I haven’t told you about my friend Ahmed. I met Ahmed one Saturday, right in the middle of the weeks when I would say that our dear old friend Murphy was visiting – everything that could go wrong was going wrong, or so it seemed at the time. Ahmed is from Pakistan and he repairs cell phones. And I happened to meet him because my nice little Ferrari phone that liked to jump out of my pocket and hit the ground from various heights, decided that it had one too many thrills and died on me. I went to sleep one night, plugged and tucked it in only to wake up the next morning to a cold, expensive paperweight that still made the cool engine sound but was otherwise useless. I couldn’t let myself get too emotional, it was inevitable but of course it wasn’t a convenient time, it never is really but was worried because it was the end of the pay period (read: no money left in the bank).
So my plans changed and Nick (the new PCV working for my organization – not sure if I’ve introduced him yet) and I headed to Tzaneen with less than a plan, only hope that something would work out and I could have a working phone at least by the end of the day. Well, town proved to be a challenge – Nick had to eat as soon as we got there and I said I would but shouldn’t have, considering I was having serious intestinal problems (all day long was dealing with that unpleasantness). Then it turned out Nick ended up leaving his card in the atm machine and so we ran around trying to figure out a solution to that issue as well. We attempted to solve the phone issue but ended up running from one end of town to the other chasing a store that kept changing locations, depending on who you asked for directions. By the time we found the Vodacom store it was closed and all I could do was sit down and cry for a moment. Nick was sweet and let me do my thing and then he suggested we find one of those hole in the wall stores that advertise cell phone repairs. The first one was a bust but the second one we found proved to be the bright spot in an otherwise gloomy day.
Enter my new friend Ahmed. He said that he would look at the phone, right then and there and he even asked me how much I could pay. I warned him that I was a broke volunteer and then suggested R50. He laughed and said that if he could fix it, he would only charge me R100. I pinned my hopes on this very nice Pakistani man and proceeded to wait and chat with his friends for about an hour. When he finally came back he didn’t have good news but my spirits were lifted because he said there was a chance he could fix it if I came back during the week when his shop was actually open. When I asked him where I could go to buy a cheap phone so I could have something for the weekend, he said that I shouldn’t worry, he had a phone he could loan me but we would have to go to his apartment above his shop to get it.
Now I know what you’re thinking because I could see it in Nick’s face but I agreed and decided to trust my new friend (and hoped that if anything went wrong, Nick would help protect me). The 3 of us proceeded to an un-chartered territory of the city, right above the Checkers grocery store. Along the way he asked if I was a Christian and I said I was undecided at this point in my life (whole different story) and he was surprised to hear that. We talked about his Muslim faith for a little bit and he promised to give me some reading materials. We got to his apartment and chatted with his friend while the phones were being sorted out and he again expressed his surprise at an American that did not claim the Christian faith. He showed off his phone gadgets and I listened to some of the prayers that are beautifully changed. Before we left, I promised to come back in a few days to bring his phone back and actually get a new working phone.
He called a few times to make sure I was fine and reassure me that whenever I could get to town it would be fine (and also to assure me that he was not trying to hit on me). I finally got to town but was unsuccessful in buying a new phone (but I did get a modem for work so at least I was going to be connected again) and he assured me he would help get me one for a decent price and that I could continue to borrow the other phone until I actually found a phone I wanted. His hospitality and generosity were amazing and renewed my faith in humanity. I made a promise that I would be back soon and that we would have dinner with him and his friends.
I don’t know why I trusted him immediately but I didn’t get a bad feeling about the situation – he said that he knew he could trust me because of my smile (Nick says that he’s a bit enamored with me and that probably has something to do with it). Maybe it’s the women’s instinct or maybe not but I do know that we can’t be too afraid to open ourselves up to new people and new experiences. That’s what I want my life to be about and it would be a shame if I never trusted the world and people every now and again.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
rocks and rockers
Did I mention that my birthstone is the ruby?
500 raffle tickets are being sold for R200 each. I think I’ll buy 1 and ask for a couple for my birthday. This reminds me of a time back when I was working as a Resident Director for Western State. I went to a res life conference and they had all these furniture and other dorm necessity reps there. At one point I passed a guy that had a glider rocking chair on display. I sat down and was in immediate heaven. Just my luck, they were raffling off that chair later that evening. I was the first person to put my card in. AND I WON! To this day, that is the only piece of furniture I own, that and a butterfly shaped coffee table one of my friends made for me (thanks Erik – I still have it). I just knew deep down inside that rocker was destined to be favorite piece of furniture.
Maybe if I believe enough, the same will come true for me and this jewelry set.
What’s really cool is that regardless of who gets to walk home with the jewelry, Phedišang will make R100,000 once all 500 tickets are sold. That’s almost 2 months of operations for us. We also have an 18 month wall calendar/family organizer for sale for R200. Beautiful pictures of the kids and some volunteers and good through Dec 2009. Let me know if you’re interested in either!! (exchange rate is roughly R7.5 to $1)
500 raffle tickets are being sold for R200 each. I think I’ll buy 1 and ask for a couple for my birthday. This reminds me of a time back when I was working as a Resident Director for Western State. I went to a res life conference and they had all these furniture and other dorm necessity reps there. At one point I passed a guy that had a glider rocking chair on display. I sat down and was in immediate heaven. Just my luck, they were raffling off that chair later that evening. I was the first person to put my card in. AND I WON! To this day, that is the only piece of furniture I own, that and a butterfly shaped coffee table one of my friends made for me (thanks Erik – I still have it). I just knew deep down inside that rocker was destined to be favorite piece of furniture.
Maybe if I believe enough, the same will come true for me and this jewelry set.
What’s really cool is that regardless of who gets to walk home with the jewelry, Phedišang will make R100,000 once all 500 tickets are sold. That’s almost 2 months of operations for us. We also have an 18 month wall calendar/family organizer for sale for R200. Beautiful pictures of the kids and some volunteers and good through Dec 2009. Let me know if you’re interested in either!! (exchange rate is roughly R7.5 to $1)
cows going home
Today I got annoyed for no reason. I know that the people around me contributed to my annoyed-ness but they shouldn’t have, I should have let it go – I wish I could just not little things effect me. So I left work later than I wanted to (my own fault) and just didn’t feel like socializing. However being one of the few white people in this area, most of the time, people want to talk to me. The novelty may have worn off for me but it will never wear off for those in this area, there are just too many people! I even ducked out the view of this little kid who was staring at me in the taxi. Usually I love all kids but when they interact with me it’s a little bit more welcoming than just getting bug eyes.
As I made my way home, I slowly started to feel better. I was convincing myself to go for a run and as I made my way down my main street, I ran into some of the little kids I adore from the village. And each one let me swoop them up in my arms and we giggled together for a few moments. That’ll break any rotten mood wide open and only leave room for a big smile. I also knew that getting the physical activity would help my mood so I quickly changed and set out. It’s amazing how I dread exercising and will talk myself out of doing it many times yet when I’m out there doing it, it feels so good to be moving my body. I realize this every time I run for the first time after a hiatus of a few weeks, despite my good intentions of sticking with it this time. Here there are a lot of factors that keep me from running and I hope that when I move back to a city, maybe I’ll be better about keeping it up but I know that there will always be something getting in my way, so I guess I just need to stop making excuses.
Anyway, I was running with a couple of the girls and we ended up behind these cows that were on their way home. We freaked them out and they started running as if we were coming after them with hot pokers or something. Lucky for them, we turned left and they turned right. I got such a kick out of this for some reason. It’s hard to explain why these little things bring me such joy but they do.
We finished the run, and even though Refiloe thought I was torturing her by running a bit longer than our usual route, I felt good. Another thing I can’t quite explain, just hanging out with these girls lightens my mood. We have nothing in common, they are 10+ years younger than me but I still call them my friends. They are who I seek out here in the village when I just need a break from thinking about work. I’m not sure they realize it but they are going to be what makes it hard to leave in September. How do I say goodbye to people that have had such a profound impact on my life? Hopefully it really won’t be goodbye, just see you later. For now I can’t worry about these things, I have to be here, enjoying the last few months that we have.
As I made my way home, I slowly started to feel better. I was convincing myself to go for a run and as I made my way down my main street, I ran into some of the little kids I adore from the village. And each one let me swoop them up in my arms and we giggled together for a few moments. That’ll break any rotten mood wide open and only leave room for a big smile. I also knew that getting the physical activity would help my mood so I quickly changed and set out. It’s amazing how I dread exercising and will talk myself out of doing it many times yet when I’m out there doing it, it feels so good to be moving my body. I realize this every time I run for the first time after a hiatus of a few weeks, despite my good intentions of sticking with it this time. Here there are a lot of factors that keep me from running and I hope that when I move back to a city, maybe I’ll be better about keeping it up but I know that there will always be something getting in my way, so I guess I just need to stop making excuses.
Anyway, I was running with a couple of the girls and we ended up behind these cows that were on their way home. We freaked them out and they started running as if we were coming after them with hot pokers or something. Lucky for them, we turned left and they turned right. I got such a kick out of this for some reason. It’s hard to explain why these little things bring me such joy but they do.
We finished the run, and even though Refiloe thought I was torturing her by running a bit longer than our usual route, I felt good. Another thing I can’t quite explain, just hanging out with these girls lightens my mood. We have nothing in common, they are 10+ years younger than me but I still call them my friends. They are who I seek out here in the village when I just need a break from thinking about work. I’m not sure they realize it but they are going to be what makes it hard to leave in September. How do I say goodbye to people that have had such a profound impact on my life? Hopefully it really won’t be goodbye, just see you later. For now I can’t worry about these things, I have to be here, enjoying the last few months that we have.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
fit for a princess (or punkin)
I’m exhausted but today was a good day. We had a big fundraiser for Phedišang and even though I maybe didn’t get up super early or have a ton of jobs, just being ‘on’ and worrying about everything can be taxing. Plus, I was on my feet all day. It was a Family Fun Day and we had a jumping castle, a big blow up slide, carnival style food, face painting and lots of singing and musical entertainment and an auction.
For the auction we had some beautiful paintings that were donated as well as weekend getaways, sports memorabilia and expensive wine. By far the most amazing item was the jewelry that a local jeweler commissioned for us. Sue donated thai rubies – they are a bit different than the rubies most people are used to, they have more of a purplish red hue instead of the blood red. The jeweler, Charles Greig, set the stones with some small diamonds and used rose gold and voila, we had ourselves a very GORGEOUS, very expensive necklace and earrings set. Sue and Leigh decided that the best way to show case the jewelry was if someone wore it. I immediately jumped at the chance to wear this exquisite jewelry.
Any one want to take a guess how much they think this is worth?
R10,000? Keep dreaming, no way. There are 14 rubies and little diamonds equal to 1 carat and gold.
R25,000? Not even close. Charles Greig is a very established jeweler.
R40,000? That was just the reserve price.
Ladies and gentlemen, this delicately beautiful jewelry is valued at R85,000. I was wearing R85,000 worth of jewelry. I felt like a princess. But my fairytale was short lived – the organizer of the day decided she didn’t want anyone to wear the jewelry so I had to take it off after only a couple hours. I went back to being a normal girl that can’t even pretend to afford something like that.
Or can I? The day went well, we had a fair amount of people show up and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. The auction went well but I was nervous the whole time hoping that we had enough high rollers in the vicinity to get a fair price for the paintings and other things, especially the jewelry. Well, there wasn’t quite the response we were hoping for and the bids for the jewelry didn’t even get as high as the reserve so we took it out of the auction.
A plan was made and we’ve decided that we’ll sell raffle tickets and in a couple months, we’ll hold a drinks or dinner party for the big pull. 1000 tickets for R100 each and you too can have a chance to own this amazing set. That, I think I will take my chances on. The odds may not be in my favor but I’m sure I’ll be able to spare a few hundred rand for a chance to own this amazing piece. I’ve already worn it, it fit perfectly and maybe, just maybe my fairytale could come true. Although I’m really not sure I would know what to do with that asset in my name. But I can dream.
Back to reality though… the important thing is that this is all benefiting Phedišang and the kids that are struggling to eat enough and get enough love in their lives. It was a good day, we made some good contacts and hopefully even more great things are coming for our kids and the communities they live in.
For the auction we had some beautiful paintings that were donated as well as weekend getaways, sports memorabilia and expensive wine. By far the most amazing item was the jewelry that a local jeweler commissioned for us. Sue donated thai rubies – they are a bit different than the rubies most people are used to, they have more of a purplish red hue instead of the blood red. The jeweler, Charles Greig, set the stones with some small diamonds and used rose gold and voila, we had ourselves a very GORGEOUS, very expensive necklace and earrings set. Sue and Leigh decided that the best way to show case the jewelry was if someone wore it. I immediately jumped at the chance to wear this exquisite jewelry.
Any one want to take a guess how much they think this is worth?
R10,000? Keep dreaming, no way. There are 14 rubies and little diamonds equal to 1 carat and gold.
R25,000? Not even close. Charles Greig is a very established jeweler.
R40,000? That was just the reserve price.
Ladies and gentlemen, this delicately beautiful jewelry is valued at R85,000. I was wearing R85,000 worth of jewelry. I felt like a princess. But my fairytale was short lived – the organizer of the day decided she didn’t want anyone to wear the jewelry so I had to take it off after only a couple hours. I went back to being a normal girl that can’t even pretend to afford something like that.
Or can I? The day went well, we had a fair amount of people show up and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. The auction went well but I was nervous the whole time hoping that we had enough high rollers in the vicinity to get a fair price for the paintings and other things, especially the jewelry. Well, there wasn’t quite the response we were hoping for and the bids for the jewelry didn’t even get as high as the reserve so we took it out of the auction.
A plan was made and we’ve decided that we’ll sell raffle tickets and in a couple months, we’ll hold a drinks or dinner party for the big pull. 1000 tickets for R100 each and you too can have a chance to own this amazing set. That, I think I will take my chances on. The odds may not be in my favor but I’m sure I’ll be able to spare a few hundred rand for a chance to own this amazing piece. I’ve already worn it, it fit perfectly and maybe, just maybe my fairytale could come true. Although I’m really not sure I would know what to do with that asset in my name. But I can dream.
Back to reality though… the important thing is that this is all benefiting Phedišang and the kids that are struggling to eat enough and get enough love in their lives. It was a good day, we made some good contacts and hopefully even more great things are coming for our kids and the communities they live in.
Monday, May 12, 2008
can't get much lower than that
Packing for another trip to Johannesburg tonight. Tomorrow I’ll be back in the big city with our new volunteer, Nick, and one of the manager candidates and my neighbor, Susan. It should be a fun week but definitely busy getting ready for the big fundraising event on Sunday. This is Susan’s first trip to the big city too so I want to make sure she haves fun. She’s pretty nervous too so I want to make sure she isn’t on edge all week.
Work stress…there’s been quite a bit that I’ve alluded to lately. Most of it has finally blown over so I feel ok sharing it now. After the Sekororo office had an unusually high financial request, I was asked to investigate a bit deeper. Well, this is the office that I’ve been working on the books with the bookkeeper for a few months now. Only in January did we finally get all the monthly cash books balanced – it hadn’t been done once since this office opened and that was back in 2006! But we fixed those problems and moved onto the next. Well once I started digging a little deeper into their financial reports, there were some funny things I noticed so I went to my supervisor. To make a really long story short, it turns out one of the staff members was stealing from us. After more information was obtained, sad to say, both staff members for that office were actually involved in the theft.
I worked long hours for 2 weeks straight, putting all the information together and writing up reports. It was exhausting, stressful and emotionally draining. The one staff member, Motale, that I suspected was stealing was the one that I’ve had the hardest time working with. She’s the one that has driven me to my limits many times. What breaks my heart is that I had no idea Mamotupa was apart of it. The moment I found that out, in the meeting with Ledile (the supervisor), I just bowed my head and looked at my hands. I knew that if Motale was stealing, she was going to have to be fired but at that moment, I knew that Mamotupa would have to go as well. She would never have done it if it weren’t for Motale. Motale was the poison that seeped into so many days, spread her bad attitude around and held Mamotupa back. I was hurt that Mamotupa would agree to something like that, and sad that she didn’t have the strength to say no.
There was a bunch of back and forth between Leigh and the committee and I was the go between. The committee wanted leniency but Leigh, and frankly I felt the same way, wouldn’t have it. How can we honestly fundraise and assure our donors that we are taking care of their money if we keep the 2 people that consciously stole from us! They stole money that goes directly to feeding orphans. It doesn’t get any lower than that.
As far as I’m concerned, good riddance Motale – I’m glad her nasty, infectious attitude is gone. I’m sad that Mamotupa is gone but she made her peace with us. When we told her, she was really torn up and it took every ounce of my energy to not cry with her. But she accepted the consequences and was glad that the money she stole was taken out of her stipend and going back to the orphans – she knew that was the right thing to do. Motale showed no remorse and then told people at the office that I fired her. Yes, that’s the kind of person she is. I didn’t even speak during the meeting – Ledile did all the talking!
As Acting-Manager, I had to play a big role in the whole process. Ledile was an amazing guide throughout the whole ordeal. She was able to keep her emotions out of it, always professional. I learned a lot from her, by just talking with her and watching how she wouldn’t let the set backs stop her from moving forward. At one point she told me that even if everyone is against you, you must keep moving forward and not waver in what you believe and know is right. Sooner or later, the people around you will come around – they will understand and see the bigger picture in the end. She’s a wise woman and I’m glad that I’ve been able to work with her.
And that is why I enjoyed every minute of my holiday and didn’t think twice about work. But those stories are coming, for now I’m off to bed in order to tackle yet another busy and long day tomorrow.
Work stress…there’s been quite a bit that I’ve alluded to lately. Most of it has finally blown over so I feel ok sharing it now. After the Sekororo office had an unusually high financial request, I was asked to investigate a bit deeper. Well, this is the office that I’ve been working on the books with the bookkeeper for a few months now. Only in January did we finally get all the monthly cash books balanced – it hadn’t been done once since this office opened and that was back in 2006! But we fixed those problems and moved onto the next. Well once I started digging a little deeper into their financial reports, there were some funny things I noticed so I went to my supervisor. To make a really long story short, it turns out one of the staff members was stealing from us. After more information was obtained, sad to say, both staff members for that office were actually involved in the theft.
I worked long hours for 2 weeks straight, putting all the information together and writing up reports. It was exhausting, stressful and emotionally draining. The one staff member, Motale, that I suspected was stealing was the one that I’ve had the hardest time working with. She’s the one that has driven me to my limits many times. What breaks my heart is that I had no idea Mamotupa was apart of it. The moment I found that out, in the meeting with Ledile (the supervisor), I just bowed my head and looked at my hands. I knew that if Motale was stealing, she was going to have to be fired but at that moment, I knew that Mamotupa would have to go as well. She would never have done it if it weren’t for Motale. Motale was the poison that seeped into so many days, spread her bad attitude around and held Mamotupa back. I was hurt that Mamotupa would agree to something like that, and sad that she didn’t have the strength to say no.
There was a bunch of back and forth between Leigh and the committee and I was the go between. The committee wanted leniency but Leigh, and frankly I felt the same way, wouldn’t have it. How can we honestly fundraise and assure our donors that we are taking care of their money if we keep the 2 people that consciously stole from us! They stole money that goes directly to feeding orphans. It doesn’t get any lower than that.
As far as I’m concerned, good riddance Motale – I’m glad her nasty, infectious attitude is gone. I’m sad that Mamotupa is gone but she made her peace with us. When we told her, she was really torn up and it took every ounce of my energy to not cry with her. But she accepted the consequences and was glad that the money she stole was taken out of her stipend and going back to the orphans – she knew that was the right thing to do. Motale showed no remorse and then told people at the office that I fired her. Yes, that’s the kind of person she is. I didn’t even speak during the meeting – Ledile did all the talking!
As Acting-Manager, I had to play a big role in the whole process. Ledile was an amazing guide throughout the whole ordeal. She was able to keep her emotions out of it, always professional. I learned a lot from her, by just talking with her and watching how she wouldn’t let the set backs stop her from moving forward. At one point she told me that even if everyone is against you, you must keep moving forward and not waver in what you believe and know is right. Sooner or later, the people around you will come around – they will understand and see the bigger picture in the end. She’s a wise woman and I’m glad that I’ve been able to work with her.
And that is why I enjoyed every minute of my holiday and didn’t think twice about work. But those stories are coming, for now I’m off to bed in order to tackle yet another busy and long day tomorrow.
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