Easter Newsletter from Dianne Lang

A member of the congregation of St Michael & All Angels Parish Church in Shefford gave us a donation of £120 for Easter Eggs and for anything else we needed for the children.

I ordered four boxes of Marshmallow eggs and have organized for the staff to do an Easter Egg hunt on Easter Sunday.

I then decided that we would use the extra money for an educational trip to the agricultural show in Middelburg. It usually takes place over the Easter Weekend but this year it was brought forward. We wanted to take the children but did not have the funds. The last time I took the children was three years ago. This was to be a treat for them and they would also learn a lot.  This is a show that is only for "whites" and they make it this way by the entrance fee which is so high that it will exclude black and mixed race people.

Not only would our children benefit by this but it would also make a big indent into the racist white community.  Of course, I made sure that our children were protected from any adverse behaviour by making sure that there were sufficient staff with them and that the volunteers and Riaan was with them at all times.

I had warned Riaan of what had taken place three years ago when I had paid for the children to go on the rides. The seats of the rides were wiped after the children had been on them, as though the children’s blackness or their illness would wipe off on other people.

Riaan phoned the organizers and asked them if they would reduce the price of the gate fee which was R20.00 per head. At first they refused until Riaan gave them a piece of his mind, reminding them of their Christian duty and after much shouting, he got the price reduced to R10.00 per head. This is still a lot of money in South Africa. Riaan bought all the children an ice-cream each and the man serving him asked him what he was doing with all the black kids. When Riaan told him that they were the children from the Children’s Home, he gave Riaan a discount.

The children stood looking at the round-a-bout and swings with longing. Riaan asked how much it cost for a ride but the price was more than we could afford. As Riaan said, perhaps the price suddenly went up. He asked if the children could not be given one free ride, but there was not a glimmer of compassion in the man’s eyes.

Not one person spoke to any child at the show grounds. The volunteers were asked what they were doing there with black children, but no one spoke to the children. They did not exist. They were not spoken to by white people, mixed race people or by black people. My children were treated as no people by everyone, as usual. At least they were not abused.

Why, oh, why do children mean so little to the adults of South Africa? The children played, ran around and enjoyed themselves. They loved the outing and said they “felt rich” eating their ice creams.

If you would like to learn more about the work of the Dianne Lang Foundation, or make a donation to help them continue their work, please visit their website at: www.diannelang.com

Date: 5th April 2008

Source: Dianne Lang

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