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Eve Hall, la petite géante

Judica's letter:

Dear all,

This is to inform you that I today set off for Nelspruit very early in the morning to take part in the 11am celebration at the chapel with family and a friends and thereafter at the Matumi home of the Halls from 3pm, with a wider circle of friends that joined the family.

The celebrations were very special and very touching. At the chapel the chapel the sons took charge of the proceedings with each of them playing a role and saying how they remember their mum. They read poems and gave brief, but very meaningful and appropriate messages. The ten grandchildren all took turns to say something, recite poems, sing, play the guitar and just simply brought emotional sobs from all of us. The ceremony was just fantastic punctuated with music from all over the world. The ceremony was very appropriate for Eve.

It was amazing to see a little of Eve in each one of her sons and in each of her grandchildren. They were all so very proud of their mother and grandmother and have all been inspired by Eve.

Nomsa performed a solo song that drew much applause, the family friend Harold Voight paid an outstanding tribute and family friend Marcelino dos Santos, a former high ranking politician in Mozambique reminded us that the struggle that Eve had been involved in had not been drawn to its conclusion and that there was still much to be done.

Tony was great. He asked us to sing Nkosi Sikelele Africa which marked the end of this service. How appropriate for an active ANC member.

At the house we had the pleasure of mingling with the family and a larger group of friends of Eve. The daughters-in-law all made such great impression of having had a wonderful relationship with the mother of their husbands. These were indeed the daughters that Eve had gained through her sons. The friends from the development world, from the liberation struggle in South Africa of SA in which she was an active member and those from the literary and art world were all there to celebrate this petite giant. The conversation, food and drink all drew us close to the object of the celebration and all had a lot to say about EVE.

My presence on your behalf was very well appreciated by Tony and the entire family. I presented the book of tributes and the flowers. One of the sons, Andy or Chris, told me that he was very much interested to learn more about his mother's development work with the ILO. I hope in reading these messages they will get another glimpse of the magnanimity of this special woman.

To Tony and to the family. Thank you for allowing us, (ILO friends and colleagues of Eve) the space to celebrate the rich life of our beloved Eve with you and your friends. We much appreciate this gesture and we will remain in touch with you. Please do not hesitate to let us know when you need us. We shall also endeavor to keep in touch with you.

With much love,

Judica

10th November 2007

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