Fuad

Last night's Soup Kitchen was as chilled as ever, especially as Remi was once again with us offering free haircuts to those that wanted one.

The evening was also brightened up by the visit of Fuad!

We've not seen Fuad for quite a while, so it was great to catch up with him again, and it was a joy to be able to bless him with a haircut as well as soup.

Fighting Back... To Fitness

I've not been riding as much as I would like lately, but there are a few reasons for that. Firstly, the wind has been terrible, and when the wind is pumping it is deeply unpleasant and borderline dangerous to ride in.

Secondly, I'm still quite a way off where I would like to be fitness wise since my operation. I had no idea quite how much it would knock me and quite how tough it would be getting back to where I was before the op'.

Thirdly...

In The Dunes On The Cape

We've been feeling a bit battered of late, what with my surgery, Joel preparing to leave and then going off to Blighty, and continuing to support Eli as much as possible as he continues to spread his wings and fly.

Whilst we love what we do, and wouldn't change it for the world, the responsibilities we carry on behalf of The Gathering can become tiring, so sometimes it's just good essential to escape together. 

Go Well My Boy

Today is a strange day, and one I've know was coming for a long time, though I always hoped it never would come, but even now that the day has arrived, I'm torn in equal measure between heartbreak & excitement.

Today, Joel left home.

Bin Pickers

 

Ordained Chaplain

Having recently qualified as a Chaplain, it was a great honour and privilege to have been ordained as a Community Chaplain with SAFReC, the South African First Responder Chaplaincy.

Paula & I flew to Jo'burg on Friday for the Ordination which was conducted as part of their AGM.

I guess the reality and impact, or potential impact of this is still sinking in, but getting involved is an exciting prospect, and I'm particularly keen to see what doors may open in the coming weeks, months and years.

Defeated

By the time our latest bout of Stage 6 loadshedding had finished we had exhausted five inverters of varying capacities, and had to declare a defeat.

Eskom, you won this round!

A Year In Review

Like most government run institutions in South Africa, the health service is very badly broken and on its knees, to the point that it's best avoided at all costs (treasure and fight for the NHS!).

Even trying to get our daughter's wisdom teeth seen to has been a nightmare and not an experience we would be keen to repeat any time soon!

Merry Christmas 2022

We were quite amazed but very blessed to receive a solitary Christmas card this year, but then we looked at the envelope and realised it was posted on the 16th of December last year!

And yet, somehow it has managed to sneak its way through a very broken South African postal system (to call it a service would be to overplay its abilities), and even managed to get redirected from the Somerset West post office to our address in Strand. An impressive feat given the state of the post office.

Loadshedding Corner

Welcome to Loadshedding Corner.

Yes, we actually have a corner of the house dedicated to just keeping various items charged and running for  when the power goes off.

So far in 2023 we haven't had a single day without loadshedding, and recently we seem to have graduated from mostly being in Stages 1 & 2 to mostly being in Stages 5 & 6 which often means we get to enjoy four hours of uninterrupted blackouts at a time.

Eli's Matric Results

We are super proud of Eli and his Matric results today.

He's passed his National Senior Certificate with flying colours, getting an A equivalent in Maths and Bs in CAT & LO. 

He qualifies for university admission, but he's busy chasing his dream of joining the British Army, so maybe Plan B one day...

Passed!

The boy only went and passed!

Just two weeks after his first attempt, and at a different testing station, Joel passed his driving test and can be unleashed on the world.

This is another step in our change of lifestyle as not only do we no longer need to do any school runs, but now Joel can sort himself out for lifts to and from work, church etc.

Thank you LORD!

Keys

Today is a blessed day as we picked up the keys for our new home. It was very exciting to take possession of it and we're excited about this next step. 

This move should lead us into a positive change in lifestyle which is exciting us. We'll be just a five minute walk from the beach which will make a big difference to our mental well being, and having a sun room that spills out into the north facing garden is also a big change for us. We'll also be a bit closer to church and won't have to drive through the town centre to get there!

Heartbreaking

As The Gathering's Homework Club runs down the last few weeks of the final term, we uncovered a tragic truth today that is also a damning indictment on the South African education system, but which also underlines why as The Gathering we want and need to take possession of the building we currently Gather in so we can better serve our community.

Desperate For Power

Our power situation doesn't improve. 

We had loadshedding until 4am this morning followed by scheduled maintenance from 6am until 4pm which stretched out 'til 5.30pm. The only bright spot in this was that our scheduled loadshedding from 6pm was skipped this evening.

Cracking On

With loadshedding now in its 16th year and showing no signs of going anywhere anytime soon, it was time to make a plan to ensure life can go on (see Take That Loadshedding!).

So yesterday for the first time we were able to crack on with The Gathering's Homework Club through the scheduled two hour blackout thanks to our mini inverter which not only charged the tablets but then kept the router and wifi running for the 2½ hours for which the electricity was off.

Take That Loadshedding!

Loadshedding celebrates its 15th birthday this October.

Yes, this country has been rolling out planned energy blackouts for fifteen years because Eskom the state owned utility is too incompetent and the ruling ANC are too corrupt to get their act together and actually resolve the issues. The main issue being the $24bn+ that have been stolen by those in power!

Loadshedding

Well that was some welcome home!

During my week in Blighty our putative electricity supplier decided to ramp up loadshedding from Stage 4 to stage 6.

What this means is that six areas in the Cape Town municipality are off at the same time but rather than being off for the usual two hours we get the joy of being off for four hours at a time. Deep joy!

International Day Of The African Child

Today is Youth Day, a public holiday here in South Africa in which we remember the senseless slaughter of over 100 children and the thousand plus who were injured in Soweto by the apartheid regime as the kids protested against the then new law forcing them to be taught in Afrikaans rather than their own indigenous languages.

Sadly this day is barely acknowledged in the Western world and the first time we heard of it was in 1998 when we were in Tanzania, where today is celebrated as the International Day Of The African Child. Personally I prefer this more internationally minded celebration of the day, it feels more positive and more outward looking.

Home Again

After an exciting ten days back in Blighty with family to celebrate our middle niece's wedding, Paula arrived home this morning, much to the relief of all the trousers.

The junior trousers survived and were fed, watered and made it to their various commitments on time as well as getting home again safe and sound, so I'll call that a win.