Refugees

Yesterday I went down to Soetwater to volunteer with helping at the Refugee Camp based there. There are approx 3000 people down there, the result of the recent Xenophobia attacks on Cape-Town / SA. The only 2 words I can use to describe what you see there is 'heartbreaking' and 'degrading'.

Kat & I went with some of the I-to-I volunteers, who have been there most of the week, and we were thrown in the deep end! 600 peanut butter sandwiches needed to be made for breakfast, so we got literally 'stuck' in. There were only a few knives, so I buttered about 50 sandwiches with a teaspoon. Kat has a FEAR of peanut butter, so she buttered all of her sarmies with her top pulled up over her face - ha ha - good for you friend. When the men started queuing up to receive their brekkie of Peanut Butter & Jam Sandwiches and fruit, my heart just broke. Its overwhelming at first, and I had to turn away from the queue. Many of these men are well-educated, and have good jobs here. It is so degrading that they are sitting in freezing cold, wet conditions, in tents that the men are battling to keep up, with all of their belongings surrounding them. The atmosphere was pretty calm for breakfast though, and we only had chaos when we handed out the clothing donations, but I will get to that in a minute.

Next, I was in the baby clinic - yay! just where i wanted to be. I helped a couple of moms bath their babies, and even got to cuddle newborn Daniel who was born there on Saturday night. A couple of us got stuck in, sorting out the mounds of clothes / nappies / formula etc that has been so kindly donated by the community. Once everything was sorted into huge boxes, I was called over to the main tent to assist with the clothing distribution.. And this is where the mayhem began!

The camps are set up into 2 seperate camps - DRC/Zimbabwean/Rwandan etc in the camp I was in, and then a seperate camp further down the beach for the Somalians. The Somalians have requested their own camp for religious reasons / Halaal food etc. BUT they desperately require clothing. We had a queue which looked about 10 miles long outside the tent, men / women / children all desperate for something warm to wear. I had 5 seperate men ask me for my corduroy trousers I was wearing - i know.. The police controlled the crowd and they let in 3 women, 3 children & 3 men at a time. The clothing was sorted as best as the volunteers could manage, but we were desperately short of childrens shoes, hats, socks, tracksuits and jackets. Eventually we had to send some of the children away with just shorts and t-shirts, and told their moms to layer them to keep them warm.

The atmosphere in the tent was pretty hostile, as the Somalian women are pretty fashion conscious and were throwing clothes back at us, because they didnt like it, or because they wanted better quality. Sad, but true. Others were so desperate they were grabbing 10 items and we had to ask the police to remove these people as they were not giving the hundreds queueing outside, a fair chance. My heart was breaking asking the cops to remove women who I knew were desperate, but were also not giving the others a chance to receive clothes.

When I left this tent I was stopped by a man outside, probably in his early 30's. He had a grey blanket wrapped around his head and was begging me to go back into the tent and get him a jacket. He said he was sick and he could not wait in the long queue. I couldn't go back inside but I took him to the medical tent. He was very weak, and when the doctor examined him she found that he had not eaten anything for 2 weeks. She discovered a growth in his neck and went off to find him some baby porridge and jars of baby food to get him to eat something soft.

My next stop was the women & childrens tent. I stopped off with newborn Daniels mum, who was only too happy to give Daniel to me to hold. She seemed in shock, and did not say much, I'm not sure if there is a language barrier, or whether she is feeling weak from the birth. I expect she is absolutely exhausted and needs a good long sleep to recover as best she can. I went round the tent and played with some of the kids, coloured in with them, and a little girl coloured in a picture especially for me to take home. Again I had to choke back the tears as I felt bad that I had a home to go to, and this little girl was sleeping amongst hundreds in the cold, but still she wanted me to take something away with me.

As I was leaving the tent I got stopped by a man from the DRC, who just wanted someone to listen. He is a delivery manager for a well known company in Cape-Town. Up until Friday he still had his job and home in Philippi. On Friday morning, word got around the townships that he was still working, and by the time he got to his fourth delivery, there were men waiting for him. He had to hide in the back of the truck and when he got home that evening, the church was busy helping his wife pack up all of their belongings into a truck to be transported to Soetwater. This man fled the Congo with his wife, and cannot return home as he has Refugee Status and the law is such that if he returns home, he will be jailed. He says they are not interested in what the SA government has to say, and they are requesting assistance from the UN. He had an amazing spirit and still remained positive. He had his 8 week old baby girl on his knee and he still managed to make her laugh, despite the chaos around him.

A few of us are in the process of setting up a small, makeshift 'school' for the kids there - as many of their mothers have gone to work and they desperately need entertaining. I have camped an email round to anyone, so if any of you would like the list of what the kids need, please just email me. The community has been fantastic though and lots of food and clothing has been donated.

Okey dokey, I have to go to work,
Keep Smiling!!
Lovies
me xxx

Merit!

We got a merit at Eisteddford! the girls all did so well, but the adjudicator was lank strict..... our girls all deserved honours at least :)

will write more tomorrow - just popping in quickly before i go off to mugg n bean for a pity party ;)

mwah
xxx

Quirks

Tomorrow my baby Tayla is doing Eisteddford - which means she is dancing in front of a hall full of people, on stage – alone! She did it last year and received honours, (81%) she did so well. I think I am more nervous than her!

So, I’ve been thinking, we all have our own little quirks – come on, I know none of you really want to admit to them but I am taking the plunge, by sharing my list with you. Not superstitions, just little everyday things that you just can’t change:

1) I always have to walk up the stairs right foot first, never the left
2) Chip / Crisp packets should NEVER be opened upside down
3) Anything with numbers involved MUST land on an EVEN number. EG: the volume on TV/radio, amount of smarties I put in my mouth, amount of potatoes to be mushed up for dinner – you get the picture. Crap this means I need to produce one more child …. Absolutely no ways, sorry, I make an exception to the rule. I love the little sprogs, but one more and I really would be sent off to the nut house.
4) Due to my photographic memory – I memorize car number / license plates. Weird I know. I never look at the person driving, I always recognize you by your number plate – challenge me, come on, I know all of my close friends ones off by heart.
5) In the shower I have a strict routine – something I don’t usually have otherwise: WASH HAIR – WASH BODY – SHAVE – RINSE – WRAP HAIR UP IN TOWEL - DRY FACE AND ARMS FIRST – THEN THE REST. I never waiver from it – ever.
6) Toilet matters should be done at home and nowhere else – if we go away for the weekend – I hold it in until Sunday night. If im in the mall, I drive home and then go back to the mall. Personal, but true
7) I drive from one side of the mall to the other – I know I know I know….
8) If I am spelling out a word in my head, I flex each letter out in my leg calf muscles. I’m not explaining this very well – I would have to show you. Then again, no I wouldn’t, its too embarrassing.
9) Clothes can never be folded inside out
10) I have a strong sense of smell, and smell lots of things before I eat them/use them. I think this is due to the fact that my sister and I were always convinced my mother was trying to poison us with her cooking when we were growing up. But oh, what I would give for mums home-cooked dinner right now…. J
11) If I hear a song I love, I memorize all the words within a few minutes and insist on belting out my new fave song to everyone I see. – and they simply have to love it too, otherwise there is clearly something mentally wrong with them.
12) I hate routine – washing on a Monday, shopping on a Tuesday, dye your hair on Wednesday… etc etc. it works for some, but not for me. I do have general routine with the kids but my life is pretty spontaneous, and I love that.
13) Whenever im with Hazel, I have to blink my right eye 32 times in one sentence. Just kidding – its just because you insist on blowing your smoke in my eyes friend.
14) I once read that ‘Whenever you leave a room, you should always do one thing before you leave to make that room more beautiful’ something simple, like pick up the book kicking around under the coffee table, that’s been crumpled and stood on by every kid that’s passed it. Smell the roses you have had on the table for a week still in the cellophane. Chuck away the crusty macdonalds burger that has superglued itself to your duvet. You know, simple stuff ;) so I always do it, and hop from room to room like the dam energizer bunny.
15) Always always wipe the bubbles off the sink after you have washed the dishes….
16) Always greet people with a smile, even if you don’t like them. Sometimes a smile is the only thing they need.
17) Talking of smiling, I smile and laugh way too much and often appropriately. Like when someone falls over, or when im trying to argue with someone ( I HATE that) or telling someone some bad news – why oh why do I always smile??!!

Now I’ve ended on number 17, but its ok, because I make an exception if the date means something to me, and I was born on the seventeenth. So for example the following odd numbers are fine to end up on: 23/25/17/29 etc etc etc

Gotta go grab a smoothie – yummy………..

Keep Smiling ;)

Lovies
Me xxx

Busy Lizzy

I'm really busy this week with organizing this conference and Garden Route trip..... My life has been taken over by emails, phone calls & the words : Taxi, Shuttle, Delegates, Transfer & Airport have taken over my entire vocabulary...

I HAVE been keeping up my beach walks though - now my mom & sister are unemployed again, I have walking partners ;)

I wanted to tell you my story about my friend Marita, but I need a photo to prove it, and I can't download it off my phone - friend, if you are reading this - email me your photo!!

This afternoon is busy busy with the kids afternoon - one is going to craft lesson, one to horse riding and Shanah bugs is just hanging with mom today, busy busy, and I am just seeing $$$$$ signs..

Tomorrow morning I'm going to watch Logan play in a rugby match at Sun Valley Primary - I'm so excited, he is such a cutie - here's a piccie of him how I remember him:

(i couldnt find one of him smaller - and yes Mands, i stole this from facebook ... :))

and this is him now! too cute - Love u lots Shmoges.

while i'm in a photo mood - this is my precious 10 month old nephew Jack, who I have never met!! I need to start making me some cash.... Love u lots precious boy ;)

Have a fantastic weekend !!

Keep Smiling

me xxx

Photo Shoot

Kat kindly did a fabulous, very impromptu mini photo shoot for us at dinner the other night.

Here are some of her piccies - please take a look at her work on her blog :

http://www.adventuresoftheroamingkat.blogspot.com/

I'm encouraging her to persue it - can you tell??

this first pic was finally taken after much hysteria - it was REALLY hard to balance. i had to squat over louise (sorry for breaking your back friend) and Hazel had to sit on my back. It was so funny, the guys couldn't believe we just suddenly decided to sprawl out on the kitchen floor to take photo's, and insisted on tickling us which was not helping the balance thing. The kids were also trying to get in on the photo, so I'm really surprised we managed to get a pic without a kid foot in it.

this second photie literally was taken sprawled out on the kitchen floor - ha ha - posh spice lips of course.

me and the fabulous photographer ;) im going to keep this pic because one day when you're rich and famous I could sell this photo for lots of bucks. so thanks.

I'm busy reading a book called " My life in my hands " by Alison Lapper. Most of you know her, because she is dead famous because she was born severely disabled and literally has no arms, but she became famous for something - i haven't got to that part yet, there is even a statue of her somewhere. oh i remember now, she is famous as an artist, and even received an award from the queen. I thought the title of the book was a bit insensitive, but maybe its meant to be that way? I'm not sure. lemme find a link : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alison_Lapper

anyway this woman is a serious inspiration, she had a hellish childhood, but still managed to lead a fantastic life because of her attitude. I'll let you know more once I've read on a bit.

Hazel, I know what you're thinking.... for the record - I fully support Autism Awareness too.

Keep Smiling!

Lovies

me xxx

I am old!

So, tomorrow I am going to be a quarter of a century – yes people, 25. as in halfway to 50. that is so depressing!! I still feel about 11 ;)

As this post is all about me, all about me, I decided to dig up some old photies of me me & me. They’re scanned in so the quality isn’t that great.

This is me as baby – how cute am I?

I’m about 3 here – Shanah’s age. Shanah is like my twin! Check out the next photo.


This is Shanah – age 3! Scary hey?

Oh my goodness gracious – I cannot believe my mother did this to me. I’m like 12 here!! We were touring England for a month in a mobile home, and we stopped at this place called Sanford Park for the weekend. It may have actually been in Wales. Yes Emma & Craig – WAALEES!! We had to fancy dress for some competition for the Kids Club, so my mom dressed up Me, Meg & Sian as kittens. Ok, Meg and Sian were like 9 and 4 so that’s ok, but 12?? I thought I was dead hot, and we won of course. I reckon my mom just did it for a laugh – I’ll get you back mother.

Here I am, 16 and pregnant, it must have been my sexy cat outfit that did it and – yes those are braces on my teeth… Another thing I will just never live down.

And here’s me now - halfway to 50! I don’t know whats worse, this outfit or the kitten – ha ha!! Thats me on the right by the way..


Now you’re all probably hosing yourself laughing – have a wonderful weekend.. ;)

IT’S THE WWWWEEEKKKEEEENNNDDD BBAAABBBYYY!!!!!!!!

Keep Smiling,
Lovies
Me xxx

Helllooo

Just letting my blog know I havent forgotten about it..

I'm snowed under with organizing 2 conferences on this month and shane is going away now for 10 days up the garden route so things are hectic!

will write tomorrow - pwomise!!

I love you blog!

Lovies
me xxx