April 2003
Newsletter
It's been a long, hot summer this year, broken occasionally by cool spells accompanied by some hard rain, and then back to the clear, hot days. The veld grasses have thrived under these conditions and are standing tall, dripping with seed. The vegetable garden has not had a good year and without the protection of shade cloth, it has battled. The small dam higher up the mountain is nearly dry, a good indication that the water table is low - even though we're only at the beginning of winter! It was intriguing to notice that some trees chose not to flower at all this summer and yet others were abundant…..The bird life at Emoyeni is prolific - on the Way of Birds Retreat in December we identified over 100 species, many in the bushveld areas around the main house. Another bit of wildlife interest was picking up some Roan antelope spoor just a little way up the mountain - maybe they escaped from a nearby game farm? Our intrepid dog, Rocky, decided to tackle a puff-adder on a Nature walk in December and got bitten above an eye. He was treated promptly, and after a few days of suffering with a football-sized head, he quickly recovered and was soon chasing monkeys again with gusto.
At the end of last year the Emoyeni Trust launched its Building Fund Appeal to raise funds to build a fully functional retreat centre higher up the mountain. This is a long-term project, and the response to-date has been very encouraging with the Building Fund at present standing at R95 000. This means that we are approaching the half-way mark for the first phase of the project - the initial infrastructure, Meditation Hall, Library and the first Accommodation Lodge. A very warm thank you to all of you who have contributed so far, the first few steps have been taken! If you would like to receive a copy of the Building Fund Appeal brochure please let us know and we can send it to you.
The farm on the western boundary of Emoyeni has at last been sold! The 25 hectare piece of land adjoining the Retreat Centre has been purchased by Johann's brother, Flip van Schalkwyk - who is in the process of moving in. The remaining 125 hectares of bare land has been purchased by the Mountain Club of SA, who see it as a prime piece of land lying between the well-known Castle Gorge to the east of Emoyeni and Dome Pools to the west. With friends on both sides of Emoyeni, we look forward to setting up a joint approach to caring for this beautiful, mountain landscape.
Having just come to the end of this sale, another small farm about 500 metres to the east of Emoyeni has just come on the market! This is a 15 hectare property, with a large 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom thatched house as well as a guest cottage with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and kitchenette, all set in a beautiful, shaded garden area. The price they are asking is R800 000. If you are interested contact us and we will put you in touch with the owners.
In this time of the Gulf War cranking up the level of hatred in the world, we are very much in need of teachings and encouragement to development more compassion and understanding in our lives. Some good news for us in South Africa is that a Tibetan monk, Geshe Ngawang Tsondo has joined the staff of the Office of Tibet in Pretoria, where he will be resident for 3 years. Geshe-la was a monk at the prestigious Sera Monastery in South India, where he was awarded the Geshe degree (Doctor of Philosophy) in 1994. Thereafter he continued his studies and practice in India, before accepting the posting to South Africa. We look forward to benefiting from his knowledge and experience, and to him leading retreats at Emoyeni during his stay in South Africa.
We have had two short term residents at Emoyeni this year, Vernon from Cape Town for 2 months, and Johanna from Germany for 2 weeks - both were very welcome additions to our small community, and showed how much it would benefit Emoyeni to have an additional long-term resident.