Birthday Surprise in the Cards for South African Schoolgirl

A 9-year-old South African schoolgirl is in for a big surprise in October when she may receive thousands of birthday cards from caring strangers.

Her loving father was trying to arrange a surprise for her, to cheer her spirits after some incidents at school, but thanks to social media it was he who got the biggest surprise yesterday when his simple request, intended for family and friends who live far away, went viral and thousands of people shared his post.

The father wrote: “I wish to ask a favour of everyone. My daughter, Jane*, will turn 9 in October. She is a rather lonely little girl at school as some of the Afrikaans kids will not play with her because she is English speaking and others occasionally tease her by calling her ‘Chinese’. (*Name changed to protect privacy.)

“With the help of family and friends, I would really like to make this birthday truly memorable and at the same time start a tradition at her school.

“I am asking that anyone who cares to contribute, would simply send her a birthday card to her school address. Her surprise and the reactions of her class and hostel friends will remain in her heart forever.”

He then entered her school’s address.

Within hours the father’s post had been shared by over 1,000 people and he expressed his joy at what was happening on Facebook. “I thought it only happened to ‘lucky folk’. 🙂 ” he wrote.

He also shared the difficulty of raising a child where they live in South Africa, with “no kids in town”, the 5th year of a drought and only receiving running water for four hours a day (between 4am and 8am!).

The father said “cards for the kids are so important, especially from family and friends, far away”.

By this morning, when his request had been shared over 3,000 times he was starting to feel a little overwhelmed and “concerned”. He wrote: “Please good people, do not spend money unnecessarily on birthday cards for Jane. I really do not want my good intentions to leave me with feelings of guilt.”

Facebook users reassured him to not feel guilty and that his post was “important and special”. It raises much-needed awareness of how schoolyard teasing can hurt and alienate, and also serves as a reminder to all of us scattered around the globe to remember to send cards to those friends and family members who aren’t in our daily lives.

In a subsequent post today Jane’s dad took the opportunity to clarify that “my post has led a few well meaning readers to believe that Jane is a victim of school bullies and that school staff are paying insufficient attention. This is most definitely not the case and I sincerely apologize to anyone and everyone whom I may have troubled, hurt or offended in any way.”

Happy Birthday Jane!

An Anti-Bullying Awareness road trip is taking place through South Africa in October, with a fundraiser on 23 September at 169 On Long, Cape Town. For further information please contact Beverley Davids through Facebook.