So, for the last few weeks mr. H and myself have been bantering thoughts on how the infosec industry is broken, and how stuff needs to be done differently. I’m more of the point of view that things are not as bad as they seem, while some others have different opinions. This weekend, I got to experience first hand, how broken some things in life really are, and how a big difference a small group of people can make.

In our spare time we enjoy the outdoor life that South Africa provides us, and were part of the largest 4×4 forum in the country. One of the members of the forum posted a thread about two months ago, after he and his wife visited the Abraham Kriel, home how broken stuff there is. Not digital packets being broken, or people doing things wrong (we will get to that though), but just how really fscked things are there. The children of different ages live in different buildings on the premises, and they’re not allowed to use the facilities of the other buildings, including simple things like the jungle gyms etc. Uys from StofPad 4×4 decided something has to be done, and got the ball rolling. A simple post, with the aim of raising R5000 – R10 000 along with a simple prayer to God to help improve the lives of the children went out. He raised R52 000! Next, he needed volunteers to help make things happen. This weekend, we fixed the broken stuff…we did things differently. Here is the story in photos.

Sunset as we arrive on site (we had the use of the lapa area to camp and use as a base of operations).

Around 20 vehicles pitched up camp, while about the same number drove through for the day on Saturday to come and help.

These gift packets contained the simplest items, toothpaste, deo, a bag of sweets etc, but it was something that each child got for themselves. Not to share, each one of the 180 children got one.

Various teams set about building new jungle gyms for the kids to play on. The goal of the weekend was that each and every ‘house’ had their own jungle gym, allowing each and every child, no matter how young or old, to enjoy the same benefits.

I was on the crew that got the task of refurbishing one of the old jungle gyms. This was a hard enough task as the rotted sections of wood needed to be removed, the rusted bolts grinded down and then everything replaced with new sections. To some degree we realised this is more difficult than building from scratch, as we had to work within the confines of an existing structure.

That smile says it all..

For lunch my other half got a sponsorship from two Pick ‘n Pays for 30kg of boerewors and rolls, and then bought the kids 25L of ice cream out of our pockets along with cooldrink to give them a nice little lunch. This was only a taster as mr. “Bos Toe!” was cooking a potjie of note for them!

After lunch on Saturday the projects continued, with various small side-projects also happening. No-one had a chance to sit and do nothing.

Life sized chess board being built for the kids. Another sponsored project from various businesses.

The kids were each given their present, and mr. “Bos Toe!” started dishing up his potjie. A simple lamb, potato etc dish over rice. There was enough for seconds, and the kids all had a full tummy!

The school prepared a present for the forum, in the form of cards from each house. Once everything had calmed down Uys (the guy in the pic receiving it) read the cards to us. It’s strange to see big burly grown men, who just a few hours ago were wielding saws and hammers etc with tears in their eyes.

Sunday morning we continued the work, and myself and the other half left around 2pm. As we slowly drove through the grounds it was amazing to see the children playing on objects we had a hand in building. It was a good feeling, building something new, and fixing something that is truly broken.

So why do this? The one caretaker lady told us the tale of a 10yr old boy. He went home to his parents for the weekend, and returned bruised with some burn wounds on his legs etc. When they asked him what happened he said he played with hot irons or something. Eventually they got the story out of him, and he showed them his chest. He had a burn from a iron (the type you use on your clothes) with the pointy bit right under his sternum! I mean, who is their mind does that to a child? Should we as a society not focus more on fixing that, than argue about how digital packets are broken? Its a terrible comparison, I know, but it does put life in perspective..

When we moved from Cape Town up to Gauteng towards the end of last year, both me and the fiance realised it would not be easy, but we needed to try. In this spirit, we’ve been actively looking for different things to do on the weekends, trying to get out to actually enjoy a different area of the country. Much as we South Africans lament the current ruling political party governing it in to the ground, we stay here because it is genuinely one of the most beautiful countries in the world.

During the last few weeks I have been spending increased time working on the truck to get it ready for the camping trips we plan to take as the year goes on, ultimately preparing us for the trip to Botswana end of August. I’ve been lurking and posting once a while on a 4×4 forum called the http://www.4x4community.co.za in the hope of seeing how to do different things, from building packing systems to what tyres are good and bad.

This last weekend, there was a bit of a gathering out at De Wild 4×4 track, and we decided that we would go with. With only 4×2 and diff-lock, I was told the vehicle would be fine for the grading 1 to 3 obstacles. We met up with another member in Centurion, and went off to meet a Audi Q7 and its driver before going to the facility. Once we arrived it took about an hour for everyone to arrive, including a older Mercedes Benz ML who would be competing with his future father in law’s Fortuner 4×4..

Once the convoy set off we hit the first obstacle of the day, a axle twister that the ML just managed to do, but it broke a front bumper and popped out a spotlight. For the rest of the vehicles including my Colt Clubcab it was less of s struggle, though I did have the advantage of a very experienced co-driver showing me the lines (this after he did it effortlessly in a V8 Land Rover Discovery 2).

The ML going up the hill

We did another climb and then stopped for a stunning viewpoint, at which turn I asked my fiance if she would like a turn to drive. We then asked Philip (who turned out to be a 4×4 instructor) to drive with her, while I was a passenger in the aforementioned Discovery 2. Little did I know that at this point it would turn in to the day that I lost my keys…

The route takes you through several different types of obstacles, and some we could just not do with the 4×2, like the infamous ‘Gert se Klip’, but I managed to experience it as the passenger of the Discovery 2. Every obstacle that could be done was attempted by the future-wife in the Colt with her co-driver. He patiently walked her through every obstacle, showing her which lines to pick and then driving with her as she attempted it.

The only obstacles she missed on recommendation of the instructor were the mudholes, due to potential damage it can cause to rubber seals, radiator etc.

Alex in a heavily modified 4.7L V8 Range Rover

In the meantime I saw in the passenger seat of the Discovery 2 with Althea in the back seat watching Pieter do the magic with his vehicle. He went through all the mud etc, seeing as he does all the work on his vehicle himself and thus isn’t too worried about damage.

Althea enjoying the idea of playing in the mud

There was a few places that I watched the truck go and thought ‘How is she going to get it out of there?’ but under the watchful eye of a competent instructor she managed fine and didn’t bump, scratch or damage the vehicle in any way (except it’s now dirty as hell again).

The missus being advised by her instructor on which line to take down the donga.

The same donga from the passenger seat of a Land Rover Discovery 2

Roaring out of another ditch.. Might need to wash it now

At the end of the day we reached the mud pit and spotted some drunk guys trying to ride up a embankment and doing nothing but damaging the vehicles and their ego’s. The one thing about the forum members, they were very strict about alcohol consumption on the route. No drinking and driving. Once everyone was back at the rest area and the vehicles parked it was fine to have a beer, but not on the course. Eventually I got my keys back as the day wound down, with future-wife smiling from ear to ear having had way too much fun with my car.

We got home around 3:30pm and promptly slept for 3 hours before attempting anything else for the evening. In the end we realised that the move to Gauteng is what we make of it. It’s taking the opportunities that present itself and using them

** Due to the theme I use, some pictures are cut off, click on them for the full pic.