Till Friday 12 June 2009 - Holiday over, it is back to work bright and early Monday morning, and I soon find myself back in the thick of it. Our project 'Clean up and Create' for World Environment Week, the previous week, has been a huge success and I am congratulated by Aldo for managing to raise over R1,500 in sponsorship, particularly as many of the sponsors had not given us donations before. It must be the Yorkshire charm!
Amongst a lot of administration, including thank you letters, articles for the local rag, minute writing and KIP orders, it seems to be meeting after meeting this week, the first of which is for the SPAF Tourism and LED (Local Economic Development) workgroup. The meeting has been arranged to liaise with the newly formed STO Swellendam Tourism Organisation and invite them to view the delights of Suurbraak.
Held in Suurbraaks Paradise Organic Restaurant, a long airy table overlooking their gardens and the mountains is laid out with scented rose centre pieces, the meeting is opened, and soon turns quite heated, through miscommunication the STO is ill prepared for the meetings content and is also perturbed by the use of the word 'Tourism' within the SPAF workgroups title. Not the best start to building a lasting relationship between SPAF and the STO, the meeting is swiftly closed and we move on to the attributes of the village.
Suurbraak, a quaint village situated 19km east of Swellendam, was known by ancient San as 'Xairu' meaning beautiful or paradise. One of the villages charms is its isolation, being situated off the Wine Route R62 and busy N2, but this is not without its pitfall as this limits the financial resources for its residents. For this reason there are many people working hard to put Suurbraak on the map, hoping to make Xairu a place to stay and enjoy the sights, rather than a passing place. Found at the foot of the Langeberg Mountains, the village has a lot to offer the discerning traveller, including newly constructed trail walks, rustic and Dutch Cape architecture, ancient burial grounds, together with the production of some traditional crafts which can be visited.
This takes the group to the Suurbraak Carpentry Co-op which employs local people to use the old fashioned method of bodging to create beautiful handcrafted chairs. Demand is high for these chairs and distributed throughout South Africa and also shipped internationally.My next meeting is the following day and is a brainstorming session to assist Bontebok Recycling, a business which recently burnt down in fire at the Municipality refuse dump. And still they keep coming, this time on Friday for preparations of Arbor Week and choice of indigenous trees to be planted in and around Swellendam.
Thankfully there is some reprieve, coming in the form of Game Count. Wednesday and Thursday morning is therefore spent driving around the veld at a snails pace (Oom Arvy at the wheel) me again employed as paparazzi recording the event, whilst the Rangers have a more hands on approach counting the Parks wild inhabitants from their vantage point - the back of the bakkie.
So too, Ben pulls out all the stops on Wednesday evening with a sun downer at the Wolfkloof Hiking Hut, after a short walk, we sit on the veranda sipping champagne overlooking the mountains as the sun slowly sets into the landscapes stillness. I could get use to this............
And as if I hadn't been treated enough we head to the Woodpecker for pizza and fabulous chocolate dessert.
Sadly, as the working week draws to a close, I fear I have caused some tension within the P&C Office. On occasions I do struggle with some of South Africas work ethics, and at the moment there seems to be a distinct lack of communication between myself and my supervisor. It is getting me down, yet I fear I cannot broach the subject without becoming emotional.......... I will have to make a plan.
