Christopher van Zyl decided to take his microlight out to see what the area looked like and captured so beautiful but haunting images of the fire aftermath!
Christopher van Zyl shared over 100 images that he captured from his microlight. The images capture the scary reality of how much was destroyed by the fires. But in a way the images also beautifully capture the resilient spirit of Knysna and the subtle but constant regrowth.
Christopher also shared an inspirational story about an anonymous letter found at the sight of a fire in San Diego.
1 Month and 1 day after the fire I plucked up enough courage to fly my microlight over our devastated town to witness the tragedy that we were dealt with.
It was a calm morning Saturday 8 July 2017 – smoke was hanging over our town – not a breath of wind – that wind which had brought the devastating fire to our town – it was gone…
The smoke made the images very difficult to edit but I trust that they still deliver the message.
These images may bring pain and sadness to many but I pray that there will no offence taken and that these images may show to those who do not yet understand what it is that Knysna and its wonderful people are going through.
My thoughts and prayers are with all the people of Knysna, those who suffered, lost their lives and loved ones and belongings, those who have been working tirelessly to support, counsel and rebuild our people and our town.A family in Carlsbad that lost their dream home in the San Diego area fires in 2014 found something in the rubble that they never expected: a letter of hope left by a total stranger “GB” encouraging the family not to give up and to rise from the ashes.
The piece of paper – 189 words signed only with the letters “GB” – was anonymously left behind, taped to a shovel standing in the charred front yard of a home reduced to rubble.
“GB” Writes:
We cannot escape the tragedies that arise in our lives.
We can search for a reason and ask – why?
Maybe we could hold others at fault or imagine what life would be had this not happened, but perhaps what defines our character is not our struggles but how well we meet them and rise up after getting knocked down.
Faith will overcome fears, doubt and insecurities.
Sometimes in life we don’t recognize how strong we actually are until we are faced with a great tragedy in our life.
This calamity we face today will help develop the strength and fortitude we need for tomorrow.Losing everything we own is sad, but the things we own do not diminish who we are inside. Sometimes the worst situation brings out the best in us and others.
When you put together a jigsaw puzzle made of hundreds of pieces, you put it together one piece at a time. No one can go back and change what has happened, but we can all start today and make a new tomorrow, one shovel at a time, one day at a time.
Check out the pictures below:
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