About me

My name is Sandy du Plessis.

I am an Emergency Medical Technician. Although I have now retired from the ambulance service, I am still registered and in good standing with the Health Professions Council of South Africa.

I have three adult children who I consider my best friends and two grandchildren who are the love of my life.

Over the years for one reason or another, my children would bring other children, many of whom had family problems , into our home.  Most of these kids just needed someone to listen to their woes and to be given a “kiss and a cuddle”.  Some had got involved in drugs, others were runaways, virtually all were labeled as having behavioral problems of one sort or another.

I soon got to know the local police as well as the local drug-dealers, who didn’t like me one bit since I had a habit of interfering in their business.  Eventually, a number of young people simply arrived on my doorstep at various times of the day or night.  This in turn lead to me leaving the front door open and unlocked and a pile of blankets on the lounge floor.  Most mornings I would find up to 10 young bodies curled up and sound asleep.  Some of these kids came from quite a distance.

The strange thing was, that these so-called “problem children” never caused me a problem at all.  I would contact their (sometimes uncaring) parents to say where they were.  Then I would get the young people involved in the household chores, which included cooking and cleaning which they did quite cheerfully.    When they were ready we would  sit down, sometimes privately and sometimes in a group at which time they talked and talked and talked…

As a result of my interaction with so many tweens and teens I now use the internet to share my knowledge and experiences with anyone who has a need for the information. Although I am not likely to know it, perhaps the information in these pages will help a family somewhere in the world.

 

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