In the past month Emoyeni received a total amount of R35,000 from 3 generous donors. Like most Buddhist retreat centres in the west, we walk a precarious financial line, and without the financial support of those that feel an affinity to Emoyeni, the Centre could not exist.
We would like to thank those three people for showing their appreciation of the work we do here in such a generous way.
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.
Robert returned to Johannesburg yesterday, and today we took him in to the police. Unfortunately, it turns out that this is not his first offence, and there is also the problem of quite serious substance abuse. But he has certainly done the right thing by turning himself in. All thoughts and prayers for Robert, please…
We have had a very troubled time these last two weeks. Robert Palmer, who was living and working here at Emoyeni since February, has disappeared, together with our bakkie and about R12 000 cash.
On Wednesday 9th May, Robert took our bakkie to fetch some building materials from Alberton (south of Johannesburg). He did not return that evening, and at about 7.30 on Thursday morning he called to say that he had some trouble the previous night, but was returning to Emoyeni. He never arrived back here. Later we found out that he had withdrawn cash from our bank account with a debit card for which he had the PIN code.
Last Friday morning (18 May) we had brief cellphone contact with him and he gave us some information about where the bakkie could possibly be found. By that evening he had severed contact again, and we have not heard from him again. It seems that whatever happened was volitional on his part. At the moment we have no idea where he might be, or in what state he may be.
We have reported the case to the police, and have been in regular contact with Robert’s parents in East London.
The bakkie has not been recovered. It is insured and we expect to get a settlement of about R30 000 from the insurers. Because it was so old (1994), we’ll have to add at least another R30 000 of our own cash in order to buy a half-decent second hand one.
Robert’s cheerful personality and willingness to get on with any job that came his way, make his disappearance and subsequent actions a very sad experience. We hope that he can emerge from this spiral of destructive actions and reclaim his life.
We had another shower at daybreak this morning of 8mm. Every drop now counts and we hope for more as the overcast seems to hang around still.
We had a good storm this afternoon and 9mm rain fell. This was most welcome after a drought of more than 6 weeks - the last rain we had was on the 7th of February.
It will certainly settle the soot which was produced by the fires we had in the past 2 weeks. Hopefully the burnt veld will now be able to grow a bit before the onset of winter so that there may be a little food available for all the creatures living on the mountain.
Speaking of fires: At the start of this summer we were delighted that the mountain had not been devastated by wild fires, like has happened the previous 5 years. Our joy was shattered two weeks ago when a fire started on a farm about a kilometer to the west of us. After a month of no rain the veld was as dry as in the middle of winter and despite our best efforts it soon raged out of control and swiftly moved up the mountain. All we could do was protecting our buildings, which we and all our neighbors managed to do. However, the pipes and cabling to our borehole were destroyed, and the pump itself was also damaged. The cost of repair amounted to about R7 000. Two of our neighbors, Flip and Martin, suffered similar damages.
Up the mountain the fire was spread around by the drafts through the many kloofs and after 2 days had destroyed probably more than 1000 hectares of the mountain. Usually, when this happened in October, the spring rains would start soon thereafter and the veld would grow vigorously. Now all the animals living on the mountain are facing a long winter without food, unless we get more rain soon and the grasses and trees can regrow a little before winter starts in earnest.
