SACFA employed an events company in an effort to go all out and have the biggest national campaign ever....and when I say big, i mean BEEEEG!!! After all these years of living with, trying to get involved with and making as many people as we know aware of Cystic Fibrosis, it saddens me that it doesn't matter what we do, we just do not have a loud enough voice in South Africa to draw attention to ourselves. Without sounding mean and nasty or downright bitchy, there remain other diseases that progress forward from year to year, gaining more and more support and raising more and more funds, and this to put it bluntly is because there are so many more that suffer from them. Sadly Cystic Fibrosis is a disease that most do not realize how expensive it is to look after...and the thing is - it is life long!!!!!!! There is NO cure and it DOES NOT go away after a while of being treated. NO, rather it gets worse and with time affects not only the lungs and pancreas but eventually puts strain on the other vital organs of the body. That being said, 2014 is hopefully the year that CF does make a national impact.
NiQi was given an opportunity to be a part of the national voice when last Wednesday she appeared on television. Her interview was set for 8.15am and together with Dr. Klugman from the paediatric clinic at Charlotte Maxeke hospital, they were given a 15 minute slot on ANN7 (African News Network), which shows on channel 405 of DSTV. I have to say at this point that God's planning is always perfect as it was scheduled for the same day of her clinic appointment AND not only that, but it happened to be on the same route. Now normally we leave home at 5am to be at hospital by 7.30, but for those that read this blog quite regularly, do you remember the time that there was an accident on the highway and we ended up arriving for clinic after 10am...well we didn't want that to happen!!!!! NiQi COULD NOT MISS HER TELEVISION DEBUT....lol We decided that if we left at our usual time, it would hopefully give us plenty of leeway for any possibilities, and so we did. The minute we drove onto the R101 we were amazed at the amount of traffic on the road so early in the morning which made my heart sink and my stress levels rise. At least though we were moving and not standing still - which was a good thing. At some point NiQi asked if I had any Rescue, to which I responded 'yes, at home in the bathroom cabinet'. I don't think that was what she wanted to hear as it was a bit late now, but anyway if she was feeling nervous, she didn't really show it. We chugged along the road at a steady speed, through town, past Centurian and the Mint. Not much further on from The Mint we turned into the complex where the television studios are situated....it was half past six!!!!! Well I never thought that we would make such good time, especially considering the traffic on the road, but we did, and obviously we were veerrrryyyyy early. The chap at the security gate let us in giving us instructions of where to park and radioing someone else to show us where to go. Everyone was so friendly and I must say when we walked through the front door into the reception area, my preconceived ideas of what kind of a tv station it might be, were laid to rest. I was impressed to say the least. The staff chatted easily with us, all well dressed and well spoken. We were shown into a waiting area and offered tea and coffee. With quite a lengthy wait ahead of us we made ourselves comfortable. I was ecstatic to hear that I may take photo's and also that I would be able to go into the studio too when NiQi went for her interview. At about 7.45 someone called her to go through for 'hair and make-up', although they hardly did anything to her at all. At 8 she and the doctor who had arrived a few minutes earlier, were called through to the newsroom. Wow, again it was nothing like I expected. With the presenter/host in the middle of the room sitting behind a desk, television screens taking up two walls with various news shows playing, staff watching and working, cameras on trolleys and wheels in various places on the floor. The two of them were shown where to sit and had mics fitted to each of them. The host was still busy with another report, but as soon as he had finished with that and a roving reporter had taken over, he gave them both his full attention, explaining what was expected from them and how long they each had to speak. The rest is history.... NiQi was a star. She spoke so eloquently, as if she has done this sort of thing a million times. We were very proud of her and I think she did CF proud too. Once the interviews were over we made our way back to the R101 and carried on our way to clinic...which is a whole other blog....
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