John and I met in February when we both happened to attend a local writer's circle for the first time -- The
Fish Hoek Scribblers. I wrote a bit about that previously in this blog post,
Listen Up.
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| John & I swap stories |
John shared a little bit of his story that evening in the 'getting to know you' part of the writer's meeting. To my surprise he told us that he was homeless...indeed he has been homeless for seven years. He now spends his nights sleeping rough outside our local library, his days voraciously reading the same library's books.
Perhaps it was the simple fact that he's a bibliophile like me, or that he so eloquently expressed his desire to write and share his story, but for whatever reason John left a lasting impression.
Shortly after that encounter I volunteered with
Ladles of Love in town and suggested to them that we start something in the South Peninsula, or The Valley, as we locals refer to it. At that juncture I was surprised to discover that many people would prefer not to have feeding schemes, let alone a sorely needed shelter, in their backyard.
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| Who am I? Writing exercise at Dignity Day |
I then met the dynamic Sarah-Jane Brown serving
soup at the Fish Hoek Civic Centre to celebrate
Mandela Day and honour Madiba's wish that we remember him through service. She introduced me to many of our local homeless people and they filled my heart with their generous sharing of stories.
Here's one that Sarah wrote about the charismatic couple
Eben & Lydia who also sleep rough outside the library. My daughter was delighted to climb up into the ingenious tree houses that Eben built in the surrounds, which have sadly been demolished by the authorities.
I was also really touched to meet people who took it upon themselves to feed our local homeless community on an ongoing basis and from their own pockets. I realised the importance of really listening to the needs of the people on the street and networking with the folks who are already out there helping on the ground.
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| Dignity Day -- sharing in community |
Today I had the great privilege of attending an initiative by Leigh Barrett's
Revamp the Valley called
Dignity Day. Hosted so generously by
False Bay College and facilitated by
Marion Thomas of
Social Work Connect.
I had an opportunity to sit down with several wonderful people who have
rich stories to share. I have their permission to share their pictures
and stories with the press in the hopes that our community will come to see them as
they are. Resilient. Funny. Truthful. No different from any of us. Though incredibly vulnerable.
Thanks to these conversations I also discovered that the gap in food supply is on a Wednesday evening, so I will endeavour to meet that need with the help of my wonderful friend &
Heartwing guru Zelda.
If anyone would like to get involved or donate foodstuffs or cash towards this feeding scheme please contact me.
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