Tag Archives: The Proteas

Day 184

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If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one. – Mother Teresa

It’s 10: 24  PM on day 184 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself bread and jam  for breakfast,  tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – no luck –  feed myself rice and curry for lunch, exercise for 5 minutes, tweet about my campaign some more –   still  no luck – it was the saddest thing every 30 minutes I would click ‘Refresh’ in the hopes that someone had made a donation only no one did 🙁 – feed myself Chapati – an unleavened flatbread – butternut and vegetable curry  for dinner and watch TV

Today our housekeeper, Nandipha came to me and asked how much it costs to attend the schools that my brother and sister go to and I replied to go to Selborne Primary – the school that my brother goes to – it costs R6 000 per month and to go to Clarendon High – it costs R10 000 per month and after I answered her question I was curious as to why she wanted to know how much it costs to go to a private school because I knew that she had already finished school so I asked why do you ask and she replied my cousin is moving here from Johannesburg and she wanted to go to the best school that there was and since your brother and sister do go to those schools I thought I’d asked you only now that I know how much it costs I’ll have to tell her to look somewhere else because those schools are too expensive and in that moment I knew that I had to help Nandipha’s community in some way  so I decided that I would make some bread and jam sandwiches on Saturday and have Nandipha hand them out to her hungry neighbors.  In your quest to change the world have you forgotten that the smallest things can make the biggest difference?

Day 183

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If ever there is tomorrow when we’re not together.. there is something you must always remember. you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. but the most important thing is, even if we’re apart.. I’ll always be with you. – Winnie the Pooh  

It’s 9: 04  PM on day 183 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself a grilled cheese sandwich for breakfast while watching the Cricket World Cup match: South Africa vs. Ireland – congratulations to The Proteas – our national cricket team – who are officially in the quarterfinals after their victory over Ireland – bring the cup back for Mr. Mandela boys I am sure he’s rooting for you 🙂 –  tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – no luck –  feed myself rice and curry for lunch, tweet about my campaign some more –    no luck –   feed myself Chapati – an unleavened flatbread – and vegetable curry  for dinner and continue to tweet about my campaign – still no luck – I’m disappointed but it’s okay I’ll keep trying 🙂

Today I was feeling all kinds of awful my body was sore, my muscles were aching and all I wanted to do was sleep but then I remembered what Will Smith said on Oprah great people do what they do hurt and suddenly I didn’t feel so tired anymore because I could see in my mind’s eye images of children dying of cholera. On a bad day do you give up on yourself or look to harness your inner strength?

Day 180

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Guys are overrated – that’s what I learned today 🙂

It’s 11: 11 PM on day 180 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself Chapati – an unleavened flatbread – vegetable curry for breakfast, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – no luck – feed myself rice and curry for lunch, tweet about my campaign some more – @Pitbull1970 (Al) made a $6 – thanks Al 🙂 – start reading book Sea of Miracles by Amy Oscar (@AmyOscar on Twitter) – I haven’t read much of it but I could really relate to the parts I did read 🙂 – watch the Cricket World Cup match: South Africa vs. India – it was a close match but congratulations to The Proteas – our national cricket team – who beat India in India – it was the funniest thing my mother, my father and my brother were supporting India while I was supporting South Africa LOL 🙂 – feed myself Batura – deep fried bread – for dinner and watch Aquamarine – a coming-of-age movie about a mermaid – I had watched it about a hundred times before but my sister insisted that we watch it again and I didn’t have the heart to say no – I’m a total pushover when it comes to family 🙂

As you may or may not know I do not date because in my culture dating is prohibited until such a time that you are ready to settle down and have a family and although it used to bother me when I was younger looking back on it now I realize that not being able to date has forced me to love myself from the inside out so I guess that’s one thing my parents did right – thanks mom and dad. Do you seek love from the opposite sex because you don’t love yourself?

Day 171

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Music speaks what cannot be expressed, soothes the mind and gives it rest, heals the heart and makes it whole, flows from heaven to the soul. – Unknown

It’s 9: 15 PM on day 171 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, feed myself a chicken hotdog and banana for brunch while watching the Cricket World Cup: South Africa vs. Netherlands – congratulations to The Proteas – our national cricket team – who beat the Dutch quite comfortably in the end 🙂 –tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – no luck  but on the bright side I got my sister’s friend, Jessica to agree to give up her junk food for a week and donate the money –  I love getting the youth involved in giving  it makes me feel oh so good inside 🙂 –    feed myself rice and curry for lunch, exercise for 5 minutes,  tweet about my campaign some more – still no luck –  feed myself bread, grilled and salad for dinner and watch The Oprah Winfrey Show.

A lot of people have complimented me on how articulate I am about my feelings but today as I heard Wake Up Everybody by John Legend & The Roots I realized that I was probably the least articulate person in the entire world because that song did in 4: 09 what I’ve been trying to do for the past 4 years – shake the world out of denial – take a look:

Day 164

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To become truly great, one has to stand with people, not above them. – Charles de Montesquieu

It’s 11: 01 PM on day 164 of my journey towards independence and I’ve managed to brush my teeth, tweet about my Clean Water For All Campaign for a few hours – no luck today – feed myself  a chicken polony sandwich  for brunch,   exercise for 5 minutes while watching the Cricket World Cup match: South Africa vs. West Indies – congratulations to The Proteas – our national cricket team – you guys did AWESOME  South Africa loves you – special mentions must go to AB de Villiers and debutant Imran Tahir both of  whom played EXCEPTIONALLY well – keep it up guys 🙂 – and feed myself   Chapati – an unleavened flatbread – and chicken curry    for dinner.

Today I asked my friend @pamslove (Pam) if she could help me raise the remaining $3691.31 that I still need to build a well in Africa or India  and she told me she would happy to retweet my blog posts and that’s when I came up with the three way in which YOU could help too you could: log on to http://www.firstgiving.com/nishavarghese and make a donation, organize a fundraiser at your workplace/church/school (Note: if you do organize a fundraiser make sure you check the website on the day of the fundraiser because the ‘Total raised so far’ changes almost every day) or help spread the word by sharing this post with everyone you know via social networking sites and email. Will you stand in front of me, behind me or beside me? 🙂