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Showing posts from March, 2014

Robins are building a nest in our yucca tree

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The Robin contemplating life Our new neighbours, Mr and Ms Robin have moved into the top storey of our Yucca tree. We could probably call them squatters, but they are far too decent to be labelled as such. After all, nobody was occupying that space in the Yucca tree in our garden. The yucca was never viewed as prime property by birds before. Our hibiscus tree was used for nesting over the years, but never the yucca tree. In fact, I didn't think that the Yucca tree was the kind of tree that any bird would choose as its nesting ground. The Yucca tree has a straight trunk with sword-like elongated leaves that are spaced fairly far apart. This tree, donated to us by Desiree, my eldest sister, was not even 50cm high when we received it. Now our majestic Yucca is already roof height and competes with the eaves for space. And this year, the yucca has become the chosen one for our robin pair. How interesting!   I am fascinated by the nest -building process. I can see from my kitchen wind

Knitting jerseys for needy children is a Johnson Family Affair

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Gwynn and her sister with a display of the hand knitted jerseys   I spoke to Gwynn Valentine, a retired teacher, about her family's knitting project. Gwynn, her daughter and her sisters have started knitting jerseys for children last year. Let's hear what the chief knitter had to say about their voluntary community project.   How did your family's knitting project start? We started last year. It was the idea of my niece, the daughter of my eldest sister. She is a doctor (nutrition) at Potch University. She told us our mother (her grandmother ) was a very crafty person and she taught us to knit, crochet, sew and darn. Her words were : " Ouma draai in haar graf om as sy sien haar dogters sit en doen niks vir die gemeenskap nie"... This reminder of helping the community gave birth to our Jerseys For the Children project. Who pays for the wool and otter materials you need for the knitting? Tell us also how you select the organisation that will be given the sets of

Classroom libraries and other school business at Harmony Primary School

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Ernst Esau (far right) standing with the welder and the school caretaker Impromptu visit to Harmony Primary School at the request of the Principal I visited Harmony Primary School today at the request of the principal, Ernst Esau. We had spoken on the telephone earlier and our conversation centred on Ernst's frustrations with their "plankie" school building and the high maintenance bill the school had to foot. Ernst has also been watching the renovations at other schools and our apparent disregard for their plight dominated our discussion. I listened patiently and offered advice as best I could. Then Ernst said, if I had time, could I please pop in at the school because he had a few documents he needed to process. I know our principals fairly well by now and I know the narratives behind such requests. It is the end of term one and the pace at schools is demanding. Throw in budgetary constraints, social issues, teacher fatigue and systems demands, and you know tha

Ashton Whiteboy, a professional lightweight boxer from Mitchell's Plain

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Ashton showing me the uppercut move. I enjoy meeting young people. This week I met a professional boxer, Ashton Whiteboy. Ashton came to our offices to help resolve the internet problems we were experiencing. He struggled to find the problem for a while so I made small talk to pass the time.   Ashton attended Westridge High school in Mitchell's Plain. After sharing some experiences about his school and the Mitchell's Plain area, our conversation shifted to his plans for the future.   "I want to become a professional boxer," Ashton said.   This response came as quite a surprise to me. Of all the possible career paths out there, this young man has chosen to be a boxer. In my head, I just saw mashed faces and jabs flying all over the place. Why has he decided to become a boxer, I asked.   " I come from a family of boxers. My dad who is now my coach, used to be a boxer. I used to go to the gym with him when he used to train. When I was about fourteen, I became inter

Human Rights Day highlights our failure to provide food security for the masses

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How is it possible that after 20 years of being a democracy, half of our people still go to bed hungry every night? Can we seriously claim that people enjoy basic human rights if more than 50% of our nation is starving?   According to a UCT study on access to food security, one of the key basic human rights, more than 50% of South Africans lack food security. Even more startling is the fact that more than 70% of the people in the poorer parts of the Western Cape, don't have access to food - zilch, nada, nothing.   Listen to this information. According to UNICEF, we have regressed over the past 20 years in terms of providing access to food security in our country. UNICEF reports that over 70% of our children are stunted physically and cognitively as a result of food insecurity. In other words, these children cannot grow properly or learn optimally because they are in starvation mode all the time. Sadly, these children are our nation's most precious assets. They are our future

From Pick 'n Pay trolley pusher to Sushi chef

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Grant showing off the sushi plate with Marwaan in the background. Imagine my surprise when I saw Grant, one of my past students at Grassy Park High, preparing sushi! Grant a reserved young man - as he was at school as well - looked bemused and slightly taken aback by the flood of questions I asked him. Never in my wildest dreams did I picture Grant as a chef in the first place.   Grant's colleague, Marwaan, was equally amused by the conversation which centred on Grant's occupation. My head was already well over the sushi bar counter at Pick 'n Pay. I wanted to see how Grant was preparing the California rolls and other sushi delicacies that have names I can never remember. He was preparing the shape of a hotdog length- sized California roll, to be cut into the bite sizes. How did both of them become Sushi chefs, I asked? Wasn't it difficult to learn how to make sushi? . I noticed even the cashier was hovering around to follow this conversation. Marwaan responded first

I met a desktop engineer today

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Faeez is busy configuring my computer Our education district is in the process of migrating to a different mail client service provider. That means all our computers have to be reconfigured. Today it is the turn of our satellite office to be set up for the new mail client, Outlook, which is a Microsoft mail service. I received all this information from Faeez, the desktop technician, who is overseeing this migration process in my office. Faeez is a alumnus of Spine High School, in Mitchell's Plain. I wanted to know why Faeez had chosen this occupation. "They say you normally follow in your father's footsteps and that is true in my case. My father is in the IT industry and I was always exposed to computers. That is where my interest started. When Mweb advertised for interns, I was accepted and worked there in the call centre. I worked there for a year and then  moved to my present company,"said Faeez.  We discussed his high school. I asked

I am a victim of Matric Ball mania for the third time!

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Sasha Before The start of the 2014 school year and the MBM buzz Look, I am risking my motherhood by writing this post about matric balls. But I need an outlet and you are my best confidant now. You see, my daughter, Sasha, is rather ambivalent about her relationship with me during this period. And it is all about this MBM ( Matric Ball Mania) fever that has struck our home. Only two weeks ago I was still the 'fun Mom'. Now I am more the grouch in the closet and her dad is probably the hippest dad on planet earth. I can't recall having a similar experience with Brett and Christo. They knew we had to hire a Tux, buy the shirt they identified and get the shoes. It was that easy. Not so with sister dearest, though. Everything was pretty quiet at the beginning of this year. Sasha and I had agreed last year (December 2013) already that her Matric Ball was going to be relatively low key financially, but an historic event. We decided on a limited budget and got all the a

"Passage" play is part of the Zabalaza Theatre Festival at the Baxter

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Aphiwe Menziwa, one of the actors The play "Passage" explores the conflicts that men experience in modern society. Gone are the days when a man could just lay claim to superiority and authority on the basis of his gender. In today's world the man is vulnerable as he grapples with his identity. The destructive power of cultural and structural arrangements of our society are conveyed through the trauma that each of the young men experience in their lives. Thando Doni,the director of the play, "Passage". Each of the young actors deliver excellent performances. These young male actors who are the offspring of the macho, culturally divided society, were probably taken on their own journey of facing their own demons of macho ness, sexism, racism and cultural barriers. As the play unfolds, one can sense this ambivalence and can see their painful trauma as they try to transcend these divisive behaviours and thinking. Even the sound effects were raw - so fitt

You can enjoy the madding crowd in the Claremont CBD

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One of the stalls If ever you want to spend a morning enjoying the madding crowd, you have to visit Claremont CBD on a Saturday morning. Try not to combine your outing with any major mission like paying bills or compulsory retail visits. You need all your senses to be uncluttered and receptive to the array of sights and sounds of all things human and manmade. The walkway hugging Cavendish Mall is lined with interesting stalls that look more upmarket than your everyday flea market stall. The cosmopolitan feel of the area adds its own dynamic. Somehow it seemed that the whole of Africa was rotating through the area. The array of languages and the rainbow masses created the energy and the vibrancy in the air. I felt like a tourist in my own country, minus the expensive camera though. Taxi guard jumping out of the moving taxi Do make your way to the Main Road as well, just to study the traffic movements for a while. The haphazard movement of the buses, taxis, cars and trucks i