As we prepare to receive our stock needed for us to start packing the absolutely amazing Christmas boxes as well as this years super special Christmas gift bags, the excitement is certainly building. This trip makes me miss my Dad (Hannes Botha) even more than the other trips. The thought of Christmas, seeing all the oldies happy to receive their prezzies. Our entire team is on the ground and preparing the pallets and boxes so that they can be checked before packing.
Our stock arrived in drips and drabs some of which had been damaged by the rainy weather. Finally, all the stock had arrived from South Africa and we were ready to get going. Now that we had all the boxes we were packing lifted off the floor, we could continue packing these super special boxes. Once Johan and Frans arrived, we could quickly finish up with the gifts before finalizing everything. It took us almost 2 weeks to get all the boxes and Christmas gifts packed and ready to be loaded onto the trucks for the rest of Zimbabwe.
Once the trucks were loaded and stacked to the brim they were on their way and I get started with my deliveries. This year we had the help of 2 extra special elves, Candice-Ann Nel and Lilah Pinto Da Cunha, they were tasked to bring joy to all our oldies. They had their Christmas stockings packed to the brim with delicious treats to bring on some smiles from all our oldies.
We started off our trip with Queen Mary, we delivered all their groceries and extra Christmas goodies. Then it was time to pop in to each pensioner and give them their Christmas gift. With the elves by my side we managed to have some beautiful moments with the oldies. It was another amazing delivery as our very generous donors made it possible for us to give each permanent staff member a box of groceries to say thank you for the incredible care they give the oldies. We were off to Railstein next, these pensioner’s are some of my favourite’s. The absolute excitement when they see you and get to have a chat about everything that has been going on. I got to walk through the entire home delivering gifts to all our amazing pensioners.
As we head back to our warehouse to load up for our last stop of the day you can literally feel the Christmas excitement. Our last delivery for the day is going to be Edith Duly, I have a soft spot for the oldies at this home. As we arrived and walked through the halls visiting each oldie with our 2 elves with us. The pensioners absolutely loved their chats with us and the elves and getting their treats. Now we were done for the day and it was time to head back to the warehouse and offload and head home for a well deserved rest.
We are up and ready to get our Christmas on with Masonic Lodge. We whip up some coffee for the morning and head out to the warehouse to load up the grocery boxes and Christmas gifts for all the amazing oldies as well as the Christmas gifts for the permanent workers at the home. With everything loaded and our elves rearing to go we are off to Masonic. We had arranged to have all the Oldies waiting for us at the hall so that we could meet up with everyone and have some nice chats. As we arrive all of the pensioners are happy and seem to be enjoying their morning out of their cottages. The elves are working their magic as they move between everyone handing out chocolates and giggles. All the pensioners received their gifts and their super full grocery boxes. As we finished off with our oldies, their absolute joy was contagious.
Our next lot of deliveries was for Coronation Cottages. We started delivering and as we were melting on the spot the heat just seemed to become more and more intense. The more we delivered the more we heard from each person how these groceries had arrived just in time because they had nothing left to eat. Each time I heard this it absolutely broke my heart, the thought of these people that worked their whole lives to prepare for their retirement and now they have nothing. Our elves worked their absolute magic with all the pensioners, the smiles and giggles were contagious. We moved from cottage to cottage chatting with all our precious oldies, enjoying all the wonderful storeys they told us. It is sometimes easy to sit in your own home, on your couch with a cup of coffee and think how lucky you are. Maybe sometimes we forget about the suffering and worries that others have, it is normal for us to get caught up in our moments and forget about others. When we do these deliveries, it opens our eyes to how a box of groceries can totally change not only the life of someone but their entire outlook and demeanour. As we head home my heart is beaming and I feel absolutely blessed to have the honour of being able to do these deliveries.
The next morning the sun was up and hot as hell already we head out to our warehouse and reloaded to head out to deliver at Garden Park, the heat seemed more intense now. As we started delivering you could see the smiles starting as they knew they were next. Each one of our pensioners welcomed us into their home and thanked us and everyone involved for what we do. After chatting away to all the oldies we deliver to we were on our way to Barbra Burrel our home for the blind. I absolutely love visiting this home and the amazing pensioners that reside here. As we enter I see one of my absolute favourite pensioners sitting outside in her wheelchair under a tree. Elaine is one of the most remarkable ladies I have ever had the honour of meeting. While she doesn’t talk too much anymore, once in a while she gets something hilarious out. She has the most expressive eyes I have ever seen and she knows how to use them. I sat with her for some time and gave her the Christmas gift I had for her and her eyes just lit up with some absolute excitement. I sat with her for a little while and then it was time for me to head inside and to hand out the Christmas gifts to the rest of the pensioners. As usual for this time of the year I had the elves with me and I could hear them moving up and down the passages cheering up the oldies with some chocolates and giggles. As we say goodbye and head out my heart is happy but also really sad. Seeing all those absolutely amazing oldies in that home is always the highlight of my trip. As we finish up for the day and head through town back to the warehouse to offload all our empties I am feeling so blessed to be able to be involved with this amazing initiative.
The next morning, I head off to the warehouse again to get the bakkie loaded and the deliveries done. Today’s plan was to deliver to the Bulawayo outsiders which is always quiet time consuming as it is not homes but individual houses. Today I packed plenty of water as I knew what sort of heat was awaiting us. We head from home to home delivering joy to so many that day, let me tell you, there is nothing like seeing the joy in people’s eyes every time you give them their box or their prezzie. This took us the entire day as there are quiet a number of pensioners that are not living in the homes or even their homes. As we finished off for the day we went back to the warehouse again to offload the empty boxes again at the warehouse. We are almost done now, only one home left to visit tomorrow and that is the Moths in Esigodini.
I woke up this morning feeling excited about the Moths and delivering their food boxes and Christmas gifts. When we arrived all the oldies were waiting for us at their hall, the joy that was on their faces was contagious. We began chatting to them all and eventually started giving them their Christmas Presents. They were absolutely elated and were smiling from ear to ear. A few of them once again reminded me how important is it what we do. They said that without these boxes they may not have any food to eat, it made me realise again the importance of what we do. As we said goodbye to each one of them and head out back to Bulawayo it stayed with me what they had said about the absolute necessity of these boxes.
We delivered so many Christmas parcels over this period and my heart was overwhelmed every step of the way. It made me miss my father so much, it made me appreciate what he was doing for the pensioners for so long. Somehow it made me feel so much closer to him by doing work that was so very important to him, I feel so absolutely blessed to have the opportunity to do something that my Father loved so much. None of this would be possible if it wasn’t for each and every one of our amazing donors, you have made so many oldies so happy this Christmas and we are super excited to see what our next trip will be like. Thank you to each and every donor, no matter how big or small your donation it makes an unbelievable difference in peoples lives.
We are also desperately looking for a warehouse in Bulawayo where we can have all our stock delivered to and it would need to have enough space for us to pack all the boxes and space for us to load our trucks for the trips to the rest of Zimbabwe. If there is anyone that has something that would work we would be greatly appreciative and you can contact me on +263 776 749 749.
Thank You
Mrs Caroline (Botha) Nel
Head office South Africa contact details:
Linda Schultz – linda@zpsf.co.za / zpsf@zpsf.onmicrosoft.com – (C) 079 6082676
Johan Schultz – johan@zpsf.co.za – (C) 082 4979328
Section 21 Co Reg. 2007/034036/08; NPO Number 096733; Section 18A PBO No 930031642
