The R10 Turn Around

Have you ever got this aching pain in your heart while walking past a person who seems poor, sad and going through something that you know you can’t even begin to imagine? That painful sadness knowing that poverty is an inevitable experience for so many millions out there. They could be someone in a blue overall, or just someone who seems to have so little.

Has it ever made you come to the realization that what you have by comparison is so wonderful, and enables you to have so much gratitude for what you have?

I can tell you that I have had this experience many times, and I have not often been sure how to go about helping these people, for the obvious reason that in our society we don’t just openly approach strangers because we don’t know who can be trusted, or what could happen, so instead we just drop our heads and walk on by.

R10 turnaround has been created to give us some way that instead of walking on by, turnaround and do something.

How it began for me: I was walking in Pick ‘n Pay and I got this real ache in my heart when I saw a man in a blue overall, walking towards me. I looked up and saw, what seemed like such sweet elderly man, whose face was slightly disfigured (I think he must have had a stroke at some point) and he looked like he had led such a hard life. That day I left Pick ‘n Pay with such guilt that I did nothing to help him and so many others I noticed like him. I wondered to myself: How do you go about helping someone without having to get to close to them? What I came up with was, what if I took a R10 note and walked past and dropped it into his basket. I could either just say in passing, “here this is for you” or I don’t need to say anything. We are not trying to prove anything; we are just trying to spread some goodness to those in need.

Why R10? Well it is small enough for those who cannot afford to give more; it is the smallest note available, a note is easier to drop in a basket or handover than a coin. When you give it doesn’t just have to be R10 and it doesn’t have to be in Pick ‘n Pay. Giving can take place anywhere you choose and the value is up to you. Let your heart guide you to help someone in need and the value you choose is what is right for you. The main thing is, if each of us do a little to try and make someone else’s life a little better, imagine the multiple effect it will have in our society. We all have goodness buried in our hearts somewhere, but society has inhibited us from releasing it. It is time that as a community we start “re”-learning how to be good, kind and patient to those in our paths. There is no need to be rude when driving in your car, or passing someone in the shops. We all need to start being nicer to others – imagine how much happier we all will be.

 One Friday my husband and I went to a shopping mall for an after work drink, and we were sitting in one of these up market restaurants when a poor man walked past, and I said to my husband “he is a R10 turnaround, please go after him and give him some money.” My husband leaped off the chair when he saw my desperation, and went after the man. You cannot believe the immense gratitude this man had – he was actually about to go into Pick ‘n Pay. Both my husband and I felt so wonderful to at least have been able to help someone else. We then continued with our drink and looked around to see all these people sitting and enjoying their luxurious lifestyles; it was so clear to me that we take those less fortunate than us for granted. That poor man could never in his wildest dreams imagine sitting in amongst all the luxury that surrounded us. We forget that many others have never sat in restaurants like these and cannot even dream of having the food. Our society has become too cruel and greedy to open their hands and hearts to give and share with others.

Think of how much you can do for someone else. It can be the slightest gesture, but anything with good intention you can make the world of difference!

 R10 turnaround is a very important part of my life, because it encourages giving and sharing. We try to keep a separate compartment in our wallets for R10 notes so that it is readily available when we feel someone needs it. You cannot believe the grateful expressions that come from those you help. It feels way better than anything you could ever have done with that money – guaranteed!

The moment you open your mind and your heart to this idea, you will see those people you chose to ignore before; you will begin turning their lives around!

Let us all turn around and give whole-heartedly.