We all had it all this morning

In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful.

straight from the garden

29 December 2014.

work produced in the iSTEP

Looking ahead at 2015 it is looks exciting Alhamdulilah! The IHYA programme starts again in January 2015 and we have learnt so much from our Mindful Living Project (Mili) and gardening organically. The Skills Training and Education Programme (iSTEP) has taken off and watch this space for the exhibition of carvings with the grace of Allah SWT.

Alhamdulilah we are getting the hang of caring for Leo’s wounds and playing nurse. He has calmed down and understands his limitations for most of the day. The wolverine is content with a visit – Leo gives him a good lick and then he struts outside to catch grasshoppers and things that go scrambling through the bushes. W is a bit spoilt curling up in our arms, against our backs as we sleep and insisting that I accompany him in his morning kaskenades in the garden. I do remember that as a child our cat was knocked by a car and also had pins in his hind leg. I come from an era where we had time for everything including pets but we were a bit more relaxed about their care. We did not spend a fortune on cat food but cooked fish and liver and kept aside a bit of meat and gravy for kitty. A tin of cat food was a bit of a treat. It’s crazy how much money people spend to feed their pets. Just see when you go shopping the trolley is high with bags of cat/dog food and it is expensive.

Yep I come from an era where we wore petticoats – only the prettiest, and some that had a bit of support for our bosom. I come from an era where we did not wear push up bras or bras with excessive padding but we wore front clips and pretty lacy things. If you were well endowed you were happy, and if you were not, you wore it with pride because it’s sensual too. We did not straighten our hair with GHD’s but blow dried and celebrated the frizz (how can you not when the rain in Cape Town makes your hair mince). OK OK I do know of some people who placed their long hair on the ironing board, brown paper on top and then seriously ironed it with a struikyster.  You knew when people straightened their hair chemically, it showed and the application smelt terrible – Wella straightener. Nowadays there is far too much emphasis on straight and blonde being the only beautiful hair. I come from a time where people only coloured their hair to make a statement or because they were prematurely grey and we heeded the warnings of the effects of over dyeing and cancer. I come from a time where we pierced our ears with a hot needle and placed a reed through the hole until it healed. We would rub it with coconut oil only to wear the prettiest hippy earrings.

Anyway, this morning Abu prepared breakfast, I was not in the mood for anything spectacular just some chocolate Pronutro with strawberries. Then Abu read out the ingredients – maize genetically modified and soya genetically modified and I was sommer naar. Bliksem MONSANTO is right here in our house, in our cupboard, in my bowl, in my bowel!!!!! So I chucked it out, not worth recycling. And I went through my groceries just to check how far this has gone. I checked the sunflower oil and the peanut butter and the sugar because I know that the main crops are targeted first. I am thinking “kanala, kanala let the chickpeas be clean I still want to make some humus.” India’s rice industry has collapsed because GMOs affected their clean crops and I could quote continent after continent of examples of this kind of enslavement.

Some weeks ago a friend brought a young man from Spain to visit. He mentioned that his parents comply with government regulation of using seed. Another friend sent me this link,

http://www.collective-evolution.com/2013/06/05/european-commission-to-criminalize-seeds-and-plants-not-registered-with-the-government/

check it out! So I say bring on the eco freedom fighters who take clean seed all over the world.  Ja, I come from era where we were enslaved by the apartheid government but we are still enslaved. We are enslaved by all kinds of things, from the way we look (genetically modified) to what we eat (genetically modified) to how we think (genetically modified) to how we support ourselves (only genetically modified). And in so many ways our access to water and electricity may as well be genetically modified –   it’s all about profit. 



cucumber trailing

I say enough, like we said then. We must take to the streets and take back our rights given by our Rabb. Come together and each one teach one how to live off the grid; about clean seed and growing clean food, about solar power and wind power, about boreholes, demand the state root out GM crops, refuse to eat GM food, and then maybe, just maybe we can say we are free. We can if we try - all of veggies above came from our garden, planted from clean seed. We made a salad and it really tastes distinctly better! Those cucumbers really come from our garden see?

Plant food and fight MONSANTO wherever you find them.

Yasmine