Zone 4 of Thembalethu receives Rain Water Collection Supplies!!

What could possibly be better than eating a fresh carrot from the garden? Well in Gcinisizwe and my eyes we think that there is nothing better than having the dignity and freedom to grow your own food and provide for your family. But what do you do during the long months with drought? You go out and buy Rain Water Harvesting Collection Systems for the community!!

Thanks to your donations we have been creating gardens and distributing seeds for over two years but each year the gardens were becoming dry and the plants were suffering as a result. This year we started fund raising so we could come up with a solution to the dry periods! We distributed 10 rain water barrels throughout the community which are each shared by more than one household. This year the families will have a back up supply of water to use during the drought which means more food to feed their families.

The kids love to play in the gardens also, these little girls now have a new water system and a new garden so that they can grow nutritous foods and have full bellies.

This gorgeous garden has been filled with our seeds, the owner of this garden cannot find work due to the 80% unemployment rate so he spends the day in the garden!

Stumo returns from the bush!

Many people may recall me mentioning that my brother Stumo was going to the bush in June, this is the most important moment of a man's life because when he returns he is officially a man in the eyes of Xhosa culture. The bush is an intimate event which are for men's eye's only so out of respect for the culture I will not go into details about what actually happens, and also because out of respect for the culture none of the men would tell me ha ha. Sadly you can google the information, someone who did not respect the ritual has posted many photos and stories for the world to see.

Stumo returned home to us on July 9th at 2pm and it was incredibly exciting! Everyone came running to our house when they saw him walking from the bush to our house, surrounded by fellow men, everyone singing and dancing and celebrating his return. For one month Stumo lived disconnected from the world, learning lessons from his male peers and enjoying the quiet sounds of nature. It must have been a bit of a shock to the system to go from such quiet surroundings into the 4 day (24 hours a day also!!) party that greeted him upon his return.

For four days we had hundreds of people at hour house, drinking beer, brandy and umqombothi (African beer). A cow was purchased for the event and slaughtered to provide an abundance of fresh meat. I should also mention here that I am a devouted vegetarian for the reasons of animal cruelty but I have to tell you that this event was very respectful of the animal. The cow was killed very quickly with a sharp slice to the throat with a sharp knife. What I love about this community is that everything and I mean everything is used with zero waste. Every part of the animal is eaten, the skin and tail are saved to make items in the future and the bones are eaten by the dogs. I really respect that, it is a far difference from the industrial agriculture that our culture is used to.

The Makoti's were kept very busy, Makoti is the term for "Young bride" which means any young woman who was close to the family was kept busy pouring drinks, cooking food, cleaning and tending to the hundreds of people. It was a little crazy really to be a Canadian makoti, I spent my entire time following the lead of my sister Nozukane, a lovely 20 year old woman married to my brother Busisani who has the maturity and respectfullness of someone decades older. Friday and Saturday I did very well, I slept a little bit during the night despite the 24 hour party happening on the other side of my door. Sunday however I struggled, underfed, under-slept and under-educated in the Xhosa language I started to feel the stress of it all.

A strange thing happens also when people drink around me here in Thembalethu. The more people drink the more I become a toy of sorts and less of a person if that makes sense. People start forgetting that I am Nosandise, the woman who has lived here and worked in the community and they start treating me like the Afrikanners of nearby George. Most everyone starts speaking Afrikaans to me (the language spoken by the white people, sounds like Dutch/German) and even though I have been here since 2008 and have told everyone over and over that I am from Canada and do not speak Afrikaans, they still speak Afrikaans to me which in short I find enraging ha ha. To be fair, I am the first person that they have ever met who is white and does not speak Afrikaans so I think they find it confusing. It is hard to explain to people who have minimal education that white people live all over the world and Afrikaans is only spoken by 7.9% of the population in a country called South Africa (and Namibia also now that I think of it). It is kind of like me speaking swahili to every black person I meet because people in East Africa speak swahili so therefore every black person must speak swahili ha ha ha, I try to keep a sense of humor about it.....

But all in all I must say that it was very exciting to have Stumo home, I really missed him a lot. On Saturday he sat in a shack outside and everyone at the party had the chance to say a few words to him, he sat with his head covered, wearing just his blanket. It was then that I started crying, I really missed him, more than I even realized.

All of the ladies came dressed in their beautiful culture dresses, I swear I spent hours saying "WOW your dress is amazing!!"

The lovely Zolani (standing) and Busisani

Having some laughs, the lady in the green was so funny ha ha

The point I realized that the brandy and beer were working on the men ha ha, the guys insisted that I take this picture, and it turned out wonderfully! This is the house that Stumo was sitting inside of as we all went in to give him our words of advice on being a man.

The lovely Stumo, painted red to show that he is a new man and wearing his lovely blanket. To the right is my friend Nanza who day in and day out looked after Stumo along with dozens of other men who would stop by to help with chores in the bush, ie: collecting native medicinal plants etc. Thank you Nanza for taking such good care of Stumo!

Some of the men who turned up for the party, the men sit together in one place (or in this case four differnt places because there were so many people!) and the ladies sit together in another place.

Another beautiful dress, this lady is wonderful, she is the sister of my friend KB and she is a patient and lovely soul. Her daughter was born with a physical and mental disability but due to the patience of this woman her daughter lives a wonderful life. This lady asked if there was any way for me to help her start a support group for women with disabled children...something to think about...

The men returning from the bush with Stumo at centre.

There is Stumo in the middle, wrapped in a new blanket. He is not allowed to show his face quite yet so the men guide him. Just a note, see that man who runs to the front? Yeah, he is nearly 80 years old!! A reminder to eat your vege's boys and girls!!! This man spends his days working in his garden and eats of ton of fresh produce, I first met him in 2008 at the community garden in Thembalethu, months before coming to Zone 4, who knew that one day he would be my neighbour!

Nozukane leading the ladies in a whole lot of fabulous singing to welcome Stumo home from the bush. Wow she can sing!!!

So I guess now I am a painter!

I come from a very artistic family however I have never really made time for myself to enjoy the arts. I have always wanted to take painting classes so I could learn how to paint properly however I could never afford to. It was when I was walking around in George one day that I discovered painting classes tucked away in a tiny walkway. How exciting, I can finally afford to learn painting because of the wonderful exchange rate! I have painted three paintings to date, each of them given to someone special to me. I really enjoy painting and then sharing them with someone. Most people here have nothing on their walls and to give them a hand made painting is really quite an extraordinary gift. Below are my paintings, they bring me a lot of joy and i hope they make you smile too.

My very first oil painting ever, I think it turned out really nicely! It actually looks much better in real life than this picture because the flash washed out most of the shading and detail but I think you get the idea.

This is the second oil painting that I did, it actually turned out to be very difficult but I am still happy with it. I was inspired by a trip that I did to Zanzibar in 2006. I found this lovely cafe in Stone Town and as I ate my lunch I gazed out over the ocean and watched the children swimming in the Indian Ocean. The original photograph is below and my rendition is above.

I became friends with a lovely couple from Ethiopia who live here in South Africa. They recently opened a tiny restaurant and I wanted to surprise them with a gift so I found a piece of Ethiopian Orthodox art and painted it for them. This is my favorite painting that I have ever done, not just because I am proud of it but always because there is a lot of meaning in this piece. Above is my painting, and below is the original. Who would have ever guessed that I would ever paint religous art ha ha, but it turns out that I am good at it!

My fabulous art teachers, to the right is my teacher Marty, and to my left is the lovely Esther who assits in running the shop.

You Can Heal The World!

On June 26th we had yet another fabulous drumming event in Umbambano Park and by we I mean Michele from Earth Child, myself and Daniel who is a fabulous drumming teacher. We organized it for a long time and so glad we did because we had a wonderful turn out. Fun events like this rarely ever happen in this community so it was really wonderful to bring the community together, as well as a few visitors from other communities. The lovely Michelle from the George Herald came for a visit as well and took some beautiful shots. It was the eprfect day, the sun was shining, it was warm and everyone had a chance to play and have fun in Umbambano Park.

Below are photos taken from the event but I enourage you to click on this link to see the even more beautiful photos taken by Michelle of the George Herald http://www.georgeherald.com/gallery.aspx?gpid=105&gid=5

Some of the children made home made drums and even painted them, so creative!

The girls treating us to a lovely dance!

Even the grandfathers played the drums, I couldn't believe my eyes!

Gcinisizwe plays the big drum with Daniel showing us the moves on the tiny drum!

Life on the ground

I don't really ever talk about this but in reality it is all around me, luckily, touch wood, it has not touched my family, touch touch touch more wood, but it has effected the families all around me. This reality is the HIV/AIDS epidemic which is plaguing the country of South Africa. According to the latest statistics South Africa currently has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS in the world with 18.1% of it's population now infected with the HIV virus and an estimated 71% of all deaths being traced back to this illness. One in every 5 adults in South Africa have HIV/AIDS and 59% of women over the age of 15 are now infected.

HIV is a very silent epidemic, you do not always notice it, but what you do notice is the absurd amount of funerals that happen all the time. This weekend, just in my small area of Zone 4 there were 4 HIV related funerals. All of the now dead were young people in their 30's. One of these people was my neighbour living just 5 houses down. In one house there were 4 people with this disease, now there are three.

So although this is a sad post I hope that you can take a moment and reflect on your own life and realize just how blessed you and I are, we live in a place with food, social support systems, low crime and low disease rates. For many people around the world this sadly is not the case.

Catherine

The Realities of Thembalethu

One of my good friends and neighbours in Thembalethu is a wonderful woman that I will call Mrs. Hope. Mrs. Hope is a social worker and helps children as best as she can within the often backwards South African social services structure, limited resources, and a gigantic work load. Through Mrs. Hope I have seen a very real side of Thembalethu in which I would like to share with you.

Twenty minutes away from Thembalethu is the lovely city of George, George is a small city with lush gardens, fancy houses and clean streets. Like all places, some people struggle in George but it is easy to see that many people are also thriving. Many areas boast mansions, security guards and luxury cars. There are electric fences and tall security gates. Somehow with all this wealth just twenty minutes away the reality is very different for many people.

Today Mrs. Hope called me and in her voice I could hear deep sadness and a sense of desperation. "Sandise, I need your help, you are the first person I have called because I am not sure who else can help us". Mrs. Hope does not ask for much so I knew that it must be serious. Today a family arrived at her office doorstep, three young boys, age 15, 8 and six. These boys have just become orphans, they have lost both their mother and now their father, it was not discussed how but being that one in three black women in South Africa now have HIV and one in five men, it is most likely that their parents have died of HIV/AIDS. Now this small family of three is left with no family members and the household will be headed by this shy 15 year old boy who now stands before me. Mrs. Hope brought them to my house today, all three were shy and looked scared, but also I could see a sense of relief on their faces. They have no money, and no food, which is why Mrs. Hope brought them to me.

This little family left my house with a gigantic bag of mealie meal, rice, sugar, beans, lentils and oranges due to your generosity. As many people know, I personally do not have very much money, but through the donations that have come to me by way of The Themba Development Project I have been able to give emergency relief to some of Thembalethu most vulnerable members. Your donations have given this small family hope, or Themba in the Xhosa language. Although my charity is small we have given a huge amount of hope to this community and united we shall stand because in times of emergency the community knows that you and I are here to get them through these difficult days.

Thank you to everyone who made this miracle possible,

Catherine Robar
Founding Director
The Themba Development Project
http://www.thembaproject.org/

Donate using canadahelps.org type "Themba" to find our charity.

The World Cup from the inside!

I have decided that there is nothing more exhilarating in life than watching a World Cup game live. Last night Gcinisizwe and I had the opportunity to watch the France vs Uruguay match and let me tell you, it was AMAZING! The Green Point Stadium in Cape Town is beautiful and the place was packed full to the brim! Everyone was in wonderful spirits and the staff were organized, patient and friendly.

Ok, so we are just a tad excited! At least 6 times we looked at each other and yelled "WE ARE AT THE WORLD CUP!!!!!" Ha ha ha, what a dream come true.

The France and Uruguay flags being presented to the crowd.

The opening kick!

"We want peace in the World"

Even at a France-Uruguay match people are flying South Africa flags ha ha, there is a HUGE amount of national pride here.

The crappiest job at the World Cup, security on the field. Can you imagine being 10 feet from the field at the World Cup and having to sit there with your back to the field the entire time, eek!!

Now let me tell you, during my visit to the Green Point Stadium I was mugged, the robber did not have a gun or knife, but instead held me hostage until I forked over my hard earned money in exchange for a crappy AMERICAN beer. Please do not judge me but yes, I paid R30 for ONE beer!!!! Normally beer is R10!!!! And I would also like to know why South Africa has such fabulous local beers and I am sitting here drinking crappy watery Ammerican beer, come on people!!!

*****************************************

Videos from the World Cup

_________________________________________

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOogJaN3BKY  A view from the top of Green Point Stadium!

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkR_9whM-uo Watch a gigantic wave of people, ha ha, so fun!