Marisa Smit

                                 I saw these luxurious Eco-friendly cabins on social media, on Instagram last year. I told myself I had to try this place with my boyfriend and had to plan our trip. It was a very nice 4 hours long drive through Garden Route from Cape Town. This place is between George and Mosselbay on R102 road, just 10km from George Airport. What a drive, it was a gorgeous drive from sunset to a big bright full moon. It was so bright and orange that we could see everything the trees and the farm hills. We were howling in our car like wolves and laughed. Traffic was super quiet except there were a lot of lorries on the road and we had to overtake so many times. It was a good drive.  We arrived at the Ultreya Farm, it is a family Du Toit Farm, Ultreya is a Spanish word derived from the original Latin meaning "Onward with Courage". It was in common use by pilgrims to greet and encoura...

My whole life can be divided into 4 year periods. My mom and I was at the Carel Du Toit Hearing Centre for 4 years, then I attended De La Bat School for the Deaf for 4 years, and then the Mary Khin hard of hearing school for 4 years. Strange, right? While I was at the Mary Khin school, I saw all the opportunities that my brother had in the mainstream school, Jan Van Riebeeck. This school has amazing sports and spirit. I fell in love with his school and wanted to try this mainstream school. I asked my mom "Can I please try Jan Van Riebeeck School next year?" My mom didn't have a choice but she knew it would be so hard for me to get used to big classes and being the only deaf girl in a 100% hearing environment. Fortunately, I was always up for a good challenge because being deaf, I taught myself to always try harder.  On my first day at Jan Van Riebeeck Primary School - I was in Grade 6 in 2001 - I met my classmates and teachers. It wasn't that hard for me on my first d...