The JB Challenge Cup

So as if living and working in a township is not going to be hard enough Ellie Kirby has signed up to participate in the Jeremy Barker (JB) Challenge Cup. Sources say that the young lady was not in an entirely sound state of mind when she struck a deal with the veteran African traveller. Having completed the gruelling challenge of studying and taking her LPC exams Kirby was feeling "on top of the world" and "up for anything". Sources close to the student tell us that in the cold light of day Kirby now feels she may have bitten off more than she can chew, or more to the point, more than can chew her.

The JB Challenge Cup involves 3 quite daring feats:

1) Shark cage diving - This speaks for itself as the challengee must go face to face with one of the world's most dangerous predators.

2) Spotting a leopard - This is a feat that even the daring challenger himself has yet to complete. Kirby will spend 3 weeks on a game reserve, half the time JB spent, so her chances of success are somewhat slimmer. However, sources in South Africa concur that leopards do frequent her camp, straddling the Limpopo river, late at night in the South African summer and have been known to hang around the toilet huts. Kirby better watch out for fear she parks her pert booty on another of the deadliest creatures the world has to offer. The JB rules are silent on how she will prove she has spotted the spotty one...she is hoping that eye witness accounts will suffice the great JB less poor Kirby will have to sellotape her camera to her wrist every time she needs a trip to the ladies.

3) Bungee jumping from the world's second highest point - unfortunately Kirby was so out of her own mind that she cannot actually recall where she has agreed to take the plunge from...however she has been reassured that in Dorothy-esque fashion if she says the word Bungee 3 times in South Africa someone will take her to its location anyway. Kirby is thinking of chickening out of this one and a friend close to the student said she may attempt a skydive instead. This is because until she was 15 and taken on a school "let's take these city kids to the country and show then mud and cows" trip to the Brecon Beacon National Park she had a terrible phobia of heights. Kirby has no problem with abseiling and has plans to abseil down Table Mountain or do a sky dive over the bay, which is quite horrifically frightening enough for her. She is currently hoping to plead disability as if she bungee jumps her glasses will fall off and she will have to fly back to Blighty to get a new pair. JB was unavailable to comment on whether he would relax the rules...

This writer says good luck to the lass - let's face it, this may be the only sporting trophy England wins this year!

They Think It's All Over...

It isn't now! Just when I thought work may be over for the summer, I've been sent an extensive reading list by my charity! It runs to quite a few pages (to put the situation mildly), covering HIV law, employment law, divorce law, child rights...I'm just going to approach it like a history reading list and have decided they don't really want me to read everthing just a few installments. This will give me something to do now that normal life has been replaced by football.

I've got nothing against football. But I am not a fan. It keeps the boys happy. It keeps my mum and sister happy. I've tried to pretend I like it but this year I can't be bothered to pretend anymore. I normally get sent out of the TV room when England are playing anyway as my presence, so my mum and sister say, seems to coincide with England conceeding a goal. I've been banished to do the washing up with my Dad and listen to radio 4. So for me, football is slightly more interesting than cricket, but not quite as interesting as rugby. And this assessment is based purley on the fitness of the players.

However, the good thing about the world cup taking over the airwaves is that it has meant lots of coverage of things I am more interested in about South African life. I have been following WAGS, kids and world cup dreams which I initially thought would be really cheesy and patronising, but is in actual fact a very touching programme. I have been inspired by my namesake Ellie who really seemed to take the country into her heart and the endearing Chantelle who raised around £40,000 for the charities on her return. And only this morning the BBC had some wonderful coverage of the winelands. Now that's an inspiration to get on with revision and my hefty reaidng list!

Counting Down the Days

I'm counting days the days until I finish my exams and then I will have a couple of months to prepare for my trip to Cape Town where I will be part of a legal service team promoting human rights and providing social justice outreach services to people living in the Cape Flats Townships.

I will use this blog to share my news with my family and generally keep everyone at home abreast of my work and travels in South Africa. Hopefully, this will stop me from being too homesick. 

Yes, so now just need to get these exams out of the way...!