Bronwynn Balie

I am a young woman that grew up with the truth of life put at my feet. Adopted at the tender age of 2 years to a Mauritian mother who, pior to marriage was a nun in the convent and a South African father who was a very strong businessman and belived that life was about people and how you understand and move around with a lasting true impression. Learning that integrity was the one thing that you never compromise.

 

Growing up we all have an idea of where life will take us and how hard we will "beat the odds" in order to see our goals and successes and many times in failure of one or another we tend to weaken and walk astray from our dream. Think about what you originally wanted to be as a teenager, are you that now? My dream was to be a lawyer. Yet my parents didn't have the finances to take me to that level so I had to start in a labour line from the bottom as many have. One job to the next and as you walk that path you step into new avenues, finding new light. I never saw myself complete in any of it although I enjoyed my work. One day I opened a self help group called  The Big Shoulder. A group where people could come forward and express themselves openly in any given daily expression. Their hopes, their dreams, their sadness, their questions, their confusions... Yes, I did most of the talking. And all the writings were mostly by me. I never held back on my expressions to life but I shared them openly. There were no expectations of any written comments just for people to read and relate. 

 

The day came that I realised that I had to truely look around me and see where I stood in this world. Compare myself to my fellow man. Fewer and fewer people in my country able to find jobs or even keep them. The more the day passed the more I started to search organisations looking for help for families in need, the more my heart broke. 

 

My name is Bronwynn Justine Balie. I am a 33 year old caucasin woman born in South Africa. I was born during a depression yet as a child we never saw it, our parents got us through the battle. Like every beautiful country in this world South Africa has a history that too can break your heart. South Africa like many began by taking away the human rights of its original land owners and spending decades in apartheid. Makes you wonder why when decisions are made like that that particular government never really took into account the future and the terminal consequences of their actions. And hence now in the year 2008 I open my backdoor to you. Look see what we the future generation and our kids will live through because of that decision. I do not name people, I am proud of my country. We are a land of strong and proud people who work hard yet I unfortunately now introduce you to BEE (Black Economic Empowerment). Unfortunately it has now come to being completely open and saying that my dear fellow white/caucasion South Africans are basically forced into the state of destitution.

 

It saddens me because as a  19 year girl during the election change to our new black goverment under the control of Nelson Mandela I had hope that eventually our beautiful country would find a peace of mind for all and that we could all be rehabilitated into a "Strength" to be reconned with by all other countries. We had hope. We still do yet their is a deteriaration that is extremely evident and we cant look past it because it will determine the future of us. And hence I found that the dream I was looking for? the goal of a job or career? was never what I was here for. My calling..... to step up and say "I will help pick up lost hope of those left destitute because I care"