Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Dzagbe Cudjoe reading a story to children at a Primary School in Hilton, South Africa

The Author Reading a story from her book


Author Interview at Book Signing Part 2

Author Interview at Book Signing


Visit to the Crazy Duck and Other Places

As I hadn't given the children an outing I took us all off to "The Crazy Duck" where there are all sorts of animals, horse rides and a miniature train. Savannah was not with us as she had opted to stay with her aunt and cousin.

The Crazy Duck is clearly only really interested in generating income although they do run an animal rehabilitation centre. Many of the cages are very small, there are no informative notices about the animals and worst of all visitor safety seems to be a matter of indifference. Children could put their fingers through the metal fence and touch the crocodiles! No helmets were provided for children on the horse rides. A poor young lynx was in a tiny enclosure right at the entrance to the rehabilitation area. She was being teased by a group of Afrikaans speaking children. I told them nicely but firmly to stop.

It is a good outing for children as they can feed ducks, geese, parrots and numerous other birds. There are also rats, hamsters, guinea pigs, goats, snakes, tortoises, antelopes, ostriches, ponies and the afore-mentioned crocodiles.

The train ride was a complete rip-off and badly organized.

After lunch we went to the Albert Falls Miniature Railway which was constructed and is run by a friend of Donnette's father. I was persuaded to take a ride and it was great fun. There is a properly laid track and the train goes over bridges and through tunnels.

We then went to Albert Falls where there is an important dam. The cascades are beautiful but somewhat marred by the workshops right in front of them which are full of steel girders and abandoned machinery. We had bought lovely fresh mealies (corn) earlier and Donnette gave the workers enough so that they could roast them when they had a break. I thought that was a really nice gesture on Donnette's part.

http://www.strategicbookpublishing.com/TalesMyGhanaianGrandmotherToldMe.html

http://www.dance-to-health-help-your-special-needs-child.com
http://www.squidoo.com/lensmasters/Donnette

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

"Gift of the Givers" Slide Show on a visit to Gaza by Zohra Sooliman

4th March, 2009
Julie had invited me to accompany her to this slide show and talk which was held in Pietermaritzberg. The policy of "Gift of the Givers Foundation"is expressed as "Gift of the Givers Foundation is the largest disaster response NGO of African origin in the African continent. Coming into being in 1992, we have evolved into an agency that stands out as one of the best in the world. Entrepreneurship, job creation, bursaries, mosquito nets, blankets, clinics, counselling and life skills services are all facets of our expanding and diverse activities.Building bridges between people of different cultures and religions, instilling hope and dignity and creating opportunity are all integral aspects of our philosophy. Our assistance is purely humanitarian and unconditional.

We assist irrespective of race, religion, colour, class, political affiliation or geographical boundary. We work with governments to get out assistance delivered but do not align ourselves politically to any party. Our credo is "The best among people are those who benefit mankind".

The audience consisted entirely of women. The ladies of Indian descent were wearing a variety of outfits. Julie was not wearing anything that identified her as a Muslim, others wore headscarves with traditional attire from the sub-continent, our lecturer wore a headscarf with a western style patterned blouse and white trousers. There was only one woman completely covered from head to foot. Her outfit was decorated with black lace something I had never seen before and she was carrying a smart black handbag.She exposed her face on arrival and covered up again on departure. There were two "white" South Africans and one "black" South African woman in addition to myself. The later was clearly a person of education and authority.

Zohra Sooliman who is a physiologist, her husband and founder of "Gift of the Givers" Dr. Imtiaz Sooliman, medical specialists and journalists had formed a party of about forty people who had entered Gaza about three weeks after the ceasefire at the beginning of this year.

Zohra and the whole team had worked in some cases almost literally twenty four hours a day to treat people and alleviate suffering. Zohra had been helping adults and children with post traumatic stress using a technique called EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitizing).

The slides were a very powerful accompaniment to her words. Zohra stated that the Israeli's are clearly not following the accepted rules of war. They are using white phosphorus a banned substance for which there is no cure for those affected by it.

Zohra made a clear distinction between the policies and attitudes of the Israeli government and the Israeli people. She mentioned that there are growing numbers of Israeli's who are looking for peaceful resolution to the present situation.

After the talk we were offered refreshments. Julie (who really is a wonderful publicity manager) started talking to Zohra about "Tales My Ghanaian Grandmother Told Me". She had, with admirable foresight, brought along the publicity pack which Donnette had made up.Zohra was very interested and immediately started asking about what newspaper and radio coverage I had received. She expressed the thought that we were destined to met and said she would see what she could do to help me. She has a husband, five children and regularly gives talks so she asked me if she could ring me in the evening in a day or two. Zohra really is a truly exceptional woman!

e-mail careline@giftofthegivers.org
web http://www.giftofthegivers.org

Saturday, March 14, 2009

A Day Out with the Children

7th March,2009

As I hadn't given the children an outing I took us all to "The Crafty Duck" where there are all sorts of animals, horse rides and a minature train. Savannah was not with us as she had opted to stay with her aunt and cousins.
The Crafty Duck is clearly mainly interested in generating income although they do run a rehabilitation centre. Many of the cages are very small, there are no informative notices about the animals and worst of all visitor safety seem to be a matter of indifference. Children could put their fingers through the fence and touch the crocodiles. No helmets were provided forchildren on the horse rides. A poor young lynx was in a tiny enclosure right at the entrance to the rehabilitation area. She was being teased by a group of afrikaans speaking children. I told them nicely but firmly to stop.

It is a good outing for children as they can feed ducks, geese, parrots and numerous other birds. There are also rats, hamsters, guinea pigs, goats, snakes tortoises, antelopes, ponies and the afore-mentioned crocodiles.

The train ride was a complete rip-off and badly organised.

After lunch we went to Albert Falls Miniature Railway which was constructed and is run by a friend of Donnette's father. I was persuaded to take a ride and it was great fun. There is a properly laid track and the train goes over bridges and through tunnels.

Next we went to Albert Falls where there is dam. The cascades are beautiful but somewhat marred by the workshops right in front of them which are full of steel girders and abandoned machinery. We had bought lovely fresh mealies earlier and Donnette gave the workers enough so that they could roast them when they had a break. I thought that was a lovely gesture.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Visit to Howick Falls, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa

Tuesday,24th February,2009
My new friend Julie who I met when out walking last week came to take me to Howick Falls about 30 kilometres from here. She came in to meet Donnette and the two got on very well together. Julie asked how the book signing went and before I knew it to my delight she offered to introduce me to Wycliffe school where one of her granddaughters goes.
Julie has a nice car and is an admirably careful driver. On arrival at Howick Falls it was raining. The way to the Falls is lined with tourist stalls and shops. I took a few photos of the waterfall which is an impressive 95 meters high. The view is spectacular. I learnt later that no one goes anywhere near the Falls after dark as people have been thrown over the Falls.
As the rain made prolonged viewing of the Falls rather uncomfortable Julie and I opted to visit Howick Museum. This is a typical local museum with great emphasis on worthies of the past. Apparently electricity has been produced from the Falls since the early nineteenth century and continues to do so. Howick was also a great centre for the production of rubber. The old buildings are still standing.
There was a display of traditional medicine which was accompanied by a photograph of a herbalist of Indian ancestry. Julie knew him and said how sorry she was that she couldn’t take me to meet him because he lived in a Pietermarisburg area which is now too dangerous to visit.
The curator came out and I had an interesting conversation with her about the recording of Zulu stories and traditions. Apparently the museum is financed by the municipality and has little money.
He rain had stopped and the sun came out so we went back to the Falls to take a few more photos. After that we went and wandered around a second hand bookshop and an old building that now houses a number of antique shops.
After this we headed back to Pietermaritzburg and had a coffee before going to Wycliffe School. This is a girls boarding school founded early in the last century. The extremely attractive buildings are sited in beautiful grounds which house tennis courts and a huge swimming pool. The inside of the buildings rivals any of the girl’s boarding schools in England. Pupil’s art work of an exceptionally high quality adorned the walls.
The very polite pupils were mainly “white” with a sprinkling of “black” faces. The teachers were all very outgoing and friendly and Julie and I were handed over to the Librarian. She was immediately receptive to the idea of my doing a reading and will be in touch. Many of the girls come from outside South Africa from countries such as Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Julie is a delight. She is bright, intelligent and we have much in common. We are planning further outings.
http://www.strategicbookpublishing.com/TalesMyGhanaianGrandmotherToldMe.html
http://www.dance-to-health-help-your-special-needs-child.com