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 “When my mother came home from two weeks in hospital, we really thought that her skin condition was healed. But within a week the symptoms had reappeared, and we were back where we started.”

 So begins a familiar tale of despair that I have heard in my practice as a social worker.

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The following article is taken from a book on the history of Catholic Welfare and Development (CWD), a Cape Town based agency. I was employed by CWD, between 1992 and 1995 and was invited to contribute this chapter to a compilation by past employees to capture the institutional memory of the agency.

The story of my time with CWD is, for me, about ‘letting go’, which is best illustrated by this story: a mountaineer hiking in the Drakensberg alone is suddenly caught in a descending mist. Panicked, he speeds up his walk, loses his footing on the path home and slips over the edge of the path. He just manages to grab hold of the exposed roots of a tree and stops his fall to what he believes to be certain death.

Hanging on for dear life, he prays out loud, “If there’s anyone up there, help me!” A voice booms down from heaven, “I will help you but you have to let go of the branch”. Panicking still more, he calls out, “Is there anyone else up there?”

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