Well I am back from a jam-packed fun-filled week-end!
As mentioned, Richard was arranging the HP Education annual conference. The manager who appointed him - head of HP Education in Switzerland, fell in love with SA, and decided the conference must be here in Cape Town (it was in Charmonix France last year), so Richard's first project was to arrange this.
It was quite a task, as he had to co-ordinate people from, Poland, Hungary, Turkey, Russia, Czech Republic, Switzerland, UK, Greece, Dubai, Johannesburg etc, and had to handle every detail of their stay - food, transport, meetings, entertainment, gifts, packed lunches, water etc not an easy task!
I got to join them for the week-end, while they were sightseeing and experiencing Cape Town. On Friday evening we had a seafood dinner at the Hotel, followed by the
African Footprint show at the Artscape. It's a dance show, depicting the South African story through dance. It starts with tribal traditional dancing, and works through, to gumboot, township jazz, and jive, prison, miners gumboot, kwaito, and modern soccer stadium movements. It was simply spectacular, the dancing was so energetic and well performed and the sets and backdrop were simple but very striking and effective. It was a very uplifting show and makes you feel energised and proud to feel part of our rich nation.
We followed this with some more cultural experience on Long Street, with more drumming and marimba music at Mama Africa, and then on to something more trendy - cocktails at the Long Street Cafe.
On Saturday the conference group went off to a township school to install computer labs together with the Shuttleworth Foundation, while I went home to take the children to Maria's party, which we all loved.
Later in the afternoon I met up with the group again for the start of our township tour. This was a real eye opener and visibly and dramatically affected each one of us, foreign and South African alike.
We started in Langa (South Africa's oldest township). We looked at the shack areas, hostels and new government housing etc. The guide, a Langa local, has a good insight to the area, and the slang names given to the housing types are amusing, but also bittersweet. The new council flats are called 'squares' because they literally are single roomed squares. The first RDP houses are called ' feet out' houses, because they are so small when they lie down at night their feet almost stick out the door etc. There is one small section of road, bordering the N2 which has much nicer and larger houses, which were built specifically to be seen by the people on the N2, to make it look like the accommodation is good and acceptable in the township. This street is termed 'Beverley Hills'.
We stopped at a Hostel block, where sheep heads were being cooked on an open fire - quite a sight to see. We were taken upstairs. There is a central room with 2 large tables and benches filling it and 1 sink and cold tap, leading off this are 6 rooms with 2 or 3 beds in each, and a room used as a kitchen. EACH bed is used for a FAMILY. So each of the 6 rooms houses 2 or 3 families (of 4-6 members). They ALL use the one cold tap, they have no toilet and have to cook in the one communal kitchen and eat at the 2 tables. The entire area is covered in black soot from the paraffin stoves and you can barely breathe from the fumes. It's quite a shock to see. On average only one person from each family is employed and they will probably earn between R800 - R1000 per month. Of that about R250 needs to be used for transport. They then need to pay R30 per month for the family's' place in the hostel, and the rest is to support the entire family for the whole month... The newer government flats are rented at about R300 per month, which is still way out of most people's league - until they can earn more, or more family members are earning a living.
We then went to a traditional healer's shop. A big very darkened room with weird and wonderful things dangling from the ceiling wherever you look, you have to dodge these as you walk around. Mostly they are bits and pieces of various dead animals and some plant life, shells and other 'junk'. The place was dark, dusty and pretty stinky (the octopus in particular reeked). There were also plastic bottles lined up on a shelf, which turned out to be blood. It was interesting, but quite weird at the same time. Python skin is used to treat infertility, and fresh tortoise urine is used to stop alcoholics from drinking etc. We didn't consult with the doctor! We asked the guide about the use of the healers, and were told it's about 50/50 now with the elders still favouring the traditional healers and the youth choosing the clinics now... We also drove past lots of meat markets where piles of meat are literally lying in the sun and flies. I'm amazed that the people don't seem to get sick from eating it. But they do seem to have what they have bought cooked on the fires alongside the market, which presumably kills the germs?
After than we moved on to Cross-Roads and Guguletu. Making a stop at the Amy Biehl Memorial. This was very emotional and brought up a lot of sadness in me. Also interesting that none of the streets in Guguletu are named, they all have numbers e.g.. NY100, with NY standing for Native Yard... Next stop was a nursery school in Gugs, which the tour company has sponsored and has funded extensions and improvements. Being a week-end not many children were there, but there were lots of festive community members chatting and being social there. I met a little girl who was celebrating her 5th birthday in a back room. Her mother and friends were there and she proudly showed me her few presents and new jeans. She was so cute. I couldn't help sneaking a R10 note to her as a birthday present. The tour guide had specifically asked us not to hand out money to people along the way, as they don't want children to start expecting hand-outs from the busses as they arrive, and to start skipping school to wait for the tours etc. The tour company collects donations from those that want to give, and they use it to sponsor the children of the home's that are visited's schools fees and to help to build homes and schools etc. Which makes a lot of sense.
We then went on to a small pub/restaurant/shebeen which is owned and run by the Xhosa couple that started the tour company, where we enjoyed more drumming and then some township jazz. We then also got supper. ALL of us were relieved that it wasn't sheep head! But a more familiar potato salad, braaied chicken and chops, and green salad. I would actually have prefer to try something more ethnic, but after the day's event I don't think our foreign tourists would have coped!
I had a great time kicking a very sad soccer ball around the streets with some of the local children, which were fantastic and so warm and exuberant. Some of the tourists were taking pictures of the children and once they realised they could see the picture immediately on the digital camera they all swarmed around to be included in the shots and started pulling funny faces and poses, and then would RUSH to the camera to see what they looked like. It was very amusing, and I think some good video footage was taken of this. After befriending all the children I battled to get back on the bus afterwards when we had to leave as I had to shake hands with them all several times, and was being hugged and hung-onto by about 20 squealing, bouncing children!
The poverty, and injustice of the townships is painfully evident, but at the same time the community spirit and soul of the people is so uplifting, that it's hard to decide who is worse off, the affluent people who are isolated and don't even know their neighbours, or these jovial, friendly, vibrant but poor people ....
Then on Sunday we went up to Lion's Head for a team building day. We had charts and maps and question sheets. We were divided into 3 teams, and had to find our way up using specific routes on the map, and answering questions along the way. Being a local and having climbed Lion's Head several times, gave my team an unfair advantage. But I told them I was trying not to just give them all the answers. With that their wallets came out and they said, ' how much will it take for you to stop NOT trying to give us the answers?' *LOL* CHEATS. Never the less I managed to inadvertently give them all the answers anyway by saying things like 'oh look, there's Robben Island, that's where Nelson Mandela was in Prison' only to find that the next question was, " What is the name of the island in the bay and why is it significant?" :) The chain climbing section was interesting, and the Team Work was tested here, as our UK lady had to be pulled from above and pushed from below to
get her up!
We went right to the top where we stopped for lunch and then went half way down to the ledge facing Sea Point for the real fun.... Rope Climbing and Abseiling!
The climbing guides had chosen easy climbs and a short abseil so I was very keen to try and I thoroughly loved both. In fact I found the climbing easier than the chain climb as the chains and surrounding rocks are very smooth and slippery and you feel you may plunge at any moment, whereas with the ropes I was more daring as I knew I had a safety rope. I actually went first and did manage to get to the top, even though I had to get lifted a few cm at one point where I couldn't find a grip except for a few cm above my reach. Never the less I was proud that I did the whole of what was considered the more difficult of the 2 climbs, which only about 1/2 the people ended up even trying, and not all of those went to the top including Richard who has climbed before! (he said he was tired). The abseiling was also great, but going over the edge is a little nerve wracking, once you are over, and if you aren't looking down it's quite easy. I'd actually like to do some more climbing...
After we all got down alive and in one piece we went to the hotel to clean-up and then on to the 12 Apostles Hotel restaurant for a fabulous and delicious dinner to end the week-end.
I am of course exhausted today, but I am so glad I got to join the group and have so many new and wonderful experiences.
Monday, 26 January 2004
Wednesday, 10 December 2003
Uncle Paul's Christmas Party
On arrival we handed in our gifts (which father Christmas was to give the kids), food platters and donated clothes and toys etc which we had been asked to take a long.
We then walked up a farm track and waited next to lush vineyards. We were collected by a tractor with a trailer filled with hay bales, and had a fun and exciting tractor ride up a bit of a bumpy dirt track with vineyards on one side and a forest with ferns and vines etc on the other. Going past I told Quinn that fairies live in that forest... not knowing how true this would turn out to be...
When rounding the forested area we came to a clearing, with a castle set back into the forest. There was an arena of hay bales laid out to sit on, and a pile of straw waiting to be played in, in the centre. We found a place to sit, and then all the children got busy with playing in the straw, while we waited for everyone to arrive.
A marching band (looked like salvation army or something) came and played some songs and carols and we all marched with them for a bit. The children then got a chance to try out the instruments (cymbals, drums, trumpets, flutes etc).
Noddy and friends then arrived in Noddy's car and entertained the children. Big Ears, Mr Plod, and Rag Doll were all there. Poor Mr Plod got a bit harassed as his helmet was stolen and he had quite a time getting it back from the crowd. I guess there's no fear or respect of the police force anymore... ;)
They then found ice-creams in Noddy's car boot and these were handed out to all. From then on the food did not stop. Trays of food came streaming through with whatever everyone had brought from chips and biscuits, to sandwiches, to pies, mini pizzas, hot dogs, cold meats, cakes, koek sisters etc, and juice. Everyone ate and drank and had lots of fun.
By then it was twilight and the coloured lights surrounding us had been turned on. A piano was brought in and we all sang carols. With Uncle Paul entertaining everyone with his funny actions and antics - he was especially funny when singing Old Mac Donald at the end with some animal props...
Then it was time for Father Christmas to arrive. The children had to blow all the lights out and we waited in the dark..... With a flash of red (a red flare) from Rudolf Father Christmas arrived on the roof of the Castle. We then had to wait for the Christmas fairies.
From inside the forest a tinkling bell could be heard and then a shimmering sparkler made it's way along a pulley (looking like a dancing fairy) all the way to the castle, when it reached the castle the castle lit up magnificently and looked beautiful really. With another big flash a fairy arrived in the Castle doorway ( a little girl in a while sparkly ballet outfit). She danced around and 'lit' all the surrounding lights again with her wand, and then 'lit' the Christmas tree lights. The children were enthralled. It was completely dark by then and it was really pretty.
Father Christmas then sat down and started handing out the presents ' he' had brought for the children. Once then got their present the fairy gave each child a packet of 'fairy' sweets. We all opened presents and ate sweets etc, after which it was time for Father Christmas to leave again. This happened with another bog flash, this time a white flare shooting into the distance. We then had a return tractor ride back to the cars. We only got home at about 10:30pm, and both children were still wide awake and very excited. It was really fun and magical for the children, and we'll definitely go again next year.
Monday, 20 October 2003
ER Drama
Well we had our first real trauma ward visit this week-end. We have gone in once before when Quinn had a bad day or vomiting and diarrhoea, but that was just for them to look and say, ' Yes, he's still fine, go home again'.
Well we have been replacing ceilings in our house since Monday last week (Lischka: it's Bakar doing the work btw). All I can say is it's been VERY messy and disruptive. Basically we have had 50+ years worth of dust falling down on everything.
So after sleeping on the lounge floor all week, they finally finished painting our room late on Friday. So on Saturday I stayed home to clean up and move back into our room, while Rich took the kids on the train to Fish Hoek and then got a lift to Imhoff to visit with friends and watch the rugby etc.
I joined them at about 3:30pm. When I arrived I notice that neither Q or G were very happy or social. G had been to the doctor on Friday anyway for tonsillitis (it turns out he has 'kissing tonsils' - meaning they are joined together. Apparently this causes apnoea, and snoring, and makes them more prone to infection. The doc said we may need to have them taken out at some point, especially if he is having disrupted sleep). He also has a fungal/bacterial infection in the corner of his mouth, which bleeds at night and makes disgusting black sludge on his lips and teeth, so we are treating that too.
So on Saturday Q had started looking very flushed, and told me his throat and head was sore. I decided to go to a pharmacy to get some fever meds. I took him with me, and by the time we got there he could hardly walk. I bought some ponstel and gave him a dose while we were still at the till. He fell asleep on the way back and was twitching and all delirious. We put him in a bed and he cooled down and slept. I gave Griff a does of the med as well. At 7:30 we were just starting to dish up dinner (which was a delicious roast), when Griffin and friend started climbing on the long bench chair by the table. I heard Rich ask him to get down and not pull the table cloth etc. I carried on dishing food.
Next I heard a fall and crying. Somehow Griff had fallen backwards off the bench and hit his head on a terracotta step. He cried a little and then went very pale and quiet and put his head down on Rich's chest. This made me worried.
Everyone was saying, ' oh he's fine, let's eat' I was holding his head in my hand and I lifted my hand and saw BLOOD. I got quite a fright and 2 of us were looking at his head trying to see where the blood was coming from. We saw it coming through his hair at the back of his head.
Luckily there is a paramedic who lives down the road, so we decided to take him there, to see how serious it was, because I didn't want to take any chances. The paramedic was a wonderful helpful guy. He checked his pupil reflexes etc and said that his eyes were reacting normally, and so it didn't look like there was anything more serious than the cut. He said he'd clean it a bit, to see how big and deep it was, so we'd know if he needed stitches. He started moving his hair aside and the cut was huge. It was about 5 cm long and open to about 5mm, and you could see red flesh inside! But strangely the cut was hardly bleeding.
He told us that he was fine, but that because the cut was so big, it would very likely get infected if left, and he would end up with a bald patch in the area. He said it was best to go through to Constantiaberg to get it assessed and stitched.
So we packed up and loaded a still sick and sleeping Q in the car and headed back over the mountain. Luckily there weren't too many people in casualty and we got seen to quite quickly.
Griff was acting fine through all this and was fairly cheerful even. The doctor was called and said that he definitely should be stitched, and he wanted a skull x-ray as well. So off we went. They made me ride a wheel chair while holding Griff. He thought the x-ray machine was pretty cool, until he realise I was pinning him down, and then he wasn't at all impressed and squirmed a lot. Luckily the radiographer managed to get her shots quite easily though.
We went back though and the doctor looked at the x-rays and said his skull was fine (which we pretty much knew anyway). They gave Griff 5mls of Panado and then 3 drops of some sedative. He ended up quite drunk and was laughing and playing and dancing about, and almost falling off the bed!
Quinn mean time had woken up and was lying on a bed in the 'observation room' having a great time watching his own TV with ear phones and adjusting the volume etc. And eating chips from the vending machine. He also kept pressing the red button which called nurses! We left him there on his own, and then took G through to a more surgical room.
We had to lie him on his tummy. Richard held his head, I held his back and shoulders and a nurse held his legs. He did not like being pinned down at all and started yelling. The doctor then injected a local anaesthetic right into the cut and under the skin in 3 places (yes I watched the whole time). He then said that with all the meds it was very unlikely that he could feel anything, and he was just yelling from being held down, so it was best to just get it over with as quickly as possible. So we held him down and spoke calmly to him while the doctor cut some of his hair away (Griffin hates haircuts, and I'm not sure he'll like them anymore from now on!). He then pout 2 stitches in. He said he wasn't going to do a whole row because Griff was moving too much and he just wanted the skin held closer together so it can heal itself. Also because they couldn't cut his hair properly they couldn't put a plaster over it. So they used something called 'plastic bandage' I think. It's basically a see through plastic fixative spray, to keep it clean and covered. He was also given anti-biotics to make sure he doesn't get an infection.
As soon as the doctor finished stitching him Griff was smiling and laughing again, and even said 'thank-you doctor'. He waved and said bye to all the nurses too. So that was how we spent Saturday night. Thankfully it wasn't too bad, but close enough.
Q had a good look and was very interested in everything. We also had a good talk to him about listening to us when we say be careful, because this is the kind of thing that can happen. etc.
Well we have been replacing ceilings in our house since Monday last week (Lischka: it's Bakar doing the work btw). All I can say is it's been VERY messy and disruptive. Basically we have had 50+ years worth of dust falling down on everything.
So after sleeping on the lounge floor all week, they finally finished painting our room late on Friday. So on Saturday I stayed home to clean up and move back into our room, while Rich took the kids on the train to Fish Hoek and then got a lift to Imhoff to visit with friends and watch the rugby etc.
I joined them at about 3:30pm. When I arrived I notice that neither Q or G were very happy or social. G had been to the doctor on Friday anyway for tonsillitis (it turns out he has 'kissing tonsils' - meaning they are joined together. Apparently this causes apnoea, and snoring, and makes them more prone to infection. The doc said we may need to have them taken out at some point, especially if he is having disrupted sleep). He also has a fungal/bacterial infection in the corner of his mouth, which bleeds at night and makes disgusting black sludge on his lips and teeth, so we are treating that too.
So on Saturday Q had started looking very flushed, and told me his throat and head was sore. I decided to go to a pharmacy to get some fever meds. I took him with me, and by the time we got there he could hardly walk. I bought some ponstel and gave him a dose while we were still at the till. He fell asleep on the way back and was twitching and all delirious. We put him in a bed and he cooled down and slept. I gave Griff a does of the med as well. At 7:30 we were just starting to dish up dinner (which was a delicious roast), when Griffin and friend started climbing on the long bench chair by the table. I heard Rich ask him to get down and not pull the table cloth etc. I carried on dishing food.
Next I heard a fall and crying. Somehow Griff had fallen backwards off the bench and hit his head on a terracotta step. He cried a little and then went very pale and quiet and put his head down on Rich's chest. This made me worried.
Everyone was saying, ' oh he's fine, let's eat' I was holding his head in my hand and I lifted my hand and saw BLOOD. I got quite a fright and 2 of us were looking at his head trying to see where the blood was coming from. We saw it coming through his hair at the back of his head.
Luckily there is a paramedic who lives down the road, so we decided to take him there, to see how serious it was, because I didn't want to take any chances. The paramedic was a wonderful helpful guy. He checked his pupil reflexes etc and said that his eyes were reacting normally, and so it didn't look like there was anything more serious than the cut. He said he'd clean it a bit, to see how big and deep it was, so we'd know if he needed stitches. He started moving his hair aside and the cut was huge. It was about 5 cm long and open to about 5mm, and you could see red flesh inside! But strangely the cut was hardly bleeding.
He told us that he was fine, but that because the cut was so big, it would very likely get infected if left, and he would end up with a bald patch in the area. He said it was best to go through to Constantiaberg to get it assessed and stitched.
So we packed up and loaded a still sick and sleeping Q in the car and headed back over the mountain. Luckily there weren't too many people in casualty and we got seen to quite quickly.
Griff was acting fine through all this and was fairly cheerful even. The doctor was called and said that he definitely should be stitched, and he wanted a skull x-ray as well. So off we went. They made me ride a wheel chair while holding Griff. He thought the x-ray machine was pretty cool, until he realise I was pinning him down, and then he wasn't at all impressed and squirmed a lot. Luckily the radiographer managed to get her shots quite easily though.
We went back though and the doctor looked at the x-rays and said his skull was fine (which we pretty much knew anyway). They gave Griff 5mls of Panado and then 3 drops of some sedative. He ended up quite drunk and was laughing and playing and dancing about, and almost falling off the bed!
Quinn mean time had woken up and was lying on a bed in the 'observation room' having a great time watching his own TV with ear phones and adjusting the volume etc. And eating chips from the vending machine. He also kept pressing the red button which called nurses! We left him there on his own, and then took G through to a more surgical room.
We had to lie him on his tummy. Richard held his head, I held his back and shoulders and a nurse held his legs. He did not like being pinned down at all and started yelling. The doctor then injected a local anaesthetic right into the cut and under the skin in 3 places (yes I watched the whole time). He then said that with all the meds it was very unlikely that he could feel anything, and he was just yelling from being held down, so it was best to just get it over with as quickly as possible. So we held him down and spoke calmly to him while the doctor cut some of his hair away (Griffin hates haircuts, and I'm not sure he'll like them anymore from now on!). He then pout 2 stitches in. He said he wasn't going to do a whole row because Griff was moving too much and he just wanted the skin held closer together so it can heal itself. Also because they couldn't cut his hair properly they couldn't put a plaster over it. So they used something called 'plastic bandage' I think. It's basically a see through plastic fixative spray, to keep it clean and covered. He was also given anti-biotics to make sure he doesn't get an infection.
As soon as the doctor finished stitching him Griff was smiling and laughing again, and even said 'thank-you doctor'. He waved and said bye to all the nurses too. So that was how we spent Saturday night. Thankfully it wasn't too bad, but close enough.
Q had a good look and was very interested in everything. We also had a good talk to him about listening to us when we say be careful, because this is the kind of thing that can happen. etc.
Thursday, 6 March 2003
Lucky Boy
I was phoned last week by a lady at Vincent Pallotti Hospital (where the boys were born) saying that they had run a competition and had drawn babies born from each month over the past year or so.
Well Griffin won the draw for November!
We were invited to the prize giving and main draw last night. We went along unsure what to expect, and they'd put together a little cocktail party.
Each of the 12 finalist got a gorgeous teddy bear, one of those lovely plush, characterful, large RUSS ones - I LOVE it. And when they drew the name out of the hat for the big prize it was GRIFFIN!
He won a R5000 education policy :))) *grin*
They also took photos which were published in the local newspaper the Tattler. It was such an unexpected surprise :)
p.s. they were asking when I was planning number 3!
Well Griffin won the draw for November!We were invited to the prize giving and main draw last night. We went along unsure what to expect, and they'd put together a little cocktail party.
Each of the 12 finalist got a gorgeous teddy bear, one of those lovely plush, characterful, large RUSS ones - I LOVE it. And when they drew the name out of the hat for the big prize it was GRIFFIN!
He won a R5000 education policy :))) *grin*
They also took photos which were published in the local newspaper the Tattler. It was such an unexpected surprise :)
p.s. they were asking when I was planning number 3!
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