Heroes

My older brother has been my inspiration for many things, including writing again. He has caught onto the 'craze' that is blogging and claims that I am the best writer he knows, which is a pretty big compliment. Well, big until you know that, according to family legend, Simon has only ever read one novel from cover to cover.....but little sisters tend to hero-worship their older brothers, so it means a lot to me.

Simon is so different to me and is somebody I hugely look up to. While I am prone to over-reacting, my brother is calm and practical. He didn't go to uni, yet is one of the smartest people I know and now manages a radio station. And, most importantly, he knows how to enjoy life, which is something I am still learning to do......and taking lessons from my brother is helping! Watching him, and many other people in my life, I can see that one day, given time, I may be able to break free from my fears and demons and begin to enjoy myself again.

Working at Children of Hope was hard work, not only physically, but also mentally. It was fun and I laughed a lot, but at the same time it was emotionally draining, as were all of the African Impact volunteer projects. One of the things that kept us volunteers going during our time in South Africa, was the fact that we could walk away at the end of the day, that we could go back to our lives and simply step away from it all for a few hours. Saying it now makes me feel so selfish, especially as Sophie and Ntombie cannot just walk away. Without them there would be nobody to run the school. They live and work in Red Hill every day and they do it with very little outside help. My background in summer camp means that I'm very aware of health and safety rules, so there were a number of things that made me raise my eyebrows. But the children were never mistreated or in any danger - things were just different, which is natural considering it is a different culture.

This is Sophie with two of the pre-schoolers, Apiwe and Aviwe

The Red Hill Township has approximately 1,000-3,000 inhabitants but, as it is an unofficial settlement (and has been for the past 16 years), the residents are not allowed to set up any permanent structures, which leads to problems. One day we turned up to work and there was no electricity, as it is apparently cut off from time to time, and the next day there was no water. It meant that Sophie had to leave her class unattended, one day to cook lunch on a neighbour's gas stove, and another day to go and get water from the camp down the road. Obviously leaving a class of pre-schoolers with very little supervision isn't ok, but had she not done that, nobody would have made lunch. It's just amazing how we take little things like water and electricity for granted and how we prioritise things that sometimes aren't really that important.  

A hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.
~ Christopher Reeve