There's life in every tree
2005-09-08
FOR Sand Kalidago of Paarl there lives a bird, a hippopotamus and a rhinoceros in every tree trunk.
Sand came to Paarl from Angola four years ago, and he is quick to add that he has his papers to make him a legal immigrant.
Charlize and Gerrit van Schalkwyk saw him sitting next to the a road, chopping away on a fallen tree trunk.
She took him under her wing and since that day, Sand works on wood outside the firm in Donkervliet Street, Dal Josaphat.
“I work six days a week," Sand says.
“And on Sundays I walk around looking for fallen driftwood and other pieces that I can turn into sculptures and furniture.”
The giant hippopotamus next to Donkervliet Street started its life as a bluegum tree on the bank of the Berg River. When Sand saw the fallen tree, he directed Charlize to it.
“It took the power of a caterpillar tractor to transport the trunk here,” Sand says.
For two months Sand copped and chipped away until the hippopotamus, all 1500kg of wood, stood 1,5m proud on the grass on the edge of the vleiland.
“And then Sand saw a fish eagle in this burnt-out tree.....”
More
News
|
