Flying time..

It was just a short while ago that this little thing

was sitting on my lap learning to steer the car in an empty parking lot. It’s so clear in my mind. She was complaining about the big pigeons (seagulls) that kept landing in front of the very slow-moving car.

Yesterday we were in the car again and I glanced over at her…..

My word!  What happened???

It feels as if only a moment in time has passed.

It’s very hard for me to believe also that this fine young man

is about to become a dad early next year. (!!!)

Look at them now.

My children

Where has time gone?

Happy feet

You know how families develop their own words – normally stemming from a child who mispronounced something. I have met families where nick names are rather strange and others who have peculiar words for objects. It sometimes sounds really strange when you see four grown adults in a family calling something a boo-boo, and they all know what they are talking about.

When I was growing up our family was no different, and to this day common household items are still called strange things like a “hot ‘n trot tray”  (from Salton Hot Tray), my daughter being called a Bean, and macaroni is lekkeroni.  At the ripe old age of 18  the Bean found out that Harper Lee wrote the book “To Kill a Mockingbird” and not “Tequila Mockingbird” and that chutney was not chuckney.

A common word in our family is “fud”.  This is our word for a paw. So all our pets have fuds not paws and the dirty marks they make on the floor are fudprints.

Our Cleo is still a little unsure of her new surroundings and in order not to lose her fuds she keeps them all in one spot when she sleeps.

What strange words do your families use?

Thank you

Thank you to all the kind folk who have donated clothes to Hlengiwe and her friends.  Another delivery went in on Wednesday.  The children were so excited!

We are still short of smallish baby clothes, and we have one older girl (around 13)  that also needs some clothes. I will be doing one more drop off before Christmas. Anything you have would be most welcome.  Also looking for toys and picture books.

To the Johannesburg donors I will be there to collect all your goodies just after Christmas.  Again, thank you to you all!

 

Something nostalgic for the holidays……

First delivery

My apologies for not posting yesterday – my blogging time was spent taking our first delivery of goodies to Hlengiwe and her friends.  The children’s mothers have arranged for a caregiver to look after the children during the day at their homes. For now, that is the best we could do until such time as these women get birth certificates for their children and identity documents for themselves.  Our delivery was small but most welcome – a few girls clothes and some toys and a little food.We want to also supplement their protein intake so will be providing some eggs, cheese and meat.  I took a few pictures so that you can see the pathway that Hlengiwe constantly escapes down as well as the conditions in which she, and the other children and families live.

Above you can see Charlie and Fanuel ahead of me.

This is Thandiwe. She is a little chatterbox and seems to be the most confident of all the children – although she does not speak English she is the one the other children look to, to communicate with us.  She is as bright as a button, is usually the cleanest and best dressed child there.

Despite all of this, these kiddies are so happy and full of laughter and fun.

Hlengiwe was in a really bad mood when we got there as she is no longer allowed to run away.  She was sitting on a little stool scowling at the wall. She was in the same clothes that we left her in on Friday and she had a wet bottom (no pampers/nappies here.) This is the first time we have seen her with shoes on.

Thank you to all of of you who have committed to helping these children.  It is greatly appreciated.

 

Meet Hlengiwe

Today I awoke to wet and rainy world – it’s so beautiful here when its overcast and dripping. Lying cozily tucked into my bed watching droplets fall from my thatch roof outside my window, I wondered about the little baby I told you about yesterday.

This morning she was brought in to the packhouse – she was sopping wet and covered in mud.  She was again found on the same farm road.  We cleaned her up again and found her some clothes.  This is Hlengiwe.

This time we did not go to fetch her mom.  We took her to a colleagues home to be cared for, for the day.  On our way back we stopped on the farm road where we keep finding her and, in the sopping wet rain and mud, we walked through the bush tracing her tiny foot prints.  500 meters along a winding footpath we came to the compound where she lives.  It is a really, really horrible place.

We heard noises and walked around the dilapidated building to find…….. wait for it…………..  5 more tiny children sitting in the mud.  They were eating flying ants and porridge.  They thought we were very funny people and laughed at us – chattering away in their language (those big enough to talk).  We stayed there for about 15 minutes with them – and then we had to turn around and walk out – leaving them behind us.  They kept calling out to us as we walked away. It was very hard to do.

Today we talk to the authorities.

In the meantime, I am collecting old clothes (1 year to 6 years), old toys, maybe some kiddies tables and chairs and some type of gazebo or covering that we can erect to shelter these children during the day (from sun and rain).  If anyone in my area has anything that they can contribute to making these children’s lives a little better, please let me know – I will collect.

The one good thing is that they seem happy and well nourished although one little boy of about two looked a little ill and miserable.

Baby blues..

Last Monday morning, on my way to work, I found a little baby girl walking alone on a sandy farm road in the middle of the bush.  She was crying and scared – dirty and only had a shirt on.

I stopped my car and called out to her – she was terrified. I got out and opened my arms and she came to me.  I called out to see if there was anyone around in the bush but no one answered. She was probably about 18 months old.  I put her in my car and took her with me to work.  We cleaned her up and borrowed some pants from one of the labourers on our farm.  She seemed well fed and was not too interested in eating anything. Our foreman told me that there was a farm compound reasonably near to where I had found the baby so we went in search of the mother.

We eventually found her picking mangoes about one and a half kilometers away. She was young and could not speak English or Afrikaans. Luckily I had our foreman with me so she translated.  The baby was left in a house like this one – all alone while her mom went out to try to earn some money.

Photo: http://www.trespassmag.com

We managed to find someone to baby sit for the day, but there are no guarantees that this little one is not home alone today.  Unfortunately this lady seems to be an illegal immigrant so for now, we can’t even get the baby into a nearby crèche as they need proof of residence etc. to be able to take the baby on.  We are waiting to hear about another place of safety for her during the day.

These are the harsh realities of living in Africa.  This little girl is one of thousands of children in similar situations. I really wish I could do more for her.  I was so tempted to just take her home and keep her – but then I would be in a similar situation as I have to work and would not be able to look after her during the day. She would also not be with her mom who she needs and loves and she would lose out on learning her language and culture. If we hand over money to the mother, there is no guarantee that it will be used for the baby.  I am going to help out with baby food and clothes where I can.  I just hope she stays around long enough for us to help – I am scared the mom may take off in fear of being reported.  If they get taken in by the authorities, they may even be worse off than they are now. It’s a tricky and very sad situation.

Tiny visitors

Last week we had a group of tiny people visit the packhouse.  The Andries Inama Crèche brought them to the packhouse on an educational tour.  They were so very, very well-behaved.

Can you see how they keep their hands behind their backs so that nothing gets caught in the machines?  They were just the cutest little things.  What really made me sad is that this tour took place at 5.30-6pm and they still had a 45 minute drive back to the school.  These kiddies get dropped off at crèche sometimes at 4am and get collected round 10pm during the busy citrus season.  That’s just such a long day for them.

To a boy

You may ask me why I knowingly let you break her heart.

You take her breath away – I could not say no….

Thank you for being so kind and gentle

Travel safe and go follow your dreams

On Children

by Kahlil Gibran

source

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

Fred and the Bean(Stalk)

When we made the decision to move to Hoedspruit, one of my biggest concerns was that the Bean would not settle.  She is a self-professed city girl – and she hates bugs.  I asked her if she would be prepared to try it out, to give me two years of her life while she finishes school, and then she can decide if she wants to stay or go.  It was very selfish of me… yet I want so badly for her to love it here like I do.

The one member of our family that I was not worried about was my big hunting cat, Fred.  Larger than life, brave as ever – I just knew he would love prowling in the bush. Fred has never been scared of anything – he even loves chasing dogs.

These two have both surprised me.

Firstly, Fred became a real scaredy cat the minute he arrived here, staying indoors day and night for the first week – we could not lure him out of our cottage.  I think the country smells were just too much for him.  I began to worry.  For week two and three, Fred resorted to his instinctive nature and became totally nocturnal – sleeping in the cottage by day and slipping out a bit at night.  We are now nearing the end of his third week here and for the first time yesterday he ventured out in the daytime to sit with the Bean and watch the bush.

The Bean on the other hand, has been pretty determined not to like country life, although I have caught her having fun few times now. She misses her friends dreadfully, but is slowly starting to settle in her new school.  She has a few friends at school already, although because most of them are boarders, they are not around for fun times on the weekends.  What has really amazed me about this beautiful girl, is that she has found some creatures and creepy-crawlies that she just adores!  Don’t let her see a chameleon – she makes us stop the car so that she can pick it up and play with it before putting it safely back in the bush.  She has touched a huge python, and has a severe addiction to bush babies.  She plays with baby frogs and lizards almost daily.  Amazing…..

When I took the photo above yesterday evening, my thoughts were that they are both pretty much at the same point now – starting to settle in to their new home.  They seem to have more peace about their move.