation set straight in front of its shores. In its current form, the creamy chateau has been in existence since 1911 and yet looks far more modern. What really shows the brand’s attention to detail; however, are the bizarre green uniforms that staff members are required to wear. The hotel is acclaimed for its restaurants and for serving the thousands of visitors who turn up at the lake every summer, hoping to see the elusive glimpse of colour, only visible when the sun peeks out from behind the clouds.

Now off the Icefields Parkway, the road from Lake Louise continues through Banff National Park until arriving at the town itself. A well-heeled student resort town whose organic bakeries, bustling bars and designer boutiques place it in the ice-cool category, Banff is the epitome of resort chic. The Fairmont Springs Hotel is set a touch away from the town – as if superiorly setting itself above it with its aura of old-money and class. The hotel’s theme is not hard to spot – the Scottish castle is true to life indeed, complete with wall-mounted tapestries, cavernous stone halls warmed by roaring wood fires and mazes of secret passages leading guests to tucked-away shops and bistros. The most formal of the three hotels, service was above reproach. The moody rainstorm pouring when we arrived set the scene perfectly, and we were more than happy to explore the hotels numerous passages. Built in 1888, the sense of solidity and history that the hotel seeps is authentic, so although luxurious the rooms are small. Eleven bars and restaurants meant that we were spoilt for choice and eventually settled for rustic fondue and Canadian reserve wine in the wood-paneled wine bar. A short taxi drive is convenient for visitors to experience some of Banff’s more vigorous night-life, and locals are a great source for recommendations.

Without these three strategically placed Fairmont spots, travelling though the Albertan Rockies would not be nearly as charming, comfortable or classy than it is. Whether one stops over at all three or merely visits for a meal, these hotels complement their majestic backdrop, becoming almost as much of an attraction as the mountains themselves.

Sarah Laurence, The Soapbox’s travel editor, is a South African writer based in Canada.

The first is that of the “mosaic policy” – ideally, each culture is respected for the uniqueness that it brings to the nation and the observance of its traditions encouraged. This is the policy that Canada has held for many years, and of which it has been very proud. From guidebooks to radio advertisements, the benefits of the mosaic policy is heralded as a blueprint for racial, cultural and religious harmony.

The Conservative Party however, find fault with this policy and are publicly pointing out a few of its shortcomings. They would prefer more of a “melting pot” stance to be adopted, where Canadian ideals and values are adopted by immigrants and where immigrants are encouraged to mix with Canadian-born citizens and immigrants descending from other nations and cultures to their own. For example, they would like to insist that all immigrants are able to speak either French or English, and that the citizenship test have more of an emphasis on history and current values (such as tolerance) than on practical issues such as the rules of the road. They stress that people should not cut themselves off from their own culture or people from their own nation, but that there should be more prominence given to inclusion than to separatist values. This proposed plan also has its disadvantages as it could unfortunately result in traditions, languages and cultures being lost in the global pop-culture of materialism so embraced in this country.

The party has pointed out that the immigration and diversity policy should strike a balance between the aims of immigration policy – pragmatism (what would work best socially and economically for Canada) and altruism (offering Canada as a safe haven for refugees).

One of Canada’s most pressing diversity problems remains the prejudiced treatment and the resulting overcompensation management of the First Nationers. As has been seen in Australia and South Africa, the fallout of racial imbalance is very difficult to repair, as guilt-led overcompensation can lead to as many problems as the original ill-treatment.

Canada is a rich and powerful country, blessed with natural resources, sound governance and a broad mix of people. Despite this, it asks racial questions with no easy answers, and is dealing with a difficult hangover of previous inequality. While South Africa’s diversity problems might seem newer and rawer, closer to the bone, and complicated by other social problems, we need not feel that we are the only country fighting what seems an uphill battle for tolerance, acceptance and true multi-culturism.

Sarah Laurence is a South African living in Canada.

On the one hand, we have the South African Health Department, headed until recently by a woman who publicly denied the link between HIV and AIDS (perhaps taking her lead from the head of state), at the cost of possibly millions of lives. Admittedly, in taking over power in 1994, the Health Department faced an uphill battle – expanding health services to cater for the whole population on a budget which had previously been used to cater for a mere 15% of the population. The way they have gone about it, however, has been nothing short of disastrous. Primary, secondary and tertiary services are facing similarly ominous challenges; increasing patient loads and increasing burden of disease with the same or dwindling staff numbers and other resources. The hospital I was working at before I left was witnessing a year-on-year increase in patient load of 10-15%, yet the number of doctors in the past 10 years had remained unchanged. In essence, each of us was seeing at least double the number of patients as our predecessors 10 years earlier! From speaking to colleagues at other hospitals, I am certain that my story is in no way unique.

Government’s response to this unsustainable burden has been ludicrous to say the least. They have failed utterly to increase the number of medical professionals on the ground in the public sector, and have dragged their heels on any changes to improve the working conditions of their employees, the most notable of this being the still-unresolved negotiations over doctor’s salary packages (which has not been implemented nearly 18 months after its proposed date of commencement). As a public service doctor — and I am relatively certain this would reflect the opinions of a large amount of public sector workers, be they nurses, educators or members of the police force — one is made to feel unvalued, unnecessary and unappreciated by the people who employ you.

Contrast this with Canada. Upon arriving here, I have been given approximately CAN $ 26 000 to cover relocation expenses and to enable me to establish myself. The town where I am working is throwing us a welcome party which will be attended by the mayor, and is offering us a CAN $ 50 000 interest free loan, to be paid off over 2 years. The various medical associations will cover costs of further training and equipment to my heart’s content. Working rurally, I can earn about 10% more than if I were to work in a major city. The provincial government and clinic managers go out of their way to make sure that their staff are looked after.

Each country has their own set of challenges, and I know that it is futile to compare apples with oranges. South Africa is not currently as resourced as Canada and there is not a lot of capital to “throw” at problems such as these. But one of the great discrepancies I have noticed between the two countries, financial reward aside, it the attitude of those in power towards the people who are vital for society to function cohesively. In Canada, public servants are treated with respect and rightly valued for the role they play in their communities; in South Africa they are treated like outcasts and pariahs.

I plan to return to South Africa in a few years time; the financial rewards and comfortable lifestyle do not tug strongly enough to allow me to ignore the land of my birth – a land that needs the help of all who are able to give it. But thousands of other professionals, medical included, have fled its shores and are not willing to come back. The government needs to realise soon that if you treat people badly they will seek other options, and they have every right to do so. Moaning that these people have no passion for the country considering the country well rid of them is counter-productive, short-sighted and essentially immature. Jacob Zuma and his government will soon need to realise this and implement change if they do not wish to wake up one morning to a country without education, policing or health care. It is good government alone that can respond to such a challenge.

Craig L is a young South African doctor who has recently relocated to rural Canada, but is not yet a maple syrup or RV convert.