Police College

Police college is where the young teenager regains her sense of balance, but new dangers lurk.

This is chapter 11 from A Family Affair by Bernard Preston; the saga continues.

This page was last updated by Bernard Preston on 13th January, 2019.

‘My one concern, Santie, is that very able brain of yours,’ said her uncle one evening. ‘How about signing up for a few subjects so you can finish your matric through correspondence college?’ Santie nodded her head. ‘I think that would be a very good idea, Uncle Bob. Do you think I would have time, though?’ She had come to love her Uncle Bob, and even trust him a little.

A large group of young people waited outside the police station on that Tuesday hot summer’s morning. They were all in civvies, chatting nervously. Most were a little older than Santie, about fifty boys and ten girls in all. An old white bus with a broad green stripe eventually pulled up at the curb. A boy standing near Santie started shivering violently and one of the girls started sobbing on her mother’s shoulder. The Police College’s reputation was fearsome. But Santie was elated, on a strange, unnatural high. Happily she gave Uncle Bob and Aunt Maggie a bright hug, and leapt onto the bus.

A trilogy by Bernard Preston

Police College

The bus did not take long to get to the Pretoria police college. The girl sitting next to Santie was morose and silent, and hardly spoke a word. They slowly made their way through the city arriving at the huge gates about an hour later. Awed by the sheer size of the place, a centre for some of the most advanced police training in the world someone at the back of the bus said, most of them were cowed. As the gates slammed shut behind them, another door located deep with Santie's mind silently clicked shut, formatting many of the memories of the last years. Behind it, a deeply encapsulated boil began to foment; it would not be lanced for almost a quarter of a century.

Glancing at the armed guards standing at attention, one young man voiced all their thoughts: ‘Do you think we will ever get out of here?’ Through the dirty bus windows they could see hostels and parade grounds, a platoon of men on horses and a large, seemingly incongruous church. Training centres, large offices buildings and even a shooting range could be seen. Stepping out of the bus they collected their meagre belongings. The boy started shaking again.

A drill sergeant barked at them as they stepped onto the tarmac: ‘Move, move, move: line up, men on the left, women on the right. Hurry up, you!’ It was all in Afrikaans which Santie of course spoke fluently. Since her mother died she spoke no other language.

The girls moved at a jog to join a group from another bus when a battleaxe screamed at them: ‘Run, run, run’ followed by a string of epithets. Some of the more genteel girls reddened at the four letter words pouring from the female drill sergeant’s mouth. ‘What’s a Soutie?’ one whispered. The others giggled bringing another tirade from the ugly mouth that was to be their constant companion for the next six months.

‘Not happy, Sergeant?’ chortled a Lieutenant.

‘We’ll knock them into shape, sooner enough, Sir. Just you watch.’

‘I’m sure you will, Sergeant,’ he replied. Turning to a colleague he muttered; ‘I suppose we should applaud because the Bitch manages to cow them in half the time.’

‘That’s her brief,’ his friend answered. ‘Subdue and intimidate, knock out all individuality.’

‘Turn them into a machine, eh? That knows only one word; obey.’

‘Without question.’

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Santie found herself in a large residence called Rosehof, on the second floor in a dormitory with the thirty-five other young women making up their platoon. The intimidating sergeant and the Spartan circumstances broke two girls as the first week passed in a blur, fortunately not from their platoon. ‘The Bitch’ they soon discovered was the sergeant’s nickname. Her brief: Without question.

From Police College to Ch 12. Boys will be boys ...

1. Bernard Preston
›
2. A Family Affair
›
3. Police College

Arthritis in lower back

Whilst none of the young students in the police college would have arthritis in lower back, I'd be surprised if none of their mentors don't have it.

Whilst no chiropractor with any sense will promise you that an arthritic low back will respond to Chiropractic adjustments and treatment, it's rare that there will be NO improvement, and often the progress astonishes both chiropractor and patient alike. Like this Arthritis in Lower Back case file. One very happy lady... ARTHRITIS IN LOWER BACK ...

• CHIROPRACTIC COALFACE ...

Glycemic Index (GI)

NUTRITIONAL CORNER

Eating large amounts of foods with a high glycemic index is a recipe for disaster; it happens in most institutions, places like our Santie's police college. Indifferent wellness, pain, doctors, medicines and an early demise are the consequences because of the diabetes and obesity that ensue. But there are some remarkably simple things you can do to help... you CAN have your cake and eat it.

Glycemic Index measures how quickly carbohydrate is turned to glucose in the blood stream. High GI foods produce an insulin rush making us insulin insensitive, diabetic and obese.

The solution? Simply add to the meal

1. soluble fibre (as in an apple, beetroot, hummus and a million other delicious fruits and salads),
2. balanced protein (as in chickpeas, tofu, and yes meat, fish and chicken too) and
3. nutritious fat as in olive oil, avocados and even butter is back.
   

Read more at Carbohydrate Count Chart and Glycemic Index ...

Whilst I have reservations about the Banting diet, the good news is that it seriously lowers the GI of every meal, and you don't feel continually ravenous as with most diets; and it works.

My reluctance to endorse it is the ban on legumes because of their starch.

Choice foods

One of the grave difficulties I have with banting is the exclusion of many nutritious choice foods; most fruit except for berries, all legumes and all starchy veggies including butternut; not what you'll find in most police colleges.

That means a change to more animal protein. The WHO has just pointed out that that means more cancer. If you are seriously overweight, consider rather banting diet modified. Then chickpeas are not only allowed but welcomed for the high vegetable protein content; freezing chickpeas is the simplest way to go if you want a regular supply.

This is complex biochemistry, not exactly the stuff that Santie and her friends at the Police College would be concerned about; that get so much exercise that none of them have any extra pounds.

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