Nooitgedacht - Never Thought Of (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9791221475807)

South Africa was considered a country "at the end of the world" after the II World War. However the opportunities for work which it offered, attracted people with foreward-looking aims. Franco, a tenant farmer in the Lodi district of Northern Italy, was one of these.

He came to find out about the possibility of producing cheese from skimmed milk, which was thrown away by the South African farmers. In 1949 he started to work on his project: a family transfer to South Africa, but, not everything went according to his plans.

There was a long wait for visas and permits to come through. Franco managed to leave in March 1950 and was able to obtain the permits for his wife and 5 children - aged between 6 months and 12 years - to join him in May 1951. The family settled in the Anglo-Boer-Xhosa territory near Port Elizabeth.

The difficulties and achievements of Franco and his family are recounted by his daughter Teresa.