The Glory and Shame of District Six

Cape Town is not my city of birth and for some that will eternally mean I am not a ' real' Capetonian. In the words of Simba from the Lion King " Ha ha ha I laugh in the face if danger" :)
But Jokes aside, there is a richness and sadness to the History of Cape Town in particular which falls obviously into the wider and greater History of our beautiful and sad country. Much of this history rich with tales of slavery and war I read from the pages of my biased History book at school. So it is thrilling to me to be living here now and so being able to try and discover for myself the richness and, aroma the colours and beauty of Cape Town and some of its history.

Distict Six lies at the foot of the famous Table and is a prime and greatly situated piece of land. Each time we drive to the Waterfront the scar where once homes and hustle and bustle of a very rich life lies open like the wound it created in the hearts and minds of so many who once lived there. In the 1950's , when the then

Apartheid government decided to pass the Group Areas Act in so doing with the stroke of a pen created a monster . We live with that monster lurking and laughing as it is dragged and scratched from the law books but sadly not so easily from the tragic experience of those who used to live there.

Some jolting reminders of the reality of the country of my birth. A land I love very deeply. A country I feel ashamed because of the past. A country with so much beauty and hope for the future. During the 90's Doug and I were very much politically minded and he was involved in the then ANC. It was a very, very exciting time for us. The old days were on the way out and we stood on the cusp of the birth of a new country. Freedom and democracy stood tall and proud and it was a glorious day indeed. We gathered with thousands in Pretoria to experience the incorporation of President Nelson Mandela and we wept and sang for joy. Long gone were the days of bombs and death. Days were prejudge and segregation ruled and brought with them brutality and murder. Gone were the days where the state killed its citizens and people lived with terror and fear. We had passed from politically darkness into political light and it felt and seemed so good. Indeed it was good!


But I am diverging somewhat. My son in grade 5 is learning about population and in his studies there was a section on District six and the Group Areas Act. We decided to Google some stuff about District Six and this set me off. The old activist was back and I was once again in that place where those very deep reminders of the country I grew up in loomed so large again. In some ways I am grateful for these reminders. Like when Doug and I watched The Bang Bang Club last week. A great movie full of history and reality and yet so enormously painful to watch. We were transported back to that time and once again we said , " we just forget how absolutely awful this country was"........... It disturbed us for days afterward.

I end with this. This week our new democratic government passed a new bill on information. It is a difficult bill to understand and so I will not lay claim to being clear on all its ins and outs. I have listened to the debate and tried to glean form ANC stalwarts like Ben Turock what he does not feel comfortable with. I have listened to the voice of reason from Doug who sees past all the emotion and cuts to the core. I am still confused about the bill but am clearer on what should happen.
That is we should rejoice and be glad. That might sound strange to some because should this bill be implemented it does not bode well on all fronts and it was indeed a black Tuesday and yet.... and yet we should be glad. Over that week we had some great debate and people were able to voice their concerns. ( Hopefully not for the last time;) ) I rejoice because we no longer live in a place where laws exist to divide us and break us . We do not live in a country where civil war rules in Soweto and Kagiso and Thembis and Alex. We do not live in a country were people are forcebly removed from the foothills of the Table to the Cape Flats just because they have a dark skin. I realise this is simplistic but sometimes I wonder if we remember where we were..

South Africa is not a perfect Democracy. It has enormous problems which are depressing and concerning. But I thank Jesus for his mercy on us. While we were still sinners he died for us so that we could be reunited with him. Because he rules we are able to experience relative peace and gain some real healing in relationships where the past broke and Jesus has healed.

Nkosi Sikele IAfrika - God Bless Africa..... hear our cry.

Silent Tears

I have decided to write about something that chills most people to the bone. Childhood sexual abuse.

I have to pause here and really think about how to approach what I feel needs to be said. I ponder the hesitation and conclude that this is a very heavy topic. Perhaps a topic to heavy to talk about in the open. But this even I feel I must say something. Just something.......

Over these two weeks I have spoken to 2 women who are brave enough to share their stories with me. Brave, brave women who have survived and more than that who live and grow and flourish as women despite the horrid experiences they endured at the wicked hands of another.

As I was cooking supper this evening an anger began to rise within me and so I decided to write about the silent tears that are shed by those who walk among us; those we know and love ; those we work with; hundreds upon hundreds of women and men who as little girls were violated in a sexual way. As I stirred the tomato I absentmindedly began to count how many women had shared their story with me. In a flash I counted 5. With more careful consideration I can count up to 20 such women. A brother, uncle, father, teacher, cousin, friend's father, domestic help , neighbour, grandfather, boyfriend of a sibling, etc. etc......

Childhood sexual abuse is wicked. It lurks about like an invisible mist traveling here and there and destroying and breaking as it goes. As I listen to these women and their individual stories I am struck by a few things. Firstly they are broken and have been very deeply wounded by their experience. Secondly each woman had searched out professional help which probably enabled them to speak openly about their pain and experience and lastly each knew the person who had abused them personally.

This evening I would like to salute these women. Women of great courage and strength. Women who traveled towards their deep pain and hurt and longed for healing and searched for it. Women who have risked trusting another human being when all they knew about trust was destroyed.

I also want to salute the loving men who have come along side these women and cared and loved enough. These men have been part of the healing and help that these women needed. Each has described a husband who has been part of the real and rightly intended intimacy and been part of the healing.

I know that many of them have faced great struggles and hurdles to healing but have preserved. Perhaps these wounds and hurts will be a life long challenge. For many women Jesus has been their constant love and hope and healer. How great he is.....

As I hear and struggle with the absurd wickedness of man in these cases, I am so aware of today. Yes we are so much more aware of Childhood sexual abuse and we talk and prepare our kids with tools to stand up "should they fall victim" to such wickedness but the truth is that evil is alive and well in man ............... So I want to encourage parents to continue with talk and tools and always be aware. Never let down your guard in this regard and if you know Jesus then cry out to him for wisdom and help and safety.

I end with a heavy heart aching for the deep wounding of the silent ones. May God have mercy on us.

10 years of The Life Cycle of the Silkworm

10 years ago we moved into our house. James was about 2 and Thomas was a tiny,newborn baby. Someone gave us silkworms. I was new to the neighbourhood and did not know where to find a mulberry tree to feed these tiny wrigglers. We searched and searched and in the end I sat down on the lawn in our very big garden and prayed. I did not want James to be sad when they all dies of starvation.

I had not really paid very, very keen attention the the kinds of plants and trees in the garden. As I sat there and prayed and looked around there I noticed that the one strange , weeping, miniature looking tree was getting leaves and indeed it was a mulberry tree. Our very own in our garden. I was thrilled. This dear tree has grown over the years and has brought us much joy with all the fruit it bears as well as the great learning experiences we have had these passed 10 years with these silkworms.

Each year I put the eggs away somewhere safe with a tiny label on the box that reads "silkworms". The eggs are all but forgotten through the winter but when the new leaves start sprouting I always seem to remember the eggs. This year Adele reminded me and there the tiny catterpillars had begun to hatch. They were a little early for our tree and so she kindly worm sat them for us until they could come home.

We have had some great times chatting about these odd little caterpillars. We have tried to discover which are male and which female ; which is the head and which the tail ; do the stripey ones spin the yellow cocoons? and much more. James recently studied in more depth the life cycle at school and so it was fun to put time to this process.

Thanks be to God for his fun and creative genius.

How we did Halloween.

We decided to do Halloween in a new way this year. In previous years we have tried to steer clear of all the "trick and treating" by turning off our doorbell. One year a stunning lady from our church, Marietjie, had us all over and told us some stories about Jesus and had some sweets for the kids. That was very special. This year we decided to make little bags of sweets for the kids who came around. In each we put a little verse about God and his love and most of all and best of all we all prayed for each little person. It was a great opportunity for us to stick like glue as a family together and to make a stand for Christ. I am not going to say that Christians should or should not trick or treat, that is for their conscience and their convictions but for us, for now we have decided not to take part in this tradition. Instead we have really practiced praying for our neighbourhood and sharing in a wee bit of Gods love in a practical way! It was for us, especially James, something actual to sink his spiritual teeth into. It was fun and well worth the effort. So if you came to our door last night know you are much love by God and much prayed for by us!