©2009 Full Circle Magazine.
community caring
28
28
Madiba Day!
The Full Circle team spent its 67
minutes on Mandela Day at Simunye
Crèche passing on to the children the
huge number of toys, clothes and other
items donated by the wonderful, caring
readers of the magazine.
A heartfelt “Thank you” to all those who
promised and brought in so many useful and
fun things. The children’s smiles and hugs
were hugely rewarding and belong to you!
Here are their feelings of the day shared
by some of the Full Circle staff. Also check
out our Facebook page to see a video of
everyone singing “Happy Birthday” to
Madiba!
Dales Nesbit – Publisher
For nearly six years now Full Circle has
been involved in many community projects
and it is the one thing we will never tire of.
This is what makes life worthwhile, this is the
gold that lifts our spirits and allows us to
hope.
Our visit to Simunye Educare Centre was
no exception. There was great excitement as
we arrived bearing gifts (a whole bakkie-load
that had been generously donated by the
public) and a large Madiba cake (kindly
sponsored by Sharon at Batty Bakes).
To be honest this was the first time I had
celebrated Madiba’s birthday and it could not
have been in better company. The warmth,
love and joy of these little children was
something to behold. They didn’t care the
least that we were White. Colour was
irrelevant to them. Tears came to my eyes as
we all crowded around the cake and sang
“Happy birthday” to Madiba in English and
Xhosa. It is a memory that will stay with me
forever. Thank you Buyiswa, thank you
children, and thank you Madiba, for
renewing my faith and hope for this beautiful
land of ours.
Laura Ridge – Senior Brand Ambassador
The rain had stopped and opened up a
beautiful sunny day for our visit to Buyiswa’s
crèche. Early into our visit one little baby girl
began to cry, overwhelmed by all the
excitement … the mommy in me kicked in
and she stayed in my arms until we left.
As I sat quietly in the corner of the tiny
shack, perched on an upside-down crate
feeding this beautiful baby girl her bottle, I
was able to look in and watch my colleagues
interacting with the children … it was
amazing to see our young, 19-year-old,
super-cool Webmaster, wrapped up in the
whole experience, his face a mirror of the
children’s. Priceless! We arrived bearing
gifts, but I know we left with the biggest gift
of all.
Saul Fautley – Webmaster
My experience at the Simunye Educare
Centre was truly an unforgettable one.
Admittedly, I was quite cautious about
entering a place like Masiphumelele. You
hear the stories, you see the news – you
can’t help but feel some anxiety about the
place.
However, those feelings were tossed
remorselessly out the window when we got
down to the marrow of it … how the
children’s faces at Simunye lit up as they
gazed at their gifts with sparkling eyes and
chowed down on the ‘Madiba’ cake we
brought for them; how
September 2009 Vol6 No9
Full Circle and Simunye - we are one!
Cutting the cake
Laura feeding a baby
