HOFMEYR Hugs of Hope’s first house’s name is Alida. Why Alida?
A is the first letter of the alphabet, and this first House of Hugs, is the first of many great developments that Hugs will take on.
The woman pictured is Alida van der Merwe and she was a typical Hugs woman in times when our town, Hofmeyr, needed a Hugs woman. Alida van der Merwe also lived in this house and we continue to follow her example.
Alida’s story
Alida (1885-1966) an extraordinarily gifted girl who excelled in everything she did, was one of four Theunissen daughters of a farmer in the Middelburg district.
Schooling at that time only involved primary schooling and girls rarely went beyond Standard 4 (Grade 6).
Alida’s parents then sent her to a finishing school in the Cape Colony.
She had a photographic memory and read a lot. In addition, she enjoyed playing the piano, painting and doing beautiful crafts.
On the other hand, she was also a keen sportswoman – an exception at that time. She excelled as a member of a basketball team that toured the country.
As a newlywed pastor’s woman, she won a competition that was actually presented to men. Participants had to ride a horse-drawn carriage straight and around bends through the streets of Johannesburg.
The width of the track was a matchbox wider than the wheels of the horse-drawn cart measured, but she did it!
Alida was the pastoral wife of Hofmeyr for about 20 years. The community remember her for their fund-raisers to build the church.
Food from her kitchen fed numerous hungry families, and she also enjoyed sharing her talents by teaching more people to crochet, knit, embroider and sew in the same way Hugs currently does.
Flowers from Alida’s garden were available to everyone around her with heartache and hurt.
Her children and grandchildren remembered her sayings, her guidelines for life – in English, because that was the language which she learned as a child.
These sayings included, “If something is worth doing, it is worth doing well,” and “If you do it with bad grace, leave it!”
