Vetnuus | December 2024 31 Old Res at Onderstepoort: 100 years old <<<30 Frau Christa Genis visits Onderstepoort after 40 years On Tuesday 5 November, Frau Christa Genis visited Onderstepoort for the first time after 40 years. This remarkable lady is the widow of Dr Eddie Genis and they were the houseparents from 1975 to 1985. Their story was captured in the July issue of VetNews. Frau Christa’s visit included a tour of the Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital (OVAH), with Srs Nicolien Fourie and Bev Olivier showing her around the impressive facilities. It was all veld and fields back in the day where the hospital now stands and Frau Christa was suitably impressed. Next up was a visit to the OP Village Archive, where Yusuf Matwadia, Chairperson and Ceilidh Ferguson, Vice Chairperson: Wellbeing of the House Committee of 2024/2025 welcomed Frau Christa. She marvelled at all that was on display and recognised the faces of the students of their time in the old photographs. Although much had changed at the OP Village complex, the walk on the famous ‘rooi stoep’ to the dining hall, was well remembered. Frau Christa recollected that the students always greeted them with I was born under a wandering star when the Genis family entered the dining hall in the evenings - the song that her husband regularly sang in his deep opera voice. Frau Christa, who is 80 years old and still working at Protea Boekhuis in Hatfield, climbed the stairs to the Old Res balcony without effort. She pondered on the palm tree on the circle that was a feature during their time and she remembered how she covered students who had passed out on the lawn with newspapers. Alas, students pushed the envelope hard back then as well. A delight was the last stop at the houseparents’ home, where Alischa and Tiaan Henning are now raising their two boys, Rudolph and Laubscher, just as Eddie and Christa had done with Christoph and Rainhardt 50 years ago. The houseparents’ house is a charming old home, also 100 years old this year. Although the kitchen and bathrooms have been modernised, the old wooden floors, thick walls and fireplaces are still there. Frau Christa, Alischa, Yusuf, Cailidh and the authors, Annette and Heloise spent a lovely half-hour in the houseparents’ garden, grateful for those who had toiled in the past to make Onderstepoort the remarkable place that it is to this day. >>>32 Frau Christa Genis and Heloise Heyne in front of the OVAH Frau Christa Genis with Yusuf Matwadia, Chairperson (left) and Ceilidh Ferguson, Vice Chairperson OP Village House Committee 2024/25 (right) in the OP Village Archive Frau Christa studying the old photographs with Yusuf. She recognised old faces and names
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