March Reflections

In this INSIDER:
March Reflections
LIVE instagram, daily
New Distributor South Africa
BE's poem - COVID19
International contacts
Useful links

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March Reflections

What a month!!!

In our last newsletter we announced our #covid actions to support employment and food security activities, and so far our funds have sustained:

- the employment of 4 homeless people to provide food to elderly homes;
- kept an indigenous woman owned airline operational for a month;
- supported a woman owned indigenous restaurant, feeding homeless people;
- supported an initiative to produce of fabric mouth masks;
- supported an initiative to cook healthy food for frontline workers.

This is a time to be radically generous. We are all in this together.

We were on the front cover of the first edition of SheEO Magazine including an 8 page article about the Alinker as vehicle for social change (link to whole magazine!)

We were mentioned in Oprah Magazine for our #covid response.
We were in the "best of" CBS Innovation Nation episode last weekend.

The collective campaign is still open and you can make larger donations there - that will support the ongoing campaigns. 117 already completed! 117 people who could have never afforded an Alinker, now have their agency and freedom back.

EVERY DAY 1pm EST

from the Alinker Family Farm

LIVE Instagram

South Africa, NEW distributor

Marése du Preez

I am an MSWarrior. I’m wife to a wonderful and supportive husband – my absolute rock. A mother to two amazing, resilient and strong toddlers who are becoming my own little superheroes! And for the past six months I have been an Alinker user.

I was diagnosed in January 2019 and as an Occupational Therapist I was devastated when all of a sudden I was on the other side of the therapy model. I had to relearn how to do the tasks I so easily taught to other people and felt vulnerable, alone and so scared. Being an active person, previously running marathons and spending a lot of time outdoors, the inability to walk independently and not being able to exercise broke me.
As a family we spent our time being outside, being active and being together. Our whole family dynamics changed.
MS took away who I once was and who I thought I will be.

While lying in my hospital bed I woke up the one morning and read all the amazing articles about Selma Blair with her cape dress and cane at the Oscars in 2019.
I sat upright, cried a lot and then lifted my head up high. I spoke to my therapy team that day and ordered my funky floral cane. If this is the life I need to live let’s at least own it! And that’s when I started to follow Selma on Instagram and for the first time saw a picture of the Alinker bike.

I saw the picture and I immediately wanted one. How? Living in South Africa made this challenging, but by making use of creative ways we were able to get one via London. Since the first day I sat on that seat I was hooked on this product and I knew we would have to find a way to get this to more people in South Africa. If this bright yellow gadget can become my new best friend how many more people would benefit from it?

The Alinker is functional, it provides you with independence, it's funky, it's at eye level and it change lives. It did not only change my life, but it has made a big impact on our family life. I am doing some exercise, we go shopping while I cruise through the aisles myself, and I can be outside with my family and be part of activities again. Although life is different now, I can at least still participate and feel more able and less DISable!!

Life is certainly not easy, some days are definitely harder than others and the uncertainty that goes along with this horrible disease and the future is far from over. But having support from family, friends and my Alinker definitely makes it easier.

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It is about learning how to dance in the rain”

BE's poem

Have you noticed

Have you noticed
How nothing is normal anymore
Have you noticed
How 'normal' wasn't good for most
Have you noticed
The birds are bolder
Have you noticed
Nurses have hero status
Have you noticed
Old system flaws surface
Have you noticed
Cleaners are honoured
Have you noticed
Hidden workers are in the light
Have you noticed
We learn about food supply
Have you noticed
People are kinder on the streets
Have you noticed
The silence outside… the silence… listen….
Have you noticed
Mother earth taking in a deep breath
Have you noticed
Random shit does not matter anymore
Have you noticed
The scent in the air changes
Have you noticed
We play games again
Have you noticed
How everything slowed down
Have you noticed
Your sleep changes… you sleep…
Have you noticed
Blue skies without white lines
Have you noticed
Governments paying unemployed people
Have you noticed
Billions being available for healthcare
Have you noticed
Governments showing up for the vulnerable people
Have you noticed
How the veils get lifted and language changes
Have you noticed
Isolation is felt beyond the elderly
Have you noticed
There are conversations of hope
Have you noticed
There is talk of a common future
Have you noticed?