I am imagining a conversation between two six year old boys:
“It’s great that we got here early. I like running and catching the sarmie from the van window. They know me now and it’s a bit like playing rugby, when the ball is passed down the line! I would like to become a rugby player like Siya Kolisi.”
He pretended to pass a rugby ball. And then said: “I hope that I end up with an egg mayo samie.”
“Nah, the peanut butter and jelly is the one I want. Seymo had it yesterday and I swopped bites with him. Yoow, man, it tasted really cool!!!”
“Bet I can run faster than you!”
“Can you run and catch the sarmies at the same time? C’mon!”
Their laughing ‘Siya Kolisi’ echoed after them, as they ran for their sandwiches.
As they ran for life…..

This lockdown has affected everyone, especially children. Because of it, work is non-existent for many. My heart goes out to the poorer communities who are battling to feed their families. This is where George Child Welfare has stepped in so magnificently. In George, during the week, people make sandwiches for the underprivileged children. I have been staying with my friends, John & ‘B’ during lockdown, and every Monday, Wednesday and Friday we make a loaf of egg mayonnaise sandwiches. B’s neighbour, Di, collects sandwiches from twelve people that are making them and drops them off at Child Welfare. They are then distributed to the eagerly awaiting children.

George Child Welfare believes that during this lockdown, it is important to let the children realise that they are still there for them. This lockdown is an unsettling feature in everyone’s lives. They don’t want the children to feel abandoned or deserted. They visit each district in need, smiling in greeting. The van is recognised and the smiles collide!

I already knew about George Child Welfare. Two years ago, a friend and I dropped off a bag of second hand children’s clothing at their HQ on Albert Street. It’s only since lockdown, however, that I have been made so aware of what a necessary and vital organisation it is.

Child Welfare aims to protect and enhance the lives of children.
In George, the organisation is directed by Sue Du Toit. She is a practical, down to earth person with the warmest heart and a dry sense of humour. She told me about their mobile library which fascinated me. This is filled with educational material for children between the ages of three and five. Each home based crèche which is made up of between fifteen to sixty kids, has the library for a month. Imagine the joy and delight as the children are introduced to the seven dwarves in Snow White and the antics of The Three Bears. I can just picture the excitement of having the mobile library arrive. Hearing wonderful stories read, learning how to count, recognising various colours must be an exhilarating experience.

George Child Welfare are unbelievably fortunate to have George philanthropist, Sabine Plattner’s patronage. Through her, a lifeline has been given to many vulnerable children and their families.  Indeed it is through her generosity that houses have been bought which are invaluable to George Child Welfare. The first house is now a permanent home to six children and has a ‘Mum’. This house has been established for a year now. The other house is having final renovations done, then this too will open to six fortunate children.

There is also a ‘Safe’ House.
This is for children who are orphaned, have been abused and consequently removed from their homes or are just not being cared for at all. At least twelve children can stay here for up to three months. This is a place where they can literally catch their breath and while doing so, remember they are children!
If feasible, Child Welfare works to rehabilitate the family as a unit but failing this they find foster homes.

Under the umbrella of George Child Welfare, at least 725 children are currently in foster care. One foster mum, Jody, says: “A child born to another woman calls me ‘Mommy’. The magnitude of that tragedy and depth of that privilege are not lost on me.”
The open heartedness of being a foster parent is bountiful. The thing that is of prime importance is the child. I believe that a foster parent must deal out buckets of love. They mustn’t hold back, thinking: ‘This child is not with me forever. I must guard against loving too much.’
They must be lavish with their love. The child needs it!

Pre-lockdown, on some Saturday’s, George Child Welfare ran a training skills program. Children were shown how to protect themselves against abuse and bullying. They were told where to go for help. They found children in despair because their teachers had upbraided them for having dirty clothes. Their mothers hadn’t washed them. So the children were shown how to wash their clothes themselves. My heart gets very wide at the idea of six and seven year olds washing their own school uniforms. 

George Child Welfare has a bus called Buddy. This, under normal conditions, travels daily into the under-privileged areas. It’s draw card is the hot meals it serves, but it also provides a place where children can ask for help with homework or learn life-skills. If children have problems then they can talk about it to someone with a friendly neutral ear. Child Welfare assist, on an average, between sixty to ninety kids a day. 

‘Out of bad things, good can come!’ I am so pleased that through sandwich making during this virus time, I have had the opportunity to meet face to face, or should I say, mask to mask with Sue du Toit and her George Child Welfare team. Our Western Province Premier, Alan Winde recently said: “Use this Covid19 lockdown to share love!”
Forget about lockdown! George Child Welfare has been sharing love with children since 1925. Almost 100 years!

If with an egg sandwich I can bring a smile to one child’s face, my heart will answer with a radiant beam! 

***

Anyone interested in donating to George Child Welfare can do so via EFT using the following information:
Bank: First National Bank, Account Name: George Child and Family Welfare
Branch Code: 210114, Account Type: Cheque, Account Number: 52291616310, Reference: I care

The post Siya Kolisi Sarmies! appeared first on 'ear 'ear! by Gaynor Young.

And speaking of wavelengths, I give so much thanks for the wavelengths provided by technology. During this lockdown, we have all been able to stay in contact with family, friends and business associates through FaceTime, Facebook, WhatsApp, Skype, Instagram, Zoom etc, etc and etc!

During this lockdown period, I have been staying with B and John. I wanted to move in with Mums but was unable to because of her burglar alarm system.
B is an avid cyclist. I really feel for her during lockdown because cycling has always been a necessity for her. The other morning, I received a WhatsApp message from B: ‘Come out into the front garden NOW!’
I rushed out and began to laugh. B was lying flat on her back, seated on her bicycle. Her legs were pedalling at this joyous rate.
“I’m fly-cycling!” she laughed.
B proved to me that where there’s a will, there is always a way!

B’s next door neighbour, Di, is on our WhatsApp group. Life seems to bubble out of her. She offers up smiles to the world. I laughed at B’s husband, John, when he said:
“She has a low voice. Very low and…sexy!” and then continued reading his book.
I wish I had a low voice. The actors, Dorothy-Ann Gould and Janet Suzman have beautiful, low voices. And that lowness is marvellously sexy!
Di’s effervescence often has her giving off a humorous side to life. Before South Africa went into lockdown, Di placed a hilarious picture on George Friends. It was a picture of her and Mike, her husband, dressed up in dark glasses, masks, green rubber gloves and slanting Panama hats. They look as if they were dressed to rob a bank. We all thought it was hysterical. Little did we realise that three weeks later, that appearance would be the norm for anyone outside their home. You look askance at anyone not wearing a mask!Di reminds me of Kilroy. We will be out in the garden when her joyful smile appears above the wall. A quick chat always brightens our uneventful days!

Jans is a member of the group. You can never mention Jans without taking into account her dogs. They are an intrinsic part of her. Kayla, the Collie, Finn and Dazzle, two rough haired/broken Jack Russell’s, and Bayz who is an utterly endearing ‘Brak’! I feel for Jans during this lockdown. She is used to taking her dogs for two hour hikes in the forest. Now she is confined to her home. She has put a hilarious video on George Friends of an obstacle course that she has devised for them in her garden. I am dying to see the antics of the dogs and the obstacle course after lockdown. Knowing Jans and her dogs, they will probably perform each antic to perfection! She also set about redecorating her home and posted the results on the group. I marvelled that we were all able to share in Jans’ beautiful new look in her lounge through technology.

My bedroom looks out on this gorgeous common, more houses and then my eyes are caught up by the beautiful Outeniqua Mountains. The other day I got a WhatsApp message from Sue saying: “Dave and I are passing the common. Look out for us.”
Sure enough, a few moments later their car approached. B, John and I waved madly. As it drew opposite us, suddenly we saw the English flag of   St. George flapping at us from the driver’s window. We laughed out loud. A half hour later, the car reappeared with a South African flag waving frenziedly as Sue and Dave returned home.
“They kept the best for last,” I remarked to my two English friends!

It was Sue’s birthday a few days ago. We bought her a lovely pot plant and messaged to say we were coming round to drop it off. It felt utterly ridiculous driving the fifty metres to Sue’s house, but those are the rules in South Africa. Rules I completely agree with and respect! It was gorgeous seeing her happy face and enlightening smile. From six meters away. I long for her gorgeously served tea, scones and cake all placed on her beautiful china. Sue has promised us wonderful delectable delights once this lockdown is over.
Most of all though, I missed hugging her.

During this lockdown, I have become so aware of the value people have for me. The preciousness of hugging people is inestimable.      

Ingrid is our botanist and athletic Park Runner!
I will come back from a Park Run or in my case a Park Walk and on George Friends say to Ingrid in great excitement: “I saw such a wonderful plant on the Park Run today. It was this mustardy/orange colour and it was clinging onto this tree. Mmmm, maybe it was the fruit of the tree. Yes, it could quite easily have been that.”
Ingrid, who had done the same Park Run asked me whereabouts I had seen this odd looking fruit. I was able to describe the exact spot because it’s quite near the end of my run-walk.

“Ah, Gaye, that’s a fungus. It’s a…..” and she gave some dreadful Latin name. That took away the excitement of finding my mustard fruit. Then she added: “Wasn’t it otherworldly beautiful?” and my excited discovery was restored!
I love Ingrid for the wide, openness of her heart. She gives so freely and I find that I am often on the receiving end of her free spirited giving!

I have known Christine for years. She is a reliant, dependable person, someone who I feel I can call on in an emergency. Just before the lockdown, my friend had lost her Collie one morning in the forest. He had been hit by a cyclist and had run off in a panic. At ten o’clock that night they called off the search. It began once more the next morning. B stopped searching in the forest, picked me up and we then drove around the neighbourhood looking. On the way, we encountered Christine and told her the story.
“Right, you go that way and I will go this.”
Three quarters of an hour later, she pulled up alongside us.
“No success but I will spread the word.”
And she did.
And just to finish this story, the Collie was found!
Christine is from Manchester and has a wicked sense of humour to go with her Mancunian drawl. She keeps us entertained on George’Friends with snippets of BBC comedies like The Vicar of Dibley and The Two Ronnies much to my delight! – (Press links to watch!)

The last person to make up our group is Mums.
It was not my idea to have Mums join George Friends. No, the others insisted!
‘She is so much fun. Combined with her practical wisdom, she is a definite MUST!’
It thrills me to have Mums liked and admired by my friends. She is one of us!

Our group has just celebrated it first anniversary. George Friends has shown hilarity, concern, advice, recipe making, and recently, during lockdown, it’s shown people, infected by one another, pouring gorgeous glasses of gin! It has and still is filling us with joy and laughter. That is something often needed in this lockdown period. Thank goodness for George Friends!

Picture a stunning stained glass window. It is made up of intricate pieces of glass that are startling in themselves. These fragments shimmer and shine in a crystalline manner. However, it is when they are put together, with each little piece containing a magic of it’s own, that the stained glass window begins to make sense. It begins to glisten, gleam and beam with a radiance all it’s own.
Each of my friends possess an inner and outer radiance. Put them together and they begin to shine, shimmer and reflect, glistening off each other.
This is the magic of George Friends! 

The post WhatsApp: ‘George Friends!’ appeared first on 'ear 'ear! by Gaynor Young.