by Gaynor Paynter

G21 Africa Columnist

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Gaynor Paynter & her sons

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Seasons greetings from South Africa, where although we are fast approaching Christmas Day I am disheartened to comment that commercialism is at an all time high. South African consumers find that we must spend very many more hard earned rands on goods of poor quality than we had to even last year. Some plastic toys which will be broken within ten minutes of opening cost over one hundred rands - a lot of money in these cash-strapped times. Some shops are so keen for us to spend our money that they are opening on Christmas Day itself, something which was unheard of in South Africa in years gone past. All I can say is that I am glad I don't work for any of these places as I plan to spend Christmas Day nowhere else but with my family.

I have recently noticed one trait in my countrymen's behaviour that encourages me greatly: It is heartening to see how much South Africans citizens in general take the Christmas spirit to heart. I notice that people who don't do a lot to help others during the rest of the year make amends for this by pulling out all the stops over Christmas. A case in point would be an initiative that the local radio station, Highveld Stereo have taken, an initiative which has (unintentionally) made the spirit of Christmas giving all the radio station's own and has set a precedent for us all..

Last year, the radio station introduced us to their "Christmas Wish List" for the first time, something that they continued with much success this December.

The "Christmas Wish List" works in the following manner: South Africans were asked to send in Christmas wishes for people in need that were personally known to them. You could wish for anything - a decent Christmas present for someone, Braille books for a blind person, an operation for a desperate person - the only criteria was that you did not wish for something for yourself. The wishes received by the radio station were scrutinised and some of the most worthy causes were selected as wishes which were to be made to come true. (I believe that over 30,000 e-mails were received within the first 48 hours - a mammoth administrative task for some poor person!).

A lot of people (such as station employees, suppliers, corporate companies, and members of the public who could make donations) put hard work into the realisation of this. The results of all this were nothing short of amazing. Suffice it to say that things like little babies who have spent their entire lives in hospital attached to expensive breathing machinery (without which they will die) were being sent home for the very first time with medical machinery obtained by the radio station, and dreamlike vacations being given to dying mothers and their children ("just to make memories", the announcer said). These events in the year's "Christmas Wish List" had me and thousands like me in tears on our way to work. One radio station took it upon itself to make all these wishes come true, and so many people are going to have a better Christmas because of it.

This went on for two weeks, which was quite hard for me (you try getting up every morning and going to work knowing without a shadow of a doubt that you will be in tears before you get to work!) What this did for me is make me think very deeply about Christmas and its true meaning. I am pleased to say that in our money-driven, corporate city there are some real angels.

In this our "rainbow nation", it is not surprising to note that Christmas or, in the broader context, the festive season, is celebrated in many different ways by all the different cultures. Although church going is not one of the top priorities of South Africans these days, the Christmas church service is still a very popular occasion - what better way is there to spend Christmas morning (after you have been woken up at the crack of dawn by your children informing you vociferously that SANTA CLAUS HAS BEEN and it's time to go and open presents!) than singing Christmas carols and worshipping, feeling the love that is so sadly lacking during the rest of the year?

This done, for some of us it is then back home to enjoy the presents we have received and partake of the lavish, extravagant meal that we are fortunate enough to have on our tables. We cook turkey or chicken, roast potatoes, vegetables and all the trimmings. Some of us will have opted for the less traditional cool meal - salads and cold meats, because we are actually in the middle of summer and it is a lot more comfortable to eat summer food. Some of us just have the good old traditional South African braai. (You will observe that I said "some of us". Others of us are not fortunate enough to have any kind of Christmas at all.)

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In America, you will have heard of the AIDS epidemic that is crippling our country. I myself have seen reports on CNN, but I wonder if your media tells you as much about the related problem - the appalling situation in which the resulting AIDS orphans find themselves. For the AIDS orphans, sustained life is a struggle from one day to the next, whether the date happens to be the 25th of December or not - an incredibly sad fact when you consider that Christmas is a holiday most magic in the eyes of the children. (Think about the magic of Santa Claus, Rudolph, the sleigh, the elves and the wondrous toy factory in the North Pole - how hard must it be to believe in all this when the reality of your own circumstances is that your parents are dead, you have no food, no home and no money, and no Santa Claus has left any gifts for you on Christmas morning).

Prosperous South Africans cannot say that they are ignorant of the problem, as they did (largely) of the atrocities of apartheid in the past, as the South African media reports broadly on both the positive and negative aspects of this AIDS Orphans problem. The South African media is not restricted as it was in the past and can and does report accurately and fairly on the problem. So it is up to us to look into our hearts and find something to help alleviate the problem - we cannot blame it on government, crime, poverty, or any thing else in the same vein..

For these babies, who are sometimes AIDS sufferers themselves, the future looks decidedly bleak. The chances are that they have no parents at all and very few other healthy family members. A growing concern amongst South Africans is that, in some families, the oldest children are left to take care of the youngest. The responsibility of providing food, clothing and an education to the family falls to the oldest surviving children, a very heavy burden for a child to bear. Any money that they may make (by legal or illegal means) is allocated to paying for these basic needs. What funds are left for Christmas presents? Although, without a doubt, all these children would like Christmas presents and a good meal just as your children and mine will receive.

There are government initiatives and charity organisations which try to help these children but the effect is like a drop in the ocean as they too are short of funding, staff and fundamental resources such as premises, beds, food, clothing, equipment, etc.

Christmas is for the children, and these children must be given a fantastic one as it may be the last they ever experience. I call on all South Africans (and indeed, all other nationals) to donate any spare change, food, clothing, etc. to AIDS orphans charity organisations (such as Cotlands, who are well known in South Africa for the fact that they look after and provide a home for AIDS babies) and I challenge the South African government to allocate more funds to the combating of AIDS in this country.

I give you this thought: Never was the statement that we pay for the sins of our forefathers truer than it is in this instance.

In closing, I urge everybody reading this article to please take care of themselves over this festive season. If your are going away for the holidays, I take this opportunity to wish you well and pray that you come back safely. Please drive with care and take breaks often. And in your spare time, I bid you - think of ways that you personally can make this world a nicer place for yourselves, your family and people that you don't even know. Highveld Stereo did that with the Christmas Wish List. Let's pick the spirit of this up and keep it going throughout the year. God bless.

Happy Holidays.