The Calamity Ended
The court case of Robert ( see posts ”Calamity” dated 23 May 2007 and “Update” on 28 May 2007) was held today in the Brits magistrate’s court. He pleaded guilty to both charges of money theft and use of the vehicle without owner’s consent. He was sentenced to a fine of R2000 as well as imprisonment of 18 months, which is suspended for 5 years. The court also ordered him to repay the financial loss of R22 000 which Emoyeni suffered.
He had been detained in the police holding cells at Brits police station since he handed himself to the police on the 21st of May. Those eight weeks in detention must have been a horrible experience for him, especially as prison fare don’t allow much for vegetarians. We supported him by supplying essential food items on a weekly basis.
He now faces the challenge of rebuilding his life in a responsible way. Because he has such a friendly disposition and is such a concientious worker, his main task would be to find and work at overcoming the underlying causes for his tendency to loose impulse control and indulge in substance abuse.
We have replaced the lost bakkie and a donation of R20 000 from a friend of Emoyeni has helped a lot to cushion the impact on our finances.
July 23, 2007 at 9:55 am
Hi Johan and Mervyn
I am very pleased that the ‘Robert matters’ have finally been resolved. From what we have been experiencing here at Nan Hua Temple in recent months I am also very glad that Emoyeni is at least practicing some of that generosity, and caring and kindness that Buddhism always alludes to.
Hopefully Robert will from here on make every effort to maintain a clean slate. Having also just recently assisted somebody who has been using crack, among other things, for a lengthy period, and who was also engaged on a more self-destructive escapade than by necessarily harming others, I know how frustrating it is when they become consumed by their habit.
But then again, having been a substance abuser myself, I know how difficult it is to “stay away” from the “easy way out”. In this particular instance the person was also in an extremely abusive (physically, mentally, psychologically, emotionally) relationship, where they were basically being ‘kept’ by a Nigerian, and consequently there is also that ‘attachment’ that needs to be broken. But so far, second time round, they are now almost four weeks ‘clean’, and more importantly alive and safe.
Keep up the good work that Emoyeni is doing, and may you have many more generous sponsors supporting a very worthy retreat centre.