Monday 23rd of May 2008.
This morning we did a check- list of everyone who wasn't at school and called to find out what their situations were.
Out of fifteen children checked we found out the following:
2 families have lost everything due to their homes being burnt down.
One is a single parent home where the mother only has two days of domestic work in Kenilworth and is staying in Strandfontein right now. She has requested mattresses, bedding and clothing for her 12 year old daughter (shoe size 4 and a half) and 13-year-old son (shoe size 7). I called her back later that day because I realised that she had only requested things for her children. She is a size 36 and her shoe size is 7.
I would like to try and find accommodation for her close to school, as she would dearly like to her children to be back at Observatory Junior. However, if she can't, she will have to resettle in Strandfontein where her brother is. I have also promised her R500 just to start off with and a hamper of food. If you could have heard the relief in her voice when I spoke to her. The fact that we are trying to help her get back on her feet was such a miracle to her.
We have another family staying at a church in Gardens. They have also lost everything to fire and looting. I will be visiting them tomorrow to find out what they need.
Another family is in Soetwater refugee camp. Nzele, whom I had spoken about in my initial letter to you, and her family have been there since Friday and don't know if they have a home left in Phillipi or not. Kathryn went down to visit the family and drop off airtime, which they had requested - they were desperate to find out the whereabouts and condition of family and friends. Nzele was not there as she was taken to speak to the minister of safety and security amongst others as her English is good and the authorities wanted to hear what had happened to them. She called me tonight on hearing that Kathryn had been there and was so happy that we had found them. When I told her that her class had been praying for her she was so touched. She asked me for blankets and mattresses as she says they are freezing at night and sleeping on the floor. They are right on the beach. Her younger sister doesn't even have a jacket with her. I read in the papers tonight that Soetwater has been given donations of clothes and bedding but obviously not enough. Nzele told me that the police had been very unhelpful and in fact had stood by and watched things unfold on Friday.
We have not been able to locate two other families yet.
The two families I helped settle over the weekend are still in shock and worried about their friends and family members who are still displaced or homeless. There has been much need for rescue remedy for the children who have complained of sore tummies. They are so thankful that we were able to take away the burden of costs of transporting their belongings, and get them storage space. Both these families have wonderful men who are such dignified men and of great integrity. Their gratitude for the help we have been able to give them is immense. We have had bikes donated and are busy making them roadworthy so that the two fathers and young son can move easily between work/school and home.
The biggest challenge is where these families will live in the long term. I have been looking at Oude Molen eco-village, flats in Woodstock etc. The families would be an asset to wherever they lived. They have been living with me for parts of this week, and have been model house guests. Let's think out of the box.
Just to let you know that we are keeping a careful record of all donations and gifts. I have written out receipts for all donations and they will be available in the Shine Centre next week once things have quietened down. If you prefer a scanned copy to be emailed to you, please let us know.
Thank you so much for the support we have received. I know this looks like it's bigger then all of us, but when you break it down to people and faces, especially ones you know, then you can never feel that what you are doing is a drop in the ocean. 20 000 people sounds like a lot. But there are many more people in Cape Town than that. Keep encouraging friends to support the various drop off stations. Hout bay is in need of baby clothes, baby milk and nappies. They also need plastic knives and forks. Dr Billie, a friend of mine in Hout Bay, is helping with that particular community. I will happily take things to her if you want to drop them off at the Shine Centre.
Warm regards
Maurita
Tuesday 24th May, 2008
The Dos Santos family staying in a church in Gardens will start coming to school too. We will be giving them uniforms today.
Many, many thanks for the support. It has been a wonderful surprise in a bad week to find out how fast and how far you are prepared to go to help, either through this channel or otherwise.
Weds 28th of June
Today I am feeling quite traumatised by yesterday's events. It was very difficult going to see this family at the Soetwater Refugee camp. It did not help that it was pouring with rain.
Nzele came running to me and was so happy to have some contact with her school. It was overwhelming giving everything that I had brought for her and her family as many people quietly stood by asking for things they needed. However, they were polite and did not take anything from us.
The tent for the woman and children is a bit disorganised to say the least. Lots of big pieces of carpets put down on the sand and ground to attempt to keep out the cold. The mattresses were such a gift for them and I need to give them more as I could only fit 3 in my car. They have only been given sandwiches for the last week and so the apples and bananas were happily received. I also gave mom some homeopathic pills (Calm Shen), which certainly help me, feel calmer and hopefully will give her some sleep. The children were given bottles of chewy vitamin c tablets, books, puzzles, crayons and paper. Thanks to those who helped collect them. I think the outbreaks of diarrhea in the camps are because of the change of diet.
Nzele doesn't feel safe in the camp especially if she has to go to the toilet at night. She is a young woman and feels vulnerable amongst all the men around her. The campsite needs to be much bigger with more tents and space. People had to queue up in the rain for whatever they were doing. I gave her a torch and will get more to them tomorrow. Still struggling to find clothes for her age (13-14 years) and for her mother's size (36). Any donations of shoes especially size 5, 6 and 6 will be grateful as they are wearing sandals. I do have money to buy these but I want to reserve as much funding as possible for the next stage. Clothes are so expensive to buy brand new.
The hardest thing for me was that Ocean View Police station was not answering their phone and yet had people on duty when I got there with plenty of police vans outside. I ended up giving a young man a lift into the camp but he was refused entry, as the camp was declared closed. When I drove away at 6pm in driving rain and darkness there were a group of about 9 people walking away into the scrubland with nothing but blankets over them. The Disaster Team did nothing to help them. Surely they could have organised the police to fetch them and put them in the police station for the nigh? I was told to take this man to Atlantis as they have space there! After causing a fuss they phoned Youngsfied and said that that 40 people had left there so we could go there. With this information I left and delivered him there safely. They did nothing for the other group and I lay in my cosy bed last night trying not to think of how they were coping.
In the last two days when I have been accompanying some of the refugees we have been victim to taunting by young men. Builders at Kenilworth Shopping Centre and some petrol attendants near Youngsfield. They were menacing towards us and this has also left me feeling very worried about this situation.
Thursday 26th of May 2008
We have received a wonderful amount of financial support so far. Thanks so much to all of you who have contributed
It seems to me that the biggest gap in City and Provincial attempts to mitigate the crisis is project management: there appears to be insufficient managerial and organisational capacity to make the various official responses add up to a working solution. Maybe the UN will be able to provide the expertise and leadership required if and when they get here. In the meantime, there's really just you and your fellow members of involved civil society, applying the glue and string, stepping into the breach.
Best regards
Richard Weissenberg, Maurita’s husband
More good news. Thursday 29th of June 2008.
We have found two more of our girls and their families who have been sleeping in Cape Town Station. Mrs Naidoo is working with a parent who is part of the Disaster Team and we want to try and put the Omari and the Shindano family in Churches or Mosques near school so that they can start coming to school during the day. They need that sort of normality. Please help us in this regard if you have contacts. We will ensure that they are kitted out with the necessary so that they are not a drain on the resources of the establishment. Both these families have fathers who are managing to get to work each day. Children at the school have been bringing in clothing and food for us as well and I think this is very important.
Please do not stop giving what you can to all the requests that we are receiving through the papers. Any form of bedding is needed more then clothes I think. As long as people have a warm little nest that they can rest in during the cold days and nights they will be okay. A change of clothing is great but not as essential as a warm bed. I will drop off any surplus that we have to places that need it.
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