Hearing Isn’t Always Listening

I’ve had a yearning desire to write this blogpost for a while now, but I’ve been putting it off as I was fearful that my thoughts are stupid, and people won’t really care about what I have to say, but if I have learnt anything from this weekend it is to follow the little voice in your head, to do the unreasonable, to use your talents and your unshakeable faith to make the decision to let go and let God take control of your life.

Yes, people might be judging me right now, thinking ah Anuschka, you Jesus freak, you show off, and how dare I talk about Christianity in the public spectrum. I, however, have come to realise that I don’t care what a handful of negative people think as long as I can impact the lives of several people through my desire to spread His word. I hope that you all can read this with an open heart.

God has been in my life since the day I was born, my grandfather was a pastor and my family has always planted a firm seed in my life when it comes to Faith. All my life I have been attending a Catholic church and going to church because I was told to do so. Sometimes I wouldn’t go to church at all for months at a time. I have always believed in Him but over the past couple of years I have come to realise that going to church and saying your prayers at night does NOT make you a Christian. Having a relationship with God is a whole different ball game. When you have a relationship with Him, He will test your faith on a daily basis. I only truly started on the path of growing and moulding my relationship with him when I got invited by a girl in my class to attend her church and was taken back by the crazy passion everyone displayed, clapping and singing at church, surely this wasn’t what He wanted but I was open to change and to experience something new. As the night commenced I felt the spirit like I never have before, I saw passion like I have never seen before, and I understood His Word and what God wanted for me in my life for the very first time. God can call you back to him in the strangest ways, he works through people, through signs, through opportunities, he may even use your lowest moments where you have given up all hope and need a miracle to make you stop and turn to him again.

My life has generally been quite an easy one, whatever I have wanted I have usually got and I don’t know if that was favour or luck but after my year in London I realised what stress and uncertainty felt like. “For God has a plan to prosper you and not to harm you.” London is a tough place to keep you faith up, at times it’s put on the back burner but I’m grateful that I made the decision to attend Hillsong London as often as I could. It was a safe haven for me, a place where God reminded me that He was with me throughout the week no matter what obstacles I faced. There were two defining moments last year which will always be a constant reminder of His undying love for me.

I will never forget the Easter Sunday we attended Hillsong London for the very first time, it was raining and we had to queue outside to try and get in for at least one of their packed out Easter services. At that time we were jobless and still living in hostels. I filled out a prayer request that morning begging God to provide us with a job and nice warm home, within that week my friend’s mother organised a job for us in a catering company called Elements: Favour, ask and you shall receive. We were still living in hostels and moving between houses but we eventually found a home.

The second defining moment was when we were almost homeless again, the house we were living in was not a healthy environment to stay in due to our steroid taking, drug dealing landlord and after an incident happened we decided to tell the landlords that we were leaving the home before our holiday to Barcelona. We had a limited time to find a new place to stay that was both affordable and in a good area, it was stressful and many of the places didn’t call back or didn’t give us a chance, after desperate prayers we found the perfect home. When we recalculated the figures we realised that we couldn’t afford to pay the deposit and monthly rent so we called the landlord and told him we couldn’t afford it. The landlord decided not only to waiver the agency fees but to drop the rent of the rooms. We paid the deposit and hoped for the best. The morning before we left we got a call saying that our flights needed to be changed and that we would receive 100 pounds back for the change. It was truly a blessing as the deposit we had to pay crippled our bank account. The roommates in our new home were amazing and from the day we moved in there our lives were instantly better. Favour: Ask and you will receive.

God has not only worked his wonders for me while I was in London but he was working his wonders back home for my family, my dad was blessed with a new job, and their faith was kept firm, we often spoke about how God was impacting our lives even though we were thousands of miles apart.

This year my Faith has grown from strength to strength, after my uncle was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer a few weeks ago and my friend was in a horrific car accident I decided to take a serious look at my life and what was truly important in it. The Friday prior to last was the night I knew I started to completely change, every sip of alcohol I took I kept thinking to myself I know God is not happy with my drunken state at this moment but I chose to ignore His voice in my head. That Saturday as I opened the Bible app on my iPod looking for answers the daily verse was from Peter:

1 Peter 4:1-11 (NIV)

"Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit. The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen."

That Sunday I went to church and the message was about living according to His word again. This weekend I attended a conference called Lift and it was honestly one of the greatest experiences of my life. It made me challenge myself and question all that I stood for. Pastor Glyn Barrett joined us from Manchester and he tested us to be courageous, to listen to His voice and pay attention, to understand that sometimes God can be unreasonable, and to allow big moments to mould your life.

I believe I was brought to Urban Edge in Durbanville as it is right around the corner from Durbanville Medi Clinic where my uncle is currently at, nothing is by chance. On the last night of Lift I felt the Holy Spirit like I never have before, I felt the burning desire to go pray for my uncle after the service. My friend Natalie and I raced in there as we just missed visiting hours, he was so surprised to see us and as we stood over him praying I knew in my heart that God would provide a miracle, on my way out of the hospital a man approached Natalie and I in the parking lot telling us “No matter what you are going through God is always there for you” and that was exactly what God wanted us to hear! When I got home I wanted to tell my aunty about how amazing everything turned out that evening, without telling my mom about it, my aunty messaged my mom and told her she was going to come and visit us. As I told her about how God gave me the strength to spontaneously go to the hospital, I could tell that she was so happy. She made the decision to come to church with us this morning, and she encouraged me to invite my uncle’s son and her sons too. This morning I arrived at church with 6 new faces ready to listen to the Lord. During the afternoon I went to visit my Uncle, he was doing amazing today, smiling and looking healthy as a horse. I can see that there is a new fighting desire in him and I know that things are only going to get better from here onwards.

Sometimes you just need to stop, and look up; you need to have the courage to say yes to having a relationship with Him. You need to spread his love whether it be a smile, giving your hard earned money to someone who needs it more than you do or whether it be you waking up everyone in your home on a Sunday morning to make sure everyone attends Church to hear His word at a risk of being thrown with something sharp. No one is perfect but the fact the you’re trying is all that counts to Him, we all falter and fall and I might go back to the person I was. But I know Jesus believes in me and I will come back stronger. There are so many chapters to write in my life and as long as I am writing the right chapters I know I will have the Lord by my side and these chapters will be filled with abundant favour!

The Circus is in Town: My 21st Birthday

I have always been fascinated with the circus, but not the circus of today. I much prefer the traveling circus, the circus where clowns were funny, lions jumped through flaming hoops and elephants were the main attraction. Okay I haven’t seen a proper circus before but I remember going to a similar circus in Wynberg as a child. It was a circus in a tent; we were greeted by the ringmaster and entertained by clowns, monkeys, dogs, snakes, elephants and horses. I still remember buying a huge bag of popcorn and enjoying every minute of the show while munching away.

I don’t know if many of you will remember this but many years ago SABC 3 use to show various circus and magic shows on Sunday afternoons. After Sunday lunch my father and I use to spend the rest of the day entrapped in a world of fantasy and entertainment. In 2010 The Great Moscow Circus was in Cape Town and I was lucky enough to score a free ticket from my aunty. My hopes for the show were high but I left there rather disappointed. The circus wasn’t in a tent, there were no animals, the clowns were boring and there was no magical atmosphere what so ever.

Most of my high school and College design work was inspired by the circus. It’s a great theme to run with as there is so much to it. Take a look at a couple of my circus themed designs:

So naturally for my 21^st theme I decided to go with… yes you guessed it a Circus theme. The party planning was an enormous task, and it was up to my mom and I to plan an awesome party on a small budget (as I am traveling to London for a year, blog post coming soon).

I had my party at home so that I could spend more money on the important things like décor, food and alcohol of course. We put a circus tent by the front door and had welcome shots for all the guests who arrived. The welcome shots were Apple Sourz accompanied with a sour worm.

The sweet table was also by the entrance and was filled with some of the yummiest candies, like candy floss, gum balls, chocolate marshmallows, popcorn, cupcakes and gummibears. Needless to say we had very little left over by the end of the night.

There was a jumping castle for the all the people who felt like being a kid again.

Bashews were a must at my party. Not only are they everyone’s most memorable childhood drink but the bright colours and glass bottles gave my party an extra edge.

We had a hubbly area which we decorated with bales of straw, colourful bean bags and red draping. This was by far my favourite section of the party.

The night came with a special surprise, a carnival games section. I wasn’t sure if my friends would enjoy it so I had to entice them with a prize, a bottle of Ponchos! Points were collected for each game and by the end of the night the points were tallied up and the winner was revealed which was Renaldo Da Silva. (He cheated though, and popped all the balloons with the tickets in it, not giving anyone else a chance to compete!)

The rest of the formalities followed including embarrassing yet touching speeches from my friends and family, with a beautiful song sung by my sister and her friend. The BLACKPANNDJAT gave me a wonderful surprise birthday gift, an iPod Touch and a charm bracelet. The charms represented my friendship with each member of the BLACKPANNDJAT.

One of the highlights of my night was definitely my Manchester United Ice cream cake and the ice cream fight that followed! Yes I picked out the design but I felt really proud trying to blow out the sparkles on the cake.

Good food, good drink, good music and great company. I couldn’t have asked for a better 21^st and a better bunch of friends and family to share it with!

Support a Cause

Prestige Academy Bursary Fundraiser 2012 

When it comes to supporting a specific cause, I become overly passionate and try to spread the word as much as I can. For example the #KONY2012 campaign (if you don’t know about this campaign read more about it here) had a really big impact on me. I want to help in any way possible, but the thought of donating money online always freaks me out. Not knowing where the money is going to and freely giving my banking details online is a risk I am not willing to take. I believe that spreading the word via social media is truly beneficial even though thousands of critics think otherwise. But instead of starting big, start small, help out causes within your community, spread the word to get others involved. I attended a fundraiser hosted by Prestige Academy in aid of student bursary funds. I was a bursary student myself so I know how important a benefit like this is. The greatest gift you can give a person is education so that they too can fulfill their lifelong dreams.

A message from the director:

“On 2 March 2012 Prestige Academy hosted their first bursary fundraiser at the Barnyard in Willowbridge. The evening was filled with the talent of the musicians of the Six of the Best show as well as great laughter, delicious food and open hearts.

Prestige Academy donates R150 000 from their annual profits towards the bursary fund. This money is then allocated to the study fees of students who are academically qualified to study at our institution but financially unable to do so. The bursary fund makes it possible for these students to take another step closer to the better future they desire. However, this amount is not enough to fulfil in so many disadvantaged students’ needs.

We decided to host a fundraiser this year in an effort to raise more money which will give more students the opportunity to further their education. The fundraiser also gave us the opportunity to build closer relationships with the parents, schools and suppliers who form a large part of the Prestige Academy family. Some of the companies that shared the evening with us was Bornman and Hayward; Konika Minolta; Jackson Neethling Accountants; Milkjug; Mineral Spring Boerdery and Futura. We also had tremendous support from the parents of current students. Several head masters and teachers of high schools attended the events as well.

For our first fundraiser we had a full house of guests. Mr Justin Afrika of New Orleans Senior Secondary in Paarl was the lucky winner of the raffle, which consisted of a table for 10 at the Barnyard, valued at R1200. The prize was sponsored by the Barnyard, Willowbridge.

After months of planning the evening proofed once again that Cape Town’s hearts are open to support community outreach, and in this case to empower the youth of South Africa.”

I have added some photos of the event:

I designed the banner on the right (yay me)

 

  

Follow Prestige Academy on Twitter or like their page on Facebook if you are interested in finding out more. Let’s all get together and support causes that can make an immediate difference within our mother city. 

Kirstenbosch Summer Concerts: GoldFish Live

While most people spent Sunday stomping and head banging at Ramfest, I decided to go for a more subtle approach to end off my spectacularly relaxed weekend, jamming to the awesome beats of Goldfish. The Kirstenbosch Summer Concerts are held every year, it is a great opportunity for old and young, families and friends to come together and watch their favourite South African artists perform. I’ve been to a summer concert once before where I watched The Dirty Skirts perform. Live music with a superb backdrop of mountain and trees accompanied with your own wine and snacks, a lovely way to spend your Sunday evening.

I have always been a fishie fan but my mom however, takes the cake. Whenever I’m playing one of their tracks at home I can be sure that my mom will run into my room waving her arms and moving her hips singing along to their songs. Not a pleasant site for any child to see. So when news broke that Goldfish was indeed part of the 2012 summer concert line up, I made sure I purchased tickets well in advanced just so that my mom could hear them live and hopefully not pester me with any more of her ‘I wana see GoldFish live’ grunts.

 

The long ass line:

I’ve seen GoldFish a couple of times, and my favourite performance of theirs was at Rezonance NYE fest back in 2010. I haven’t seen them perform in a while, so seeing them again yesterday was a lovely treat. Tickets for the show sold out fast, when we got there the line was long and it was a scorcher of a day but as they say ‘We come together, no matter the weather’. Once inside we found a lovely spot where we set out our blanket and started to nibble on our snacks while awaiting Goldfish. Their performance was amazing as always, everyone got up to dance to their killer tunes. They have a whole lot of new remixes and there is nothing quite like new music.

The thing that I enjoy most about GoldFish is that they play their own classical instruments and mix it with the music, which is different to any other electronic DJ. It allows them to engage with the crowd on a higher level. During the instrumental bits of their songs, goosebumps covered my flesh and I believe that only great music is hair razing. The best part of the concert was when the GoldFish mascot graced us with his presence and awesome dance moves! Yes, GoldFish is definitely one of South Africa’s best exports. It’s because of local artists like them that I am Proudly Capetonian.

GoldFish Live:

Dancing Goldfish:

If you haven’t heard their music before (which I’m sure you all have) check out their website:

http://goldfishlive.com/

The Design Indaba 2012

Cape Town’s Design Indaba is the biggest highlight of the year for young creatives. It gives them an opportunity to showcase their work and ideas on a national scale. It is a time where innovation and creativity take a front seat. The indaba is celebrated by thousands across the country and with the announcement of Cape Town being 2014’s World Design Capital this year’s indaba promised to be bigger and better than ever before.

As a designer I love attending the event and have been an annual attendee since 2007. One might think that each year offers the same old thing, but I will challenge that. If one takes the time to chat to each designer and look at the effort that goes into their ideas and designs, one might find that beauty can be found in the simplest of things. It also gives me an idea of what the current design trends are for the year ahead.

I was very impressed with this year’s Design Indaba. I came across some very interest concepts, and if everything wasn’t so darn expensive I would have definitely splurged on a number of items. Jewellery, product and fashion design were once again the focal elements of the Indaba. Every year I hope for more advertising, more packaging, more printed artwork but I feel that the Design Indaba falls short on these elements. I suppose selling work like that is difficult but it would be great if the Indaba showcased, for example, the best performing campaigns/advertisements in South Africa from the previous year. They will then cater to various design lovers.

I would like to share a couple of my favourite stalls and products. These designs were like none I’ve ever seen before and I applaud the effort that went into each of these concepts:

Anomali is a jewellery design label which was started by Moniek van Zyl and Marlet Strauss. I fell in love with their vintage inspired designs and the craftsmanship that went into each piece. I adored their spoon necklaces:

I really like the African inspired handcrafted elements by High Thorn:

The most innovative product I saw was most definitely the Consol Sonar Jar, it uses solar powered LED lights. Although the light isn’t very bright it creates a beautiful effect and is affordable to purchase:

The most creative stand I saw was created by a designer called Mike van Heerden. The theme of his stand is based around the "Wonder Years". Take a look at his concept (here). I absolutely loved it and spent a long time staring at his stand adoring his intricate craftsmanship:

My favourite architectural design was created by AM ArchitectsInterior. Their display was beautiful, and had a lot of African influences:

This craft piece by Art Magazine South Africa was also rather smart:

I also really loved this hand beaded packaging of the famous South African brands done by Monkey Biz:

Dstv’s indaba campaign was definitely the highlight of the event. It allowed the attendee’s to interact with characters on a huge screen. I really enjoyed taking part in this experience:

As one knows there isn't a party without alcohol, Golsch was there once again with a stunning bar area and an awesome free-bee campaign:

I was also very impressed with Cape Town Tourism’s campaign “You don’t need a holiday, you need Cape Town”:

I had a great deal of fun and I can’t wait to attend the Design Indaba again next year, who knows maybe one day I will also be able to share my design ideas on a large scale like that. I admire the opportunity events like these give to people like us. Never give up, because in the end hard work always pays off.