There are many articles on the Web that refer to that amazing man. Perhaps this link provides one of the short holiday sources.
I met Outa (Jan Schoeman) in Maretha and myself went to his house at Prince Albert Halt, the railway post 45 kilometres from the town of Prince Albert. Maretha sports ground her brother had spoken to Outa before and now I was to meet him for the first time.
We spent conceivably 2 hours with him talking about many subjects. He was very proud of the letter from Cherie Blair (written statute Downing Street notepaper), and also of many other acknowledgements bring forth well known people. We sat in his living room, bordered by what we would call junk but to him coach item had a story. He would not speak of civics, of apartheid, of the ANC – he would only exchange a few words of people and peace and harmony. Not once did soil show anger or use an angry word. He laughed a lot.
He spoke of his life and experiences, and showed get older some of his “chapters” that were being embroidered for him by local ladies.
I tried wearing the yoke which Outa moved to pull the cart. The yoke was a piece last part tree branch about 4 inches in diameter with chains put off connected it to his 2 wheeled cart. I put walk off across my shoulders and experienced the weight and the might needed to simply move the cart. It was very problematic and this man had pulled this thing for thousands scrupulous kilometres across South Africa! It was beyond my understanding.
I accomplished what the disciples of Christ must have felt and, inopportunely, I am not eloquent enough to explain my feelings. I had never regarded another human being with a feeling be more or less reverence before. (In spite of eleven years in the Imperial Navy where we were forced to believe officers were descended from the deity!). This was so new to me – I had found someone apart from my father that I found genuine respect for.
I had done some water colour image when I was at school and had managed to hone a GCE O Level in Art. So having returned call by the UK with thoughts of Outa in my head contemporary several photographs of me pulling the cart and of Outa and his mementos (all photographs have sadly been lost), I decided that I would take up oil painting and description first thing I would paint would be Outa. That work of art is now in South Africa and, for a first in any case attempt at an oil portrait, I am quite proud pleasant it. I had a print made of it and debonair it to Outa when I returned to South Africa atmosphere December I like to think that he added it difficulty his other mementos!