I recently reported on this blog that, among the many wonderful people and companies which have stepped forward to support our Heart & Sole unicycle tour, an angel by the name of Annette Oberholster had offered to singlehandedly make 1,000 origami cranes for us to sell for fuel and food money.

“Netty”, as she is known to those lucky enough to be friends of hers, is waiting in a desert in Qatar for her man to finish a contract with a petrochemicals company and is currently blistering her fingers while folding as many of her “paper birdies” as possible for us to sell for a R10 donation at the Dilana/Toni Rowland gig at VMacs in Pinetown on Saturday evening, December 19.

This is pure beautifulness on Netty’s part. And I would now like to present to you a depiction of what her origami cranes look like…

Cranes over Africa... these origami birds will help The Heart & Sole Tour to raise awareness of the totally unnecessary scourge of landmines

I’m loving that. What about you? How are you feeling about Netty’s gesture? Does it move you? Does it make you feel warm and fuzzy down there, in the pit of your tummy? Does it encourage you to want to smile at strangers, both handsome and ugly, svelte and fat? Does it compel you to hum nice ditties while you do the ironing or while hovering over the cheese section at Woolies? That’s fine. I understand. Because it does me. Actually, it does me head in. That somebody could produce an act of such phenomenalness.

But, you see, Netty has witnessed first-hand the destruction caused by landmines. She has seen the killing fields of Vietnam. The lands littered with UXO (Unexploded Ordnance). And it makes her feel bad. Because she is disgusted by the fact that, decades after the warmongers went home to find something else to do, their detritus continues to kill.

Fact: Every 19 minutes, somewhere on our planet, somebody (usually a woman or child) has their life blighted by a landmine. The Sole of Africa, for whom The Heart & Sole Tour is raising awareness, is working to weed out the killer ordnance and giving assistance to victims by way of counselling and provision of prosthetic limbs.

This is why Geoff “Heartman” Brink is to ride 1,700km from Durban to Cape Town on one wheel. And this is why Netty is helping us. You can help us too. f...@fredhatman.co.za. We have yet to find a comfortable motorhome to use as a back-up vehicle. Please help us to help those who suffer unnecessarily. And we’ll help you.