Mandela Day

Nelson Mandela once said, “There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires.”

On the 18 July Stop Hunger Now and Canal Walk teamed up to host a packaging session in aid of Nelson Mandela day. Over 1200 people volunteered to help and together we packed 300 456 meals. These meals will be used to feed 5000 children in the Western Cape over the next year, and all it took was people giving up 67 minutes of their time in order to help someone else.

This photo of my brother and sister volunteering was too sweet not to include!

I am so grateful that I was able to work with such an amazing team, who care so passionately for other people. The day was such a success, because of the amazing Stop Hunger Now team. Over South Africa, a total of 985 200 meals were packed and will end hunger for people all over South Africa.

Madiba would have been proud to see all the enthusiastic and happy volunteers come together to honour his memory and to serve the community! No matter how much bad we may see in the world, one must not forget all the good that there is!

Like Mandela said, ending hunger in South Africa is going to be hard, and it is going to take time, but it is a journey I am glad to be a part of!

If you would like to help SHN by donating money, please go to http://www.stophungernowsa.org/index.php/donate

Who is Hannah?

Well hello there my little friends! Now I know you may be in shock, I mean who is Hannah? Where did she come from? Why hasn't she blogged in such a long time? Well I would love to say it was because I was really busy and I had no time, but I can't because that would be a lie! But I honestly just haven't had anything exciting to write about, but now I do!

Last week Tuesday (I know it is a long time ago) I went to the movies with my mom. Mainly because it was half price at Ster-Kinekor, but also because I love her very, very much. Now my mother is an absolute John Green fan and has apparently read The Fault in our Stars four times so it was only fitting we watched it. Now my mom cried when we saw the trailer the other day, so I knew her tears would be inevitable. During the movie however she raged out a bit. Why you may ask? Well because half price movie night brings all the ratchets out.

Sitting in the very front of the cinema were a group of teenagers who honestly looked like they were in grade seven and were obviously there just to annoy the shit out of everyone in the cinema. When they were talking in the beginning, I assumed they would shut up as soon as the lights dimmed down, but no, they talked through all the trailers. I assumed they would shut up after the trailers, but no, they talked all the way through the movie. Now when I say talked, they didn't whisper, they basically shouted for the whole cinema to hear. Then they started moving around from seat to seat and giggling. Then groups of them would run out of the cinema every 5 minutes and return with food from forbidden places that were not cinema approved. Now this upset my mother and everyone else in the cinema as they are all trying to cry for Gus and Hazel. My amazing mother, made an effort to swear as loud as possible every time these rats walked past (fear not, PG stuff).

This went on for the entire movie until some cool guy in the cinema jumped over the seat, hit the back of these kids’ chairs and told them to shut the (insert an appropriate word here) up. They replied by calling him something very rude, but they shut up nonetheless. I honestly felt I would be able to murder someone right then and there. Just walk up to them and strangle them all, and while these aren't kosher thoughts, I had them. These children brought out the worst in me, so if you are reading this, I am putting a curse on you all to suffer!

The actual movie was average, the hype created around it really destroyed it for me. I did not cry once, but I balled my eyes out yesterday in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix when Sirius dies, so I guess that tells you all what kind of person I am...

I would also like to say, the Ster-Kinekor Cavendish were absolutely amazing when my mom told them what happened and they handled it like true champs! I will be going back there (obviously, it is the only cinema near me) but seriously, they were really so nice and understanding!

Dumbledore

I once had a ginger cat called Dumbledore. Yes, I am a huge Harry Potter fan, and my mom used to read me the books when I was little. I was about 8 years old, and I loved this cat. He was a bit on the special side and not so much like normal cats, but I loved him none the less. We also had a crazy dog named Jack who was also a bit on the special side. We sound like the Brady Bunch don’t we?

One day we couldn’t find Dumbledore anywhere which upset me no doubt. I looked for him everywhere but this bloody cat did not want to be found. I remember going out, I think it was for ballet, and making my mom promise she would find him. When I got to ballet and saw my friends I probably forgot all about the poor cat, but I was a six year old girl in a pink leotard, I was in my prime.

I came running up the path leading to my house hoping that my mom had found my cat, but I remember feeling disappointed when she fed me some lie about the whereabouts of Dumbledore. I can’t remember if she had said he had died or if she had said he had run away, but it felt as if my life was over.

However depressed I was, life went on and I came to peace with the loss of my precious cat. And then, my stupid brother Alex had to ruin everything for me. You know how some people think they have a tormentor as a brother; let me tell you my brother was worse. If you think you are stuck with an evil mastermind for a sibling, you should know, my situation was worse. My brother decided to share a secret with me my mother had forbidden him to tell. He told me that Jack, his dog, had eaten Dumbledore. But to make matters so much worse and to scar me for life, he proceeded to tell me that all Jack left was his tail and one of his ears. Now I was a six year old girl, so I was bloody traumatized as you can imagine. I ignored Jack for the rest of his life, and he deserved it! He was a horrible creature. I was also mad at my brother for telling me but I had to forgive him because I knew later I would need lifts and money from him. I was obviously mad at my mom for not telling me, but she too was forgiven. I soon learned to love again, and I got another cat and my cat loving void was filled.