Our 67 minutes for Madiba

Madiba ... our wonderful, charismatic, awesome Grandfather of our interesting nation turned 91 years old. Who can help themselves for loving him? Despite what we were sold as children growing up in apartheid South Africa, just looking at how he has conducted himself since his release from prison, you have got to give him credit and you can't help feeling humbled by how he has lived his life, his enormous sense of compassion and his ability to forgive. Thank you Madiba for being an example to ALL South Africans.

Almost every morning and afternoon and I drive past a little park in La Rochelle. In the afternoons I see young black children playing on the pavement outside the park and sometimes I see children playing on the swings, slide and merry-go-round. But what I notice and what is more apparent is the trash that has been dumped at the corners where there is access to the park ...

When I heard about 67 minutes for Madiba, in celebration of the 67 years of faithful community service which he has given, I thought this would be an awesome project for my children and I to do. G-man had a Toy Run meeting on, so he did not join in, but the children and I, along with Lamb's friend, hit the park and got to work ... we did get 4 other children who live across the road to help as well.

We picked up dirty diapers, food, used condoms, paper etc. etc. It shocked me! I am still battling to get my head around the mess ... but I hope that our little effort will make a difference and make just one person think twice about dumping their dirt ... I'll be sure to drive a little slower as I past by the park on my way to work tomorrow morning - just out of curiosity :-). But more than anything, it was awesome to do something with my children that would not benefit us directly, but which I hope makes them compassionate towards another ... Jazz piped up saying 'maybe we could do this once a month' ... guess that's the spirit we're working for.