Music from the Heart

What touches your heart?
Have you stopped
Taken the time
To listen to the beat?
What strikes a chord?
Do you follow the music of your soul?
That unique space that touches
Something deep down
And makes you who you are?
Take time now
To Reflect.

Love your Tax Man

...thus said an email from a 90year old friend

who lives in Silvermine Village.
How I was struggling to love the tax man

when I had to prove that the donations that came into my account was not income

but solely for the benefit of people who are struggling every day?

When there is a crisis, there is chaos.
And with the chaos comes an urgency to meet the need.
I did not keep tabs. I did not make the people sign slips.
When organising food, building material, clothes, furniture for fire victims,
While people were getting murdered during the Xenophobia

and needed finances desperately to get home,
When there is pouring rain and lashing winds during our Cape of Storms

and the people need roof covers,
When clothes are sopping wet, floors are flooded, and children are crying…
There is chaos.

And who helped?
You all did – over the years – and some still do
You have provided and provided
And backed these people
And I could not prove it
Apart from – my website and affidavits
So I printed the website out
And the affidavits
And bound them into a book
Some people walked for miles to the police station to get them stamped as they did not have the R12 taxi fare to get there and back.
And as I read these letters, I cried
For the hearts of the people are shown
I pray that the adjudicator will have an open heart too
And will see what we have done together.
Bit by bit
I will publish what has been said, as it is not really about me
But about what you have helped build.
Thank you!

Ducks in a Row

It was storming;
And after the rain
There they were on the waterlogged green:

Ducks in a row
Reflecting
What we all hope for in our hearts
In the aftermath of chaos
Peace...
The sparkle of humour
That brings a smile
The balm that heals...
Our ducks in a row

Abandoned Wheels

And there I was...

stuck in the 'one person per vehicle' elite traffic

while hundreds walked home from work past my crawling car.

.

And there he was...

an old, old man

lying paralysed on the cold pavement with a long night stretching before him,

his head two inches from the ground,

eyes vacantly staring at the feet of those who tripped over him or shoved his old rusted trolley wheels containing his worldly goods, aside

This man too has a story, untold to an uncaring society

My wheels moved on...

My heart stayed behind for a while sitting next to him in the dirt

But - what good is that to him?

The Bigger Picture

My name is Emily Ndzunga.
One day at my work, early in 2006, they told us that they are selling the Venture Toyota. Soon after they told us, I spoke to my Director and told him that I wanted to buy it. He looked at me and laughed, and said "Are you serious?! - We need cash". I said "Yes, I know. I want to buy it". At that time I did not even have a cent. The Venture was R20 000. There were another two people who also wanted to buy it, so they said that we must bid on it, and that I must make an offer over and above the R20 000.

That very same day I phoned my friend and told her about this. She asked if I had money. I said "No, but I need it". She said "Let us pray, and God will provide". Indeed God provided. The following week, on Tuesday, my Director called me and told me that the Venture was paid for already. One of my friends loaned me that money and paid up front for it. That day I was in tears - but they were tears of joy. I knew then that I will manage to help many people who are busy dying with sicknesses in Khayelitsha, because we were struggling with transport to go to the hospital and to church. To have the Venture was a big help.

But the Venture also gave me a hard time.
That same year, it was in September 2006, it was smashed by a hit and run driver. I had to get it fixed for R14 000. I had to make a loan from my work. and we managed to get transport again.
Then again in 2007 it just stopped working and that time it was the engine. I managed to make another loan and it was fixed.

This year in February 2009 it was hi-jacked in Khayelitsha but just because God is always there, the police managed to find it before the robbers were out from Khayelitsha.

On 30 May 2009, very early in the morning, at 2am, my neighbour's came and asked if I can help her and take her mom to the hospital, and I couldn't refuse, she was very sick. I asked my son to take her. On their way back, when he was driving on the N2, the Venture had a tyre burst and he lost control, and the Venture smashed into the concrete wall and got smashed.

I am still thinking of fixing it because it is a big help to most of the people, not only at home, also outside who need help.

Read more about Emily in my blog "Woman of Courage" 07 June, 2006

Would you like to help Emily get her vision of helping others in Khayelitsha, up and going again? "Is it all worth it?" you may ask. Ask the people who have been taken to hospital in the middle of the night, dying. Ask the families who have been transported on a daily basis to visit members of their family who are dying in hospital. Ask the people who have no transport from Khayelitsha and are stuck in a shack in the middle of some flattened sand-dune area, how they need the Venture to be fixed. Emily needs our help. Together we can see the bigger picture.
Please contact me and let me know how you can help. janlill@webafrica.org.za

(Photos of Emily taken by Ron Gaunt http://www.rongaunt.com/)