December: Bernie and the Mielie Lady

Since the money received from the group in December was quite a large amount, I decided to split it and give before and after Christmas.

I gave the first amount of R1350 to Anna – an elderly mielie-lady. [For overseas readers … a mielie-lady is an entrepreneur who sells maize (corn) to suburban households by walking long hours through the streets with her wares calling miiiieeeelieees. Due to the fortress-like nature of most dwellings in Jozi, the most successful mielie-ladies are predictably those with the shrillest/loudest/most distinctive tones]. The idea to give to a mielie lady came to me very clearly on several occasions – usually early in the morning through the bedroom window and sometimes even through the pillow covering my head. I saw Anna from a distance one day and knew immediately that she could use the money.

It was almost sunset and she was limping very slowly down the road, painfully bent over a shopping trolley containing her last few mielies. When I parked beside her she sized me up immediately. She was very tired, had been walking for the whole day and was selling her mielies for only R3 each. She was from Parkhurst (about 5km away), supported 3 people and just had to sell the last few mielies before dark. As I handed her the semi-transparent bag of cash, Anna became what one would ordinarily describe as edgy. Sensing that she was uncomfortable I began to explain where the money came from and that she could do with it what she wanted. But Anna had decided to make haste before the crazy woman changed her mind and before long was moving in an unnaturally rapid manner down the street behind her trolly and the last few remaining mielies.

The idea for the remaining amount emerged during an out-of-town conference. During an early coffee one morning, I spotted one of the participants zig-zagging her way towards the breakfast room. Led by her guide dog, she appeared to be taking the scenic route, weaving behind trees and around the back of buildings. She arrived at breakfast with a bit of a bang, head-butting a pole and wrapping herself around a chair. It was later revealed that she had scolded her dog earlier (on his off-time) for chasing a squirrel and he had launched into a giant sulk, refusing to guide her properly. Since the guide dog association exists almost completely off contributions I decided to support their efforts and transferred the remaining R1400 to them via online donation.
For more info http://www.guidedog.org.za