Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Hope and Spirit
There was something I didn't mention in my last post about working with women in the township and street kids. Its so important too! There is such a strong spirit in people here. In both the women and in the kids who have experienced a lot of hardship they have hope. Hope that not only things will get better, but hope in their situation. The people we have worked with are also easy to smile. Its very refreshing.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Volunteering in a township and with street kids
Jared and I have been volunteering with two projects for awhile now, Work for Love and MyLife. Work for Love operates in a township outside Cape Town called Masiphlumelele and offers a wellness healing clinic each week. The clinic offers massage, homeopathy, tarot card readings, shiatsu and energy work and hypnosis. It's free of charge and mostly used by women in the township. Jared and I have been doing mini-sessions with them doing energy work and hypnosis with coaching. Jared has a background in counseling and therapy which has helped out a lot as the women have told us all about their problems and asked advice. There are social workers available to these women, but I don't know to what extent to how easily they are to get to.
One young woman came to us a few weeks ago and she has a young son. She came to Cape Town on her own, her family is all in the Eastern Cape in a rural area and so she doesn't have support in how to raise a child. The consequence has been that she doesn't know what to do with her son who is acting out since his father left and isn't interested in being a part of his life (a very common thing here). Her son hits her and screams and beats up other kids. Out of frustration she then beats her son (also a common thing). But if she learned some parenting skills and how to deal with her son's anger it would be a lot easier on both her and her son. Being away from her family though, she doesn't appear to have that support though.
Most of the women worry a lot. Some have a hard time sleeping at night due to worry. They worry about being unemployed, their partners being unemployed, bills, getting enough food to eat. So we help them ground and connect to themselves more and give them some suggestions in dealing with their worry through energy work and hypnosis.
Another project we've been involved with is with street kids in town through MyLife. They are mostly 18+. We have been doing healing with some of them to help deal with past trauma, and man do these kids have a lot of trauma. Some grew up orphans on the streets, addicted to tic (meth), mandrax or alcohol, have been in gangs, killed or raped people, been in and out of jail for theft, murder, attempted murder, been abused themselves and had violence directed at them. They have a lot of regret, guilt, shame, anger, and sadness. They also have a lot of potential. This project has helped several former street kids become chefs, sommeliers, and get jobs in the film industry among others. Their vision is to build an eco-village where street kids go to be rehabilitated and trained in life skills and as leaders.
Working with these kids and adults has been really great. Not having had a lot of different therapies they are more open to what we have to offer. They are also very eager to move on in their lives and this makes a big difference.
What has been amazing working in the township and with the street kids is to see that no matter what someone's past has been, or what their cultural upbringing is, is that they struggle with the same issues that privileged people both from South Africa and the western world struggle with (in our experience). It's all the same. It seems that everyone has the same issues no matter where they have been. Everyone wants to be accepted and loved for who they are and to live a purposeful life. And everyone struggles with guilt, shame, rage and sadness from their past.
We are so blessed to be in South Africa at this pivotal turning point in its history. This country has such potential and is attracting people from around the world to help in the shift. How cool to be a part of it.
One young woman came to us a few weeks ago and she has a young son. She came to Cape Town on her own, her family is all in the Eastern Cape in a rural area and so she doesn't have support in how to raise a child. The consequence has been that she doesn't know what to do with her son who is acting out since his father left and isn't interested in being a part of his life (a very common thing here). Her son hits her and screams and beats up other kids. Out of frustration she then beats her son (also a common thing). But if she learned some parenting skills and how to deal with her son's anger it would be a lot easier on both her and her son. Being away from her family though, she doesn't appear to have that support though.
Most of the women worry a lot. Some have a hard time sleeping at night due to worry. They worry about being unemployed, their partners being unemployed, bills, getting enough food to eat. So we help them ground and connect to themselves more and give them some suggestions in dealing with their worry through energy work and hypnosis.
Another project we've been involved with is with street kids in town through MyLife. They are mostly 18+. We have been doing healing with some of them to help deal with past trauma, and man do these kids have a lot of trauma. Some grew up orphans on the streets, addicted to tic (meth), mandrax or alcohol, have been in gangs, killed or raped people, been in and out of jail for theft, murder, attempted murder, been abused themselves and had violence directed at them. They have a lot of regret, guilt, shame, anger, and sadness. They also have a lot of potential. This project has helped several former street kids become chefs, sommeliers, and get jobs in the film industry among others. Their vision is to build an eco-village where street kids go to be rehabilitated and trained in life skills and as leaders.
Working with these kids and adults has been really great. Not having had a lot of different therapies they are more open to what we have to offer. They are also very eager to move on in their lives and this makes a big difference.
What has been amazing working in the township and with the street kids is to see that no matter what someone's past has been, or what their cultural upbringing is, is that they struggle with the same issues that privileged people both from South Africa and the western world struggle with (in our experience). It's all the same. It seems that everyone has the same issues no matter where they have been. Everyone wants to be accepted and loved for who they are and to live a purposeful life. And everyone struggles with guilt, shame, rage and sadness from their past.
We are so blessed to be in South Africa at this pivotal turning point in its history. This country has such potential and is attracting people from around the world to help in the shift. How cool to be a part of it.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Don't Eat the Cake
I've been vegan for 10 years and gluten-free for 3 or 4 months. I realized that gluten and wheat was causing me to feel very tired and bloated. Not good to look preggers and not good to have so much inflammation in the body. I've felt really good being off gluten (we can eat oats though), but I miss baked goods. I love baked goods. One summer I worked in Moscow, Idaho in the USA and they have a fantastic co-op there with a great baked goods section. That summer I spent a lot of my wages on baked goods and gained weight even though I was walking in the woods every day. I love those crusty breads with the soft middles, flaky scones, warm muffins, cookies and cake. Ahh I love cake. I have found a recipe for gluten-free cake that is pretty good. When I made it for Jared's birthday and ate massive amounts of cake in the following days I didn't gain any weight and my stomach didn't distend as it usually does after baked goods. Ah ha! This is pretty good I thought... I can eat a lot of cake and not show for it!
Several days ago on Sunday I went hiking with a group of people and afterwards we went to a coffee shop that has a Sunday special of tea and cake for R20. A very good deal. The coffee/tea is usually R10 and cake can range from R15-25. These were decadent cakes too, “American” style cheesecake, black forest, chocolate mouse... I wasn't even tempted because they weren't vegan and I don't like the taste of cream, eggs, or milk anymore. It's more than an ethical thing, I really don't like the taste. But I said to myself, if these cakes were vegan, even if they have wheat I would totally eat them.
If it were only that easy to manifest everything like this. Two days later, we went to a great Indian restaurant in Rondebosch, Cape Town and there were two vegan cakes. We've been to this place before, a simple no-frills cafe that does a lot of take-aways. Its all vegetarian and the lady told us today she is moving more and more toward vegan (Great!). After questioning her several times about the cake to make sure it was really vegan we got some.
That night we sat at home, having eaten the cake and drank some tea and waited to see what would happen. We were so tired anyway from a long day its was hard to say. We both felt a bit fuzzy in the head..but knew if we got bloated that would be pretty definitive.
The next morning my excema flared up. I've long heard that wheat exacerbates excema. Itchy itchy scratchy scratchy. A few days later and I'm still trying to calm it down. After I went to bed that night Jared said he could definitely feel the effects of the wheat. In the following days we both felt bloated and Jared felt tired.
Was the cake worth it? It wasn't as good as Sweet Pea Bakery in Portland, or A Piece of Cake in Sellwood, Portland (my favorite!), or that bakery in Eugene that has great vegan cakes, but it was good... at the time. The fallout though just isn't worth it. It's not good to eat something my body reacts so strongly to.
Several days ago on Sunday I went hiking with a group of people and afterwards we went to a coffee shop that has a Sunday special of tea and cake for R20. A very good deal. The coffee/tea is usually R10 and cake can range from R15-25. These were decadent cakes too, “American” style cheesecake, black forest, chocolate mouse... I wasn't even tempted because they weren't vegan and I don't like the taste of cream, eggs, or milk anymore. It's more than an ethical thing, I really don't like the taste. But I said to myself, if these cakes were vegan, even if they have wheat I would totally eat them.
If it were only that easy to manifest everything like this. Two days later, we went to a great Indian restaurant in Rondebosch, Cape Town and there were two vegan cakes. We've been to this place before, a simple no-frills cafe that does a lot of take-aways. Its all vegetarian and the lady told us today she is moving more and more toward vegan (Great!). After questioning her several times about the cake to make sure it was really vegan we got some.
That night we sat at home, having eaten the cake and drank some tea and waited to see what would happen. We were so tired anyway from a long day its was hard to say. We both felt a bit fuzzy in the head..but knew if we got bloated that would be pretty definitive.
The next morning my excema flared up. I've long heard that wheat exacerbates excema. Itchy itchy scratchy scratchy. A few days later and I'm still trying to calm it down. After I went to bed that night Jared said he could definitely feel the effects of the wheat. In the following days we both felt bloated and Jared felt tired.
Was the cake worth it? It wasn't as good as Sweet Pea Bakery in Portland, or A Piece of Cake in Sellwood, Portland (my favorite!), or that bakery in Eugene that has great vegan cakes, but it was good... at the time. The fallout though just isn't worth it. It's not good to eat something my body reacts so strongly to.
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