The Young Ones

When I last visited my friend Pelisa ( middle) at the Ethembeni Old Age Home, I was lucky to meet two very dynamic ladies who had powerful visions for the future and great stories to tell. And you know by now how much I love to do portraits of people and their dreams.
It inspires me to see other people's determination and reminds me to follow my own dreams.

Mrs.Mandleleni and Mrs Tom were paying Pelisa a visit. She is the visionary, manager and founder of the Ethembeni Old Age Home. Both women were seeking practical advice from her concerning the creation, funding and management of self-help initiatives. And both ladies have just founded two self help groups. They are not shy at all to undertake such a demanding task although their are not in their teens themselves.   

Mrs Tom is the founder of the Simbambisene Service Center for the Aged. 

She says: I want to teach the women skills.
 I have started to train them in the art of traditional bead-work.
Women have to have the chance to learn something in life.

 Our groups are young, she explains, but we take it step by step.
And we have Pelisa, she says, she knows so much.
I have seen this every often and this is the spirit of Mdantsane.
People do help each other.

And they have truly found great advice with Pelisa, a lady who has followed her dream with unbelievable motivation and whose determination has brought the only Old Age Home in Mdantsane from a pure idea into life.

Mrs. Mandleleni is the creator of the Sizamile Women's Group.

We teach women about their rights in life.

Women have to know about their rights in life, even if they are old, she explains to me.
This has been neglected for far too long.

I was promised that I would be allowed to visit their organizations next week. 

But of course my visit had to be prepared.

CAN YOU BE EVER YOUNGER THAN THIS ?

Reflections On The Past

IT SEEMS LIKE THE FUTURE HAS OVERTAKEN THE PAST AND LEFT IT BEHIND.

A SOUP OF BUTTERNUT

Wherever you are in this world there is nothing like laughter to make you feel good.

And a soup of Butternut in South -Africa.Good for old and young.

Butternut - Pumpkin soup - is cooked, served, loved and eaten through all segments of South-African Society. With a little bit of cinnamon.....and butter, sometimes thick or if you like it smooth. 

OLD AGE

    Resident of the Ethembeni Old Age Home

There is a West-African proverb that says : " If an old person dies it is like if a library burns ".

THE TEAM

PELISA WELEMU, born and bred in Mdantsane, spent her whole life there and is the founder and director of the Ethembeni Old Age Home, the only old age home in the township. Ethembeni is a place for the homeless, abandoned Elderly who have no place else to go. She started the home in 2002 and has groomed and grown it into a save haven where some of Mdantsane's old people can spent their last days in peace and safety. She has just opened now a second house for 26 inhabitants in another part of Mdantsane. Pelisa loves shoes and earrings.

ISABELLA FISCHER, designer, artist and photographer started taking photographs at age 6 when given a Voigtlaender camera, an old 1959 model by her uncle. Born in Germany she came from the West-African country Mali where she had been employed before to South-Africa in 2002 and worked four years in the Eastern Cape for an International Development Organization. She owns now the Design Company Chocolat Negro that is specializing in recycled design and art. Isabella loves Chocolate. 

DAVID. Inhabitant of Mdantsane. Chief- accountant and book-keeper of the Ethembeni Old Age Home. When we had a specific question about the history, life, people and institutions in Mdantsane David was able to answer this question  in 99,9 % of the cases. So we did not look any further and David became our advisor on all matters pertaining to the way of life and culture of Mdantsane. Apart from being a great source of knowlegde and enlightenment on every possible question he has a great humor. He loves the food of the Ethembeni Old Age Home. 

IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS THE THOUGHT

Pelisa Welemu and me met in 2002 in Mdantsane.  Our paths had crossed through work, she being the founder and director of the newly created Ethembeni Old Age Home and me working for an International Development Organisation assisting NGO's in the Eastern Cape. 

We became close friends and three years ago we decided that we would like to do a coffee-table book  together about Mdantsane the second biggest African black city in South- Africa.

Pelisa in the new car of the Ethembeni Old Age Home. Her efforts were finally successful and she received funding for a car.

After having worked a long time on the concept, the articles, the lay-out and after having taken pictures and collecting stories for over 4 years we decided that we are going to write our book and publish it. And here it is.
We are introducing parts of ' THE MDANTSANE WAY " to you on this blog.
And we hope that you will enjoy what we have to tell and show you.