This weekend has been a dark one for the people of Hout-bay especially the people of Hangberg as first 2 policemen aged 26 and 27 were shot dead in Imizamo Yethu on Friday evening and then on Saturday a pleasure boat capsized near Duiker Island which resulted in the lost on 2 lives and 34 people being rescued from the icy sea, according to unconfirmed reports the engine of the boat seized and a waved rolled the boat over, the suicide of a young girl of Hangberg addicted to drugs earlier in the week  area went by unnoticed.

This is probably the 2^nd biggest sea disaster in Hout-bay in the last 6 years since 5 fishermen lost their lives in March 2006 when a wave capsized their newly refurbished crayfish trawler.  The killing of the 2 police constables were probably the biggest shock of all, everyday we read in the newspaper and we hear on tv of police personnel who have been killed in the line of duty but you don’t expect it to happen in your own backyard.

The response of the community has been great and a lot of people are outraged about the shooting of the cops during the course of their duty.  The police in Hout-bay are severely traumatized by needles shooting of their colloquies who were on patrol in Imizamo Yethu when they were shot at close range.

The capsizing of the pleasure boat has thrown out a lot of questions about the safety of the passengers on the boat and the involvement of poachers in the rescue, it is rumoured that the death crewmen gave his lifejacket to a child on the boat, truly a wonderful jester as would be expected from a fishermen.  This may have been the first time that a pleasure from Hout-bay has sunk.  Poaching is an evil that needs to be eradicated, but on Saturday they were at the right place at the right time and many lives were saved due to their quick thinking and willingness to assist.

Drug abuse among teenagers is rife in the Hangberg area and the kids can’t seem to get out of it as peer pressure is forcing them to do this evil if they want to be part of a friend circle and feel excepted, girls as young as 12-13 are caught up in drugs and spent late nights outside their homes on the street getting high on drugs and getting drunk.

It has been a sad week for the people of Hout-Bay Hangberg community and it was wonderful to see the people in the community pull together and supporting the families of the bereaved.

I am reminded of the bible verse ” I can do all things through Christ who strengthened me”, the power of God will indeed be seen in the people who are affected by this tragedy.

 

Our Adoption story: From heartbreak to Triumph

 In July- August 2014 mutual friends of my wife and I told us about the Arise adoption conference which were taking place in October of that year and where various adoption agencies would be displaying  their information and various guest speakers would be talking about the adoption process. Although we had spoken about adoption it was the furthers thing from our mind at that time.  Our daily routine at the time consisted of work, home, church and the annual visits to the Northern Cape to visit the wife family and socializing with friends.

On the 26^th November that year we got in contact with one of the agencies and after a brief telephone conversation with the adoption administrator we were emailed an application form which we had to work through and send back to the agency.  On the 12^th January 2015 we submitted our application form to the adoption agency. This involved also paying an admin cost. On the 23 January 2015 we met with the social worker to discuss the adoption process and were afforded the opportunity to ask question to clear up any uncertainty which we may have had at the time.

The first meeting out of the way to had to fill out a whole lots of forms including criminal checks and Form 30 application forms which we had to send to the Department of Social welfare in Pretoria.  We also had to submit the contact details of 5 references who could vouch that we would be good parents to a baby.  This was also the first time that family and friends became aware that we have started the adoption process. On the 15 May 2015 we signed the formal adoption agreement with the agency to confirm our commitment to the adoption process.

On the 25 June 2015 we went for a psychological assessment to assess whether or not we were suitable candidates to be parents.  An assessment feed needed to be made to the agency before the assessment took place.  This assessment was done with a psychologist and the assessment was done online after which we met with her on an individual basis and also as a couple to talk through the results.  Thankfully we were declared fit to be parents and it felt like the weight of the world has been lifted of our shoulders.

As part of the adoption process we had to create a profile of the 2 of us as a couple and as individuals.  On the 31 July we had a home visit with our social worker to determine if our home was suitable to bring up a baby and for her to help us with our profiles for the prospected mothers who will decide who they want to adopt their child and to talk through other questions we may have had.

On the 12 August we had a day long group session at the adoption agency with 6 other couples.  During this session we worked through various issued relating to the adoption etc.  We became quite close to two other couples who we develop a close bond with.