Family Day in South Africa is celebrated the day after Easter every year. Formally known as Easter Monday, was later changed to Family Day in 1995. This is a special occasion set aside to spend with family. This is a national holiday and most businesses are closed on this day.
We get so caught up with the demands of life and responsibilities that we sometimes find ourselves pushing our close ones aside for the sake of providing for them. This family day we remind ourselves of the importance of family bonds and deeply meaningful connections. Micheal J Fox, American Actor once said, “Family is not an important thing, it’s everything.” Family isn’t always blood and often manifests itself in all shapes and sizes. Family can be those forged through special bonds, through matrimony, caregivers, partners and even your beloved pets.
The constitution of the family is supposed to teach us valuable lessons that enable us to function in society as decent human beings. This is of course not always the case and many people do come from households without ‘family’. According to old statistics outlined in the 2012 Government Report, 43% of children in South Africa live with their biological mother only, while 2% live with their biological fathers only, 36% live with both parents and a troubling figure of 19% live with neither biological parents. Despite our positions in life and where we come from, we as individuals have the power to define ourselves and choose what values are important to us and what lessons we choose to teach our children. Will Durant, American writer and philosopher eloquently shares, “The family is the nucleus of civilisation.”
“Let us on this Family Day acknowledge and honour the special people in our lives…the ‘family’ that comes in many forms.”
From our EcoTraining Family, we want to wish you, our ‘extended family’ a wonderful Family Day!
