Dedicated To THE Best Person And Mother In The World … My Momma

May 8, 2016May 14, 2016 JoJo BayvelLeave a comment

Happy Momma’s Day to THE best mother in the whole wide world. There is not only no other mother like you, there is no human being like you.

Your outer beauty at nearly 66, still takes away the breath of most people you come across and your inner beauty is just so abundant it is pretty hard to describe.
You would give up anything to make your family, friends and even strangers happy, you enhance the life of every person you meet, you are the kindest most thoughtful most amazing most selfless most humble, most beautiful mother alive.

You make every day of my life better and the nights feel that much safer. You are the calm in chaos, the anchor in any storm. My mom, my world, my life, my heartbeat..

I love you today and everyday, infinity times Infinity and more then more. God blessed us with an angel on earth to call “Mom” …. You my momma are my home… 💞💞💞💞

Let’s Bless Blessings – By Bruce Darné co-written by Jojo Bayvel

May 6, 2016May 6, 2016 JoJo BayvelLeave a comment

An initiative started by my amazing brother in law “Bless Blessings journey Home to South Africa” — story co-written by me… and lets fund!

Blessings came into my life in January 2013 and for some reason – I would like to think it is an inherent instinct I have to recognize good and kind people – my heart immediately went out to this tiny but strong young man.

At this point Blessings was absolutely desperate for work and trying to support his wife – then pregnant with their first child. Having been in South Africa for a few months he had overstayed his welcome and his visa and was in dire financial straits, yet making the trip back to Malawi, his place of birth, was not possible if he did not earn the money to do so. Add to this the additional stress caused from the knowledge that returning to his country would mean that Blessings would battle even more to support his little family, in a place where jobs are so few and far between. Blessings was a truly desperate man, and seeing this I knew I had to give him a chance.

I started giving Blessings odd jobs around the house and in the garden. In time this man of such diminutive stature proved to be an unbelievably strong, dedicated and hard worker. Putting in the effort of 3 men when doing any job I asked of him.

Slowly but surely because of his amazing work ethic together with his gentle, kind and willing nature, Blessings began working as a gardener for other people including ourselves.

Blessings had found work and was able to support his little family as his wife had given birth to a beautiful baby boy – He also quickly earned himself the nickname among his employers of ‘Turbo’ due to his ability to get everything done so efficiently and so quickly!

And then whilst everything seemed to be coming right in this mans life the worst tragedy struck.

Blessings family back home in Malawi were desperate to meet their new grandson and nephew – yet another thing I found endearing about Blessings and something I can relate to as a husband, son, brother and father, is his closeness and dedication to his family – and so with the little money he had saved up Blessings sent his wife and new baby boy to meet his family.

On their return, less then a week after being reunited with his wife and baby boy, Blessings little guy became terribly ill and landed up in hospital with Malaria. Three days later Blessings and his wife had to say goodbye to this tiny new member of their family, when he sadly and tragically passed away.

They say a parent should never have to bury their child and I think that this cannot be more true especially when it comes to having to bury a tiny baby. A little human completely dependent on you to exist and a precious soul with their entire life stretched out before them – as the father of a three and a half year old and a one month old, I cannot even begin to imagine the heartache and sheer desperation Blessings and his wife felt and still feel to this day.

BUT upholding his incredible work ethic and knowing he is the sole provider, Blessings continued to work 6 days a week for fourteen months and at full ‘turbo’ in order to save the money he needed in order to return to Malawi and reunite with his wife to be with their family and finally have the chance to mourn the loss of their baby boy.

Fast forward to the 3rd May 2016. Taking R 7000, all the money he had earned working so hard for me and other people, Blessing began the 3 day journey from Cape Town to Johannesburg where he would then get on a bus and return to Malawi.

Desperate to keep his life savings safe; Blessings hid this money in the very shoes and socks he was wearing – The tragedy that a man should have to hold on so tightly to an amount of money we could spend so very easily in just a few days on trivial and nonessential items again strikes me as so very sad and burdens my heart.

And then Tragedy struck this man again. On arrival in Johannesburg, Blessings was stopped and searched by corrupt members of the Johannesburg police service. These men, meant to stop crime and corruption, not only stole all of the R 7000 Blessings had worked so hard to earn but also locked him up in a cell and threatened him with deportation if a bribe was not paid. For these men stealing another mans hard earned money was not enough, having the upper hand in ‘terms of the law’ they knew that Blessings should not be in the country and so further tried to exploit this already desperate human being.

Blessings contacted me and in sheer desperation for this young man I have come to respect, I decided that I would pay a bribe of R 1000 to the police – let it be known this is something I am completely against – and then get Blessings on his bus to Malawi. He needed his family and he has worked so hard for the dream which was just within his reach that was so very nearly snatched away and perhaps still was as Blessings is left penniless.

Blessings dream and plans, were and still are to return to South Africa with his wife where he wants to apply for a proper working permit.

However this money stolen from him, his life’s worth and savings, was the money he would use to take time to grieve and then return to South Africa in a timeous fashion in order to continue working on the jobs he had fought to secure and worked so hard at, in order to keep.

My fear is that Blessing now returns home empty handed. Which means he will not have the means to return to South Africa and keep these jobs which belong to ‘Turbo’ our hard working blessing.

This young man has suffered too many tragedies in this life and as I mentioned in the beginning of this story when meeting Blessings my gut instinct was correct. This is a good, kind, gentle, humble and hard working man who deserves a little break in life.

And so I would like to start and initiative to bless Blessings. Let’s all get together and get Blessings back to South Africa as soon as we can so he can keep his jobs and carry on being the ‘turbo’ he is!

If this story touches your heart and you would like to, or are able to assist with any size donation towards Blessings and his wife’s journey back to South Africa, where he can fulfill his dreams then please donate by following the prompts on this page. Donations can be made via PayPal here http://gogetfunding.com/lets-bless-blessings-by-bruce-darne/?single=9653

You can also donate money via EFT into my bank account and this donation will then be shown on this page as “Money Raised Offline” with your name (if you would like) and the amount you donate.

Please use your email address as your reference!

Banking Details:

Bank: Nedbank

Account Holder: Bruce Darné

Account Number: 1009742647

Branch Code: 100909

Proof of Payment can be sent to Bruce at bruce@addvalue.co.za or 0823370962

I will then make sure this money gets to Blessings in his own currency – the Malawian kwacha.

I feel we can do this in two weeks – I challenge myself and all of you to get this done. Let the bless Blessings journey back to South Africa, begin now!

By Bruce Darné co-written by Jojo Bayvel

Happy New Years Wishes From Me … To All Of YOU

December 31, 2015December 31, 2015 JoJo BayvelLeave a comment

All my loved ones,

My wish for you in 2016 …

May this life becomes all that YOU want it to,

May your dream stay big and don’t ever forget that YOU can achieve them,

May your worries stay small as YOU leave behind every stress and sadness from the past,

May YOU find someone who loves you unconditionally or enjoy the unconditional love of someone who already loves you,

May you look forward to the future and all it has in store for YOU and learn to not look back at the past with sadness but rather as lessons learnt,

May you learn to forgive so that bitterness does not consume you and ruin that beautiful soul that makes YOU so very special,

May YOU experience and accept the grace of God in everything you do and in every way He promises,

May you learn that loss is not permanent and that people you have lost are looking down on YOU and smiling and loving you knowing you will be together again,

May the future year be filled with every single thing you need and want but may YOU also learn to help and give to others so that their needs and wants are met,

May…

YOU remember that YOU are beautiful

YOU are special

YOU are loved beyond the number of stars in the sky

YOU are talented and able

YOU have an abundance of love to give and a heart that an abundance of love should be filled with in return

YOU are blessed with a Heavenly Father who adores you always

YOU can achieve anything
Happy New Year …. 2016 be a special one

This Is One Of Those Inspiring Stories That Will Touch The Hearts Of All South Africans

April 3, 2014April 3, 2014 JoJo Bayvel1 Comment

I most often write about stories I have heard or those I am involved in – heartwarming stories that defy all ‘norms’ and quiet definitely prove that there are still individuals out there who are willing to risk their own safety for the life of another.

This amazing story is about my friend, Merrick Bluett : I am particularly grateful and blessed not only to have the opportunity of sharing his story but to know this individual who carried out such an act of heroism. To be able to call him my friend, another hero to add to the list of amazing people I am fortunate enough to know.

It happened approximately three weeks ago whilst road tripping through this beautiful country of ours, South Africa. Whilst driving on the highway between Harrismith and home, Merrick did not know he was about to change the life of another individual and his own forever.

The road is as straight as an arrow as you drive past the tiny town of Warden and yet this stretch of tar has claimed many lives, I do not know the name of the individuals’ life who was saved from becoming one of these statistics – but in this story we will refer to him as “Lucky” as this is what he was.

After driving a huge truck possibly for hours on end Lucky’s eyes slowly closed in absolute exhaustion and in that instant the truck he was driving landed up in a river quickly drowning beneath the muddy water.

Luckily for Lucky at exactly the same time, on the opposite side of the road driving in the opposite direction, Merrick noticed two large trucks on the other side of the highway, As the trucks passed each other one of them – a large truck carrying a container- veered towards the concrete barrier which separated it from the rushing, treacherous water meters below. Merrick watched in horror as the truck, carrying Lucky, hit the solid barrier and flipped over into the murky waters as though it was as light as a feather being dragged by the wind.

Merrick slammed on his brakes in anticipation of the debris and chaos that would ensue, as surely there would be further wreckage and pile-ups? instead all went still as people stopped their cars got out and along with a few pedestrians glanced over the side of the barrier. Merrick got out of his car and began running. Defying the selfish nature of most humans in society today, to watch and observe: he did what any individual with empathy and compassion would have – he decided to save Lucky and in doing so risk his own life.

As he saw the truck slipping beneath the water, Merrick jumped over the side of the barrier and tried to make his way down a rocky, muddy and steep slope. He slid half way down but with adrenalin pumping through his veins, felt no pain or fear. This was a matter of life or death. Not his own but that of a stranger he was about to encounter. Jumping into the icy, turbulent and muddied water Merrick realised just how quickly the truck was sinking, and glancing down he knew that if he didn’t reach it in a matter of seconds he would not be able to help. Using every last nth of energy he had Merrick swam over and began to navigate his was towards the front on the truck. The low visibility of the water meant that he would have to feel his way towards Lucky. After identifying the thick metal cable which holds the front of the truck to its enormous trailer Merrick shouted out hoping against all odds that someone would respond. Lucky did. He waved his hands in the air, in shock and only able to speak in his native tongue, Lucky could barely explain that he was unable to swim or that sadly their was another passenger still trapped in the wreckage.

In times like these one has to face a tough choice. Save the life of one individual or tempt the hands of time and fate and attempt to save what is already gone. In this instance Merrick made that choice and it turned out to be the right one. He reached Lucky and even though he was by now exhausted managed to hold him up and get them both to the dry land and safety.

Paramedics had arrived on the scene, onlookers where still doing only that: looking on and yet only one individual came halfway down the rivers banks to ask if Merrick could identify the name of the company on the truck – does this in itself not indicate a loss of humanity in the human race? What would happen to you if in dire straights you did not have a “Merrick” on the scene to save your life.

At the end of this traumatic day. Lucky survived the accident. The other passenger was killed on impact. Merrick made the choice and saved the life of a stranger turning a tragedy into one of the most heroic stories I have heard lately.

Discussing this over a coffee with Merrick was amazing. His response to my why? how? what ifs? was simple. He wanted to help and in his own way he hoped that this would show South Africans, tarnished by prejudice and hatred that we are a rainbow nation. We are one nation made up of individuals black, white, Indian or Chinese who should and can look at each other and see no differences. How we behave towards each other has a direct impact on our own lives.. as they say ” what goes around comes around” and at the end of the day we can only hope that our actions are good, our intentions are always honourable and our hearts pure enough that we attract the same virtues in others we are surrounded by.

Merrick has since been contacted by countless investigators wanting to know what happened for insurance purposes – money is by far the root of all evil when you consider they are most likely trying to get out of paying when an individuals life was lost. But on a happy note and although he it does not mean as much to him as saving Lucky, Merrick is to receive The Order of Mendi for Bravery from the South African Government – i believe he deserves it and trust this story will get the recognition it deserves for the purposes Merrick wishes.

“I expect to pass through life but once. If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again. ” ~William Penn