Johannesburg Zoo

Dirk had to work on Monday, but the girls still had a day off from school. So I went with another mom, Donna and her daugther Heidi and another friend of Jasmine, Zhara to the Joburg Zoo. It was again a nice and sunny day, but that is the norm here ;-) The 4 girls were a bit giddy and silly together. Calling out the names of the animals when they discovered one or 2 sitting in their shaded area. Grosing out on the snakes, and especially about the little chicks the snakes had for dinner, it was so poor for these little chickens.. but hey that is the life in the wild. Survival of the fittest!
the huge gorilla was a big hit!
And the flamingos were so beautiful.

So after a while wondering around seeing all the animals, the girls wanted an ice cream. So we stopped at this little booth and enjoyed a cool treat. Suddenly this group of children with 2 teachers approached the ice cream booth and Donna and me were looking at each other: are they buying ice cream for ALL these kids? No, they didn't they just bought themselves an ice cream and let the poor little children sit there and watch them eat it! We were both disgusted with this scenery, so I went up to the teacher and asked her if we had her permission to buy these kids an ice cream. Sure she said, and so we did. We bought 64 ice cream for this group of cute little 4 years old, and they had the time of their life! And so did we!!

Afterwards the teachers gave us a big hug and thank you for our good deed. And I thought by myself: Maybe they didn't have the money to buy all these kids an ice cream, but then at least DON'T buy yourself an ice cream as well. But hey, the kids didn't seem to mind, they were so sweet and well behaved!! I could have adopted them all ;-)I am not sure Dirk would liked that idea ;-)


So our long weekend is over, back to school again for the girls and back for me in my normal routine. I am getting quite good at going to the gym these days. 3 times Curves a week and 2 times Bikram Yoga, my body has to show results pretty soon, so far it is minimal, but I am feeling so much better!!

Have a good week y'all!
Mireille

A day in the life of.....

What amazes me in the morning when I drive to my gym, is that I see hundreds of people walking on the streets, going to work, going to school or looking for a day job. That is the daily routine of the South Africans.
Hundreds of men and women walking from their township to their job. There are hardly any bikes or cars available for this group of lower educated people. So they walk, and walk and walk, miles to their job. Each morning when the sun comes up it starts already, coming from fields and all sides you can look at, they come and walk. Sometimes when they reach the main street they can take a taxi....more an old mini van where they wait till it is full. Then they stop at another major intersection and they get out. The rest of their trip they have to walk again.

And looking at the women is the most amazing sight. Not only do they carry their baby on the back, but big packages on their heads as well, while they walk for miles. Wrapped in these beautiful clothes with the most bright colors, just great to see.

Then there is another thing that struck a core with me, all the men sitting on the side of the road, with a paintbrush in their hands, or a sign that they are good at construction or some other job. They are day workers and just waiting on the side of the road, hoping that they are offered a job at a construction side or other job. Hard to live your life that way, you don't know if you have some money or a meal that day.

And then of course the happy children, who go to school. All in uniforms, so cute. These children are the more fortunate ones, there are many who can't afford a uniform or go to school.

What you also will see are lots of men at the traffic lights giving out flyers for business's or selling drinks, newspapers and other small items. Well, we are told that it is better not to open your window and buy something from these men. I believe in general they are good people just trying to make a buck, but better to be safe than sorry and keep your window shut.

The saddest sight is a women standing there with her baby on the back asking for a Rand or 2, that breaks my heart, and sometimes I give a few Rand, but am I helping her with that?? I don't know, maybe better to give something to eat...but I don't have that laying around in my car. You never know if they use the money for buying glue to sniff. That is the saddest part of living in South Africa, life can be really tough for a big group of people and it is not easy to be confronted with that every day!

Think about it; how your life can be so different, it all depends where your cradle stood at the moment you were born. Let's try to support an organisation that is close to your heart and help somebody. There are many in need!

Love & Peace to you all!
Mireille