Raising funds for the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital - Cape Town, South Africa

In 2009 my young grandson, Tristan, suffered burns to his upper body and was treated in the phenomenal Burns Unit at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town. It was an extremely traumatising experience for us all and introduced us to the reality faced by so many sick children and their families who have to deal with this kind of trauma.

We are so grateful for the wonderful care and support Tristan received at the Hospital from doctors and medical staff that we decided, as a family, that it would be fitting for us to be able to give back in some way. I’ve therefore committed to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in July 2010 and will attempt to raise much needed funds for the Hospital.

100% of money I raise will be allocated directly to upgrade the Burns Unit - every cent donated to the Hospital Trust will directly benefit the Hospital.

Ultimately, the purpose of this project is to raise funds for an extremely deserving cause. I have given a personal guarantee to match the amount I must raise in sponsorships in the form of financial donations to the Trust.

I am very excited about being able to make a difference and sincerely hope you will be able to come on board with me in helping to get other sick children back home where they belong!



This is how you can get involved....

DONATE A SKILL

If you have a skill that you would like to 'donate' instead of money, this slot is for you.

I will create an event around what you have to offer and 100% of what people pay to attend will be donated to the hospital.

The hair spa day held in March at the Wayne.com salon at the One and Only Hotel is an example of such an event. We were able to raise R5250 on that day.

PLEDGES

Kilimanjaro is 5895m high. You can decide to pledge a certain amount per meter that I climb. You can email your pledges to me at: ferreira@netpoint.co.za OR you can download a pledge page from the section on the right of this page and fax it to me.

If you can't pledge yourself, how about getting your company to pledge and to perhaps even challenge other companies to match or better their pledge!!

DONATE ONLINE OR BY BANK DEPOSIT

On the right hand side of the blog, near the top, there is a section that includes a direct link to the hospital's website.

Read all the directions before clicking on the link, it is important for the hospital to be able to allocate your donation correctly.

The hospital trust will issue a tax certificate for any donation over R100, so that's an extra bonus for both individuals and companies!

AUCTION

I am currently collecting goods to offer on an auction to be held later this year - anything that we can turn into money is welcome!

Just to give you a sample of some of the things we have at this stage: three TOP NOTCH bottles of South African wines, compliments of Janet Malherbe, and five signed copies of a book written by the adventurer and master fundraiser David Grier!

For more info on David: http://www.davidgrier.co.za/

I'd love to be able to offer nights away at wonderful places in our country, romantic dinners at special restaurants etc. So if you have any connections or have something that you can offer yourself, I'd love to hear from you!

Just to make double sure you have my contact details - here it is again: ferreira@netpoint.co.za





Tristan enjoying being a healthy, happy little boy!


my blog entries

Will try and update on a regular basis!! :)

Friday, July 2, 2010

Window to the word!


Our group at Irvin Rock yesterday

If you've never hiked with a group of people, let me tell you, you are missing out! Today I'm back in the real world and reflecting on the day I had yesterday I'm just so aware of how special these days on the the mountain have become to me.

I have met a whole group of new people and whilst walking we have covered every topic under the sun! From dishwashing liquid to global warming to politics - opinions abound!

Do you know (for example) where the saying, 'don't throw the baby out with the bath water' comes from? Well, Jimmy, our Scottish friend who walked with yesterday, had a wealth of information and this is what he came up with. In the early days, when people didn't bath that often, when it was decided it was time to have a wash, the entire family would bath in the same tub of water. The father would go first, then the mother and then the kids. By the time it was the baby's turn, the water must've been pretty murky. So when throwing the dirty water out, one had to make sure you didn't throw the clean baby out as well!

Therefore: throwing the baby out with the bath water is an expression that suggests one doesn’t need to reject an entire idea, concept or practice if only part of it is good. The baby, in this sense, represents the good part. The bath water, on the other hand, is usually dirty after the baby is washed and needs to be discarded.

David, on the other hand, educated us on the habit of Chinese rulers of old who collected massive rocks from all over the world and displayed it in their gardens and also elaborated on Zen philosophy. I heard for the first time how in years gone by a bell would be placed above coffins so that people could alarm others that they were in fact still alive - imagine that! Seeing that they don't do this anymore, I wonder, is it a good idea to insist that you get buried with your cellphone today? :)

Stefani has tackled the task of learning how to speak Afrikaans and it is a pleasure to share the knowledge of your mother tongue with someone who is so excited about learning! Stefani is already fluent in German and English - she has definitely inspired me to tackle Portuguese next year. After almost 29 years of marriage to a Portuguese citizien, it's probably about time!

Denise, the youngest member of our group yesterday, knows what she likes and does not like in life. Anyone who can figure out as a child that arranging peas (that you hate eating) around your plate and deflecting your mom's attention from the fact that you're not eating your food by telling her this is your 'green peas movement', is going places! 

As for our leader, and that she is indeed, I will follow her on any trail, no matter what. Irene knows our mountains like the back of her hand. When it seems as if there is no path, she manages to track it down, overgrown or improvised - she always leads you in the right direction. It is indeed special to be guided by someone who has such great knowledge of the routes, origins and history of everything on our mountains.

Yesterday I saw the smallest protea in existence for the first time, heard a rock hit an invisible pool of water in a disbanded old manganese mine and enjoyed my lunch under a rock looking down on the city of my childhood.

Now if that isn't something special, then I don't know what is.









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