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History.
Bizi Bees was formed for my Mother, Beatrice Brown. She is a very special lady who lives with us. Many people find life hard, but Bea had some real hardships thrown at her. Her first husband moved her from England to South Africa, where alone she faced the fact he was having an affair with her best friend. Unused to violent outbursts and fearing for her sanity, she allowed her lodger to move her away from her husband. Penniless in a strange land with a five year old daughter to support, unable to understand the local language she tried to support them both. A second marriage followed which gave her 25 years of physical and mental abuse, before she broke lose, and at the age of 55 tried to put her life back together. This lady cleaned windows and baked pies in order to keep body and soul together, often going without food in order to appear self sufficient. Finally she found work at the age of 62, she proudly gave her employer full loyalty in return for a pittance. In 2001 she was abruptly told she had no job. Her state pension was hopelessly inadequate for a life style of any quality and she was bored not working. Out of desperation I suggested she paint plates. It was a great surprise to discover her hidden talent. This led to us buying a kiln in order for her plates to be fired. Bizi Bees was formed for all women who want to have an income, explore their potential, be independent and who deserve to have fun. We hope you will enjoy this site and be stimulated by it. Your patronage will give women from difficult backgrounds income, in return for high quality unique work. You see we all win here! Battered Partners: Today most people equate battering with violence against women, unfortunately the victim may as easily be a child or a male. When we rescued Bea, she was unable to do simple things without asking us, she had no self esteem and very little confidence- this is the norm with abused people. Help from other abused women, who had successfully escaped was our lifeline as we dealt with these issues. Organizations such as POWA and Life Line were helpful, although staffed by volunteers, are a source of information. The main problem is escaping the tyrant and this often needs resources the victim has no recourse to. Intense fear is present. The police are pretty useless, except for carting the victim off to hospital. A court order is necessary, but this also does not stop bullets or broken bones. In addition the bond between the abuser and victim is intense and results in them returning again and again to the situation. In addition the victim normally believes in some way they deserve the abuse. Bea re-entered an abusive relationship, she was comfortable being a martyr. People telling her that they would not stand it made her feel good. This had to be cured and it was ten years that we took before we convinced Bea that she was deserving of better. This is common to the abusive relationship. If you are abused do not wait, take control back and remember there is no embarrassment great enough to hide a black eye, cracked lip or broken spirit. We will gladly help all those who are in this situation, just give us a call. |