You Gotta Have Faith!

These days, you wouldn’t attempt a drive from Cape Town to Israel without a 4x4 and a GPS. Neither was present more than 50 years ago, when a group of students from Stellenbosch University jumped into a 1200 cc VW Kombi with nothing but faith to get them to the Promised Land.

- Dolf Els

Ockie Raubenheimer’s 92-year-old eyes twinkle as he tells me about the adventures he had as a young man, 55 years ago: “It was tough going and we had trouble keeping the Kombi on the road.At times the mud reached the chassis; other times the Kombi skidded across the road like a bar of soap...”

In 1962, Ockie and a “naïve but enthusiastic” group undertook an epic trip through East Africa in three ill-equipped vehicles: a 1200 cc VW Kombi, a Ford Thames minibus and a short-wheelbase Land Rover.

It’s a sunny morning and I’m visiting Ockie in an old-age home in Cape Town. On a similar morning in December all those years ago, the tour group departed from Stellenbosch: 17 people, mostly students, but also a professor and two lecturers. The plan was to drive to Israel to see the Holy Land.

Henry Page was one of five theology students in the group. He had previously been a farmer near Franschhoek, but at the time he was studying to become a dominee. “He was always the one with the solutions,” says Ockie, referring to Henry’s comprehensive tool box and car jack, which helped the group out of many a tight spot.

There were six women in the group, among them a nurse who carried a Red Cross kit filled with medicine, bandages, a thermometer and a pair of scissors. “She even had a measuring tape,” Ockie remembers. “Heaven knows why!”

Oom Dominee, as the group called 38-yearold Ockie, was a students’ minister and the only experienced camper. “The rest of the group just had courage and faith,” he says.