Here is something that I wrote a few weeks ago when the world was still normal.  I didn’t share this post until now because shortly after I wrote it, everything changed.  It changed for me and it changed for you and it changed the weight of my words.  If you carry on reading you will understand.  I decide to share it today because today I want to make a small, tiny little step towards turning words into action.

I have been in touch with a dear friend who works for an organisation in Walmer Township, Port Elizabeth.  There is a great need to support people in these township communities and I don’t know where to start.  We don’t even have that much to give financially right now (so many of us in this position) but I have a little and I know there are other ways to give.  One of those ways for me is to share this message and share this information.  There are people in our communities who have no food during this lockdown.  There are organisations who have permission to move around and help them but they need our support.

This is from Celia:
“Izizwe Projects is a Non-profit Organization in Walmer Township. Since the lockdown many families have been suffering. Considering that some of the children were fed at the creches as well as the schools and some parents at the soup kitchens. We have taken it upon ourselves for find help for those who aren’t in a position to help themselves. We have started a campaign #Help us help others. The idea is so help families to at least get the essential needs such as food (these are just the basics like maize meal, sugar, rice, flour, cooking oil) cleaning material as well as electricity or paraffin for those without electricity.”

Here is my original post that I wrote back when things were normal:

This is a tough one.  I’ve not exposed this part of my heart in my blog or Instagram posts before.  It makes sense for me to do so and I have always known that I will.  It’s definitely what I truly want to be writing about, but it’s tough.  It’s tough because I don’t know where to begin and I don’t feel qualified to even begin.  But I have decided that a good idea is to just begin.  It’s time for me to begin to return to these things.

And that’s why I decided to introduce you to this part of my heart.  I want to begin to take steps to actively seek ways to step into alignment with the things that God has called me to.  This I do prayerfully and with a good degree of feeling unqualified, but that’s I suppose how to begin anything.

Before we had children, before we started a demanding business together, Fred and I sought out opportunities to involve ourselves in community projects where we could use our resources, time and spiritual gifts to display to those in desperate situations that we care, and more importantly that there is a miracle-working God who cares.

And that’s all I want to say for now.  This week I found out that a young woman of 18 years had passed away.  I knew her 10 years ago and here is what I wrote 10 years ago:

“When I was a little girl, I told my parents that one day I would like to live in the township.  Perspective is an interesting thing, and I suppose a young child is yet to develop the perceptions that will later guide their judgements.  I can’t quite recall what attracted me to the township, perhaps it was the children that I waved at from my car window.  I saw children playing.

Today I see children playing, but I recognise a darkness in their midst.  The innocence of childhood games juxtaposed against the implications of poverty.  One of the ways this darkness manifests itself is in a virus.  A virus that steals futures.  I know a little girl who has lived in the grip of this virus since the day she was born, her name is Yonela.

Yonela is eight years old.  She doesn’t have a mom and lives with extended family.  She stayed in the hospital for a week once, and nobody visited her.  She understood this to be ordinary and did not cry.  One day I went to visit her at her home and found her with infected sores covering her face.  We were able to bring treatment.  Yonela sat still and endured the pain as a nursing student applied antiseptic and pealed infected scabs from her face.  A single tear rolled down her cheek but she did not make a sound.  I guess she felt relieved to know there was help, even though it hurt.

Sometimes it’s acceptable because there are so many like Yonela.  I have lived in this world long enough to have developed perceptions that limit urgency in my response.  But I remind myself that the way things are is not the way things are supposed to be.”

If you are in a position to financially give to the Izizwe Projects Emergency Relief Fund, the details are below.  There is more information available on the Go Get Funding page (link below).  Money that is donated will be used to provide food and essential items for families in Walmer Township, Port Elizabeth.  These are people who have no income and no food during lockdown.

Click here for the Go Get Funding support page>
Bank details:
Izizwe Volunteer Projects
First National Bank
Account Number: 62469816618
SA Clearing: 261050(00)
BIC/Swift: FIRNZAJJ
Address:  3 Chalmers Rd, Humewood, 6001, Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Reference: Donation

Here is a short video taken during one of my visits with Yonela in 2010.