I've been a fan of natural health options for some time. I learned a bit about homeopathy before my first child was born. My husband and I took both my children to a homeopath for most common ailments, and we have a kind of first aid kit that's mostly made up of homeopathic remedies. I found that my children responded well to homeopathic remedies and if sick, often needed a good immune boost and the like. They have never had any serious illnesses. We've also been quite a health conscious family – generally favouring natural options.

In South Africa, I found that this was often difficult: Many natural products were available only in health shops and they were pretty expensive – especially when compared to the alternative.

In Australia, many of these products and options are just so much more accessible. Yes, in some cases they are more expensive, but I've found that they're not exorbitantly so. There are a wide range of products available even in supermarkets.

I've also been newly inspired by Kristen Morrison who has recently published a book Naturally Better: Dramatically improve your child's life, naturally. Kirsten shows that there is so much that we as parents can do naturally that can help our children achieve their full potential. And it's particularly inspiring because Kristen describes what she researched, learned and implemented after her son Gryffin was born with Down syndrome.

Being the sort of person who believes that something can always be done to bring about improvement, Kristen refused to accept the negative forecasts for Gryffin and instead embarked on a journey that resulted in extraordinary results.

Kristen says that she particularly wants to inspire families of children with special needs to keep their expectations as high as can be and give their children as much opportunity as possible.

She used a ‘smorgasbord', as she describes it, of natural options including natural supplements, homeopathy, naturopathy, osteopathy and an allergy relief technique. In addition, she started an intensive program under the guidance of an organisation called The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential (IAHP). She describes the different therapies and goes into detail with regard to the treatment given to Gryffin and the impact that it had.

She includes snippets of basic information such as eating organic fruit and vegetables, kinds of chemicals that are added to food that she avoids, parenting styles and screen time, down to physical exercises that she and the family did with Gryffin to help him develop physical strength and a reading program that she started with her son.

Kristen's journey is a personal one and I find it amazing that she has shared it with the public. It is evident reading the book how passionate that she is about what natural health and natural therapies can do for children (those with special needs and others).

Kristen, who gave up a career in fashion to focus on her son, and subsequently write this book, practically points out that families are different and what works for one family and person may not work for another. However, she offers extensive information to her readers (with the offer of more via email, if needed) to take what we can and what we need, to try one or two things and to see what is possible.

It's very inspiring!

Knowing how great the need is in South Africa, a number of our readers are looking for ways to send clothes to charities and organisations in South Africa. We've asked readers if they are aware of any ways that this can be done.

Moira recently emailed to say that she's flying to South Africa later this year on Qantas and phoned the airline to see if it would be possible to take extra baggage consisting of secondhand clothes for a church. She was told to fill in a sponsorship request application form (which can be found on their website in the ‘community' section). She has done so, and will keep us posted about the response, which is expected in three weeks.

If you find any solutions in this regard, please email cheryl@sabona.com.au or comment here

Australia and South Africa recently signed a film co-production agreement, according to South Africa's Business Day newspaper. The treaty will mean that co-producers can access funding and tax benefits, simplified immigration requirements for the entry of skilled personnel and duty free importation of equipment for use in co-productions.

The newspaper states that the agreement, once approved through each country's respective parliamentary processes, will provide opportunities for Australian and South African film-makers to pool their creative and financial resources, facilitate cultural and creative exchange between the countries and increase the output of high-quality productions.

One example of an Australian-South African joint production that has already been made is ‘The Team that Never Played', which is a film about apartheid era football players that never participated in the FIFA World Cup due to sporting sanctions. The film premiered in South Africa in June.

SAbona was contacted this week by ABC World Today about the benefits of the World Cup to South Africa. Much of the discussion focused on the financial benefits and academics from the United States and Australia voiced their largely economic opinions on the debt that South Africa will be left with, what impact the money that has been spent in South Africa will really have, and so on.

I thought that the World Cup had a number of benefits – some of which were not financial.

• The spirit that the World Cup generated amongst South Africans – I would love to know how many South Africans went to their first soccer game in South Africa during the last month? The South African flags that are flying everywhere are a sign of the spirit shown by the residents of the host country.
• The World Cup has shown that South Africa is a great sporting venue, and many media reports have described the tremendous welcome that tourists have received.
• We'll need to wait and see what happens to the stadiums, but I do believe that people will benefit for some time to come from the millions that were spent on upgrading hospitals before the World Cup.
• South Africa has a troubled past and still faces many challenges, but I think that it's great that a sporting event has united people and brought people together in a common spirit.
• I hope that many visitors realised something about the plight of large numbers of South Africans, and will spread the word about what they saw and heard, and do what they can to help. There are some absolutely awesome organisations doing amazing work to help people in South Africa. If the word about those organisations can get spread a little more, and people who have the means can do an extra bit to help, it ensures that those efforts have even more of an impact.

Stephanie says that the longest time she spent in a food queue was 10 minutes, and she didn't queue for bathrooms at all – “unheard of at a sold-out sporting arena”, she says.

Stephanie described the people of South Africa as the number one success story. “A country so long divided, [was] united in the most wonderful way. Black and white, shoulder to shoulder in the stadiums and on the streets. When Bafana Bafana lived up (or is that down?) to expectations, the smiling locals kept the party going.”

Stephanie also described a visit to a Soweto school with 1GOAL, a charity promoting education for all. She concludes her blog by saying that experiences like these enriched her memories of the World Cup, and that if Australia hosts the event in 12 years time she would be proud if guests were left with memories as positive as those she has of South Africa.

Certainly South Africa continues to face many challenges, but the country has done an awesome job of hosting the Soccer World Cup.

• A range furniture in varying condition, some needing repair, others being in good condition
• A dishwasher and wall oven that are in great working order, but have just been replaced with new appliances
• Text books, fiction books, CDs, recipe books, magazines
• Boxes of stuff such as clothes and household items that people would like to pass on after a clean up – they usually request that these go together and anything unwanted can simply be passed on again
• An unopened tin of baby formula, baby high chair, stroller
• A TV, futon mattress, stand up freezer, 1950s wedding dress, loaves of bread and rolls

Okay, I'm sure that many of the guys out there have skipped on to the next item in the newsletter, but I'm continuing nevertheless…I was chatting to some friends today about the ironing pile getting bigger and bigger, the floor needing a vacuum and the tiles needing to be mopped and how I just never feel on top of things in my house.

I must say at this point that my husband does lots around the house, and he's the one who irons the urgent stuff for the next day when it hasn't been done (and that's pretty often at the moment). But recently I spent a bit of time during the day (when I'm usually working) catching up on some of those domestic duties – really just everyday stuff like folding some washing that had been sitting around for a little too long. By the time my husband came home I was starting to feel a little more on top of things, and I even suggested that it would be so much easier to keep on top of the domestic duties if I didn't work – not that I'm ready to trade in my work, which gets done from home in between fetching and carrying kids, to just be responsible for the cleaning, ironing, washing, and so on.

So to get back to today's conversation…I was talking about how I work while kids are at school, and often work in the evenings as well, and then in between I'm battling to keep up with domestic stuff. So my really-good-at-planning-ahead friend, who has recently started working full-time as does her husband, says that she cooks the meat for the week as well as doing the shopping and other chores, on Saturday. So most of Saturday isn't such a fun day, but to relieve the pressure a bit, she has a few items of clothes (mainly work clothes) collected and returned once a week by an ironing service, and has a cleaner coming in once every two weeks to do a good clean.

As a couple who budget extremely carefully, they have worked out that this is something that they can afford, and that it's worthwhile. Incidentally, the cleaner brings his own cleaning materials so they're not buying those products so that's a cost saving.

When I'm at home all day, I do wonder if I can justify having someone to come in and clean my house, but considering I'm actually working while I'm at home, it does sound pretty tempting…But, on the other hand, I keep thinking, are there things that I can do to make ‘keeping house' a little easier and less stressful? Yes, certainly all members of the household can be sure to put things away after they've used them, and if I do the washing soon after bringing it in off the line, or wash the dishes soon after using them, then at least those things don't pile up, but there just always seem to be something to do around the house.

How long did your container take to get from South Africa to Australia? That’s this week’s question from a reader. Please include the respective city in South Africa and Australia, and also how recently you moved.

Moving to Australia, all of us hope for a better lives for (most especially) our children. And I've heard many agonising parents, well mostly moms, I guess, talking about how their kids are settling down in Australia, what they miss, what they are enjoying, whether they're making new friends, whether they're battling to make friends. We talk about what is a good age for children who move from one country to another, and at what age it starts becoming more difficult for children to adjust, how children can cope with change so much better than adults, and those kinds of things.

My children were really excited about coming to Australia, but it didn't really have anything to do with the country itself. My husband Phillip came here three months before we left South Africa. He started a job, found a house, and even had two weeks to unpack the furniture before we arrived!

For Slade, who turned six on the day we arrived in Australia, and Kai, who was 4˝, leaving South Africa wasn't really about leaving anyone or anything. Uppermost in their minds was the thought of seeing and being with their dad again. And they were also pretty excited about having all their stuff again – their first night in Australia they walked into bedrooms that were familiar at least in terms of everything that was in them!

Things worked pretty well from that point of view. They had been able to finish a school year in South Africa, and start a new school year here in Australia.

Kai had one year at a wonderful, caring kindi and started prep this year, while Slade went into year one last year.

The big dilemma that I have at the moment is about what school to send them to. The decision about which school to choose for my children is a really difficult one. Coming to a new country, I don't know the general talk about which schools are good, which aren't so good, what problems are evident in what schools, what schools are known for doing well academically and so on.

Slade and Kai are in a state school, which has a lot going for it. There are so many opportunities for senior school students – they have staggered starts and finishes, and the senior students work, study further or do apprenticeships that can easily fit in with the school hours during their final years at school, there is a great hospitality program, with a restaurant that is run by the students, every student leaves the school with at least one qualification in something. The school is progressive in many ways, and when it was opened about eight years ago, was the pilot for some methods that are now being introduced elsewhere. Classes are mixed according to year levels – preps and year one children are in the same class, as are year two and three kids. There are many advantages to that, and I've seen it work well for my children. The school also has pods (almost like two classes combined) that at prep/year 1 level have two teachers and a teacher's aide full-time. So the staff to pupil ratio is pretty good in that sense and the kids work with a number of different adults in the classroom, rather than just their class teacher. The facilities at the school are great and in a good condition as they are relatively new – there is a fantastic library, sports hall and performing arts centre. The school caters for children from prep to year 12 so potentially the children don't need to go through the unsettling adjustment that can come about when moving to a senior school during their teenage years.

I guess my concerns come primarily from some of the behaviour that I've seen displayed by children and teenagers, in some cases towards the teachers at the school. But such behaviour is certainly not exclusive to the school. It's evident in shopping centres, skate parks and so on. In general, young people seem to have less respect for adults than what I was exposed to in South Africa.

So here's the dilemma – would things be any different in an independent school, or perhaps a Christian school? How do parents go about making the decision as to what school will be best for their children? And it's a decision that's made more difficult as a newcomer to a country.

If you live inMelbourne, Sean would really welcome your input. He's moving to Melbourne in April. Sean has found accommodation for just himself for a week or so at about $70.

He would like to settle permanently in the Sunbury area when his wife and two kids follow later in the year.

He's looking for temporary accommodation in that area for as soon as possible after he arrives.

Also wants to hear what areas on the North West or South West of Melbourne to avoid.

Perhaps some input about schools would also be useful, and any other info pertaining to the west of Melbourne that you think would be useful for a new arrival.

• Kevin: Liked it, think I'll buy the DVD.
• Sonti: It was very touching. You feel proud to be a South African when watching that movie. Great performances by both Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman.
• Brent: Clint Eastwood did a great job in portraying the truth. Think other nationalities will get a sense of how great a man Mandela is and what the Boks accomplished.
• Tracey: Thought it was really great from a South African point of view – Acting not too great, but can be overlooked by the emotion felt in remembering where we were and [what we] felt on those days! May be a little lost on non-South Africans who don't have the emotional memories. So well-timed just before the World Cup…wonder if [it was] done on purpose? Well done!
• Kate: I have seen it three times. Loved it!
• Jaylene: Man…such an inspiring movie!
• Maryka: What a trip back to my High School years back in the days with President Nelson Mandela. He was a good man! Highly recommended movie!

• Explore City Hall: The City Hall is going to be closing [from the beginning of 2010] for restoration for three years. Climbing the clock tower is a great activity for children.
• Council libraries: Have regular free activities for adults and children.
• Queen Street Mall: There are free shows, dance, fashion parades, bands and lots more.
• Outdoor Markets mentioned by Dianne including the Jan Powers Farmers Markets, Riverside Markets on the river at Eagle Street, Chandler Markets, South Bank Lifestyle Markets and Northey Street City Farm and Farmers Market.
• State Library of Queensland: Has a free play area for young children, traditional games for older children and “The Parlour” for adults.
• Gallery of Modern Art and Queensland Art Gallery have free activities for children and most exhibitions are free.

• The sister who wants to immigrate on a teacher’s skilled visa
• Bringing a vehicle from South Africa to Australia, and there’s a subsequent request to hear about experiences of bringing a motor bike to Australia

• Moira is relocating from Johannesburg to the Gold Coast in December and has asked readers to recommend shipping or relocation companies.
• Trish is looking at moving to the Brisbane or Gold Coast area after living in Melbourne for a few years. If you live in this area, tell us which suburbs you recommend.

• What articles from the magazine and on our website have you found the most useful?
• What articles do you remember the most?
• Tell us about people you know who would be inspiring for you to read about?
• When you open Sabona, which are the first articles that you read?
• What do you think about the competitions we run?
• What else would you like to read about in Sabona magazine, on our website, or in our newsletter?
• Thinking back to what you've been through since you started your immigration process, what articles would have helped to inspire you and make the journey easier for you?

I've borrowed this title from Philip Scott's column in the upcoming issue of Sabona magazine. The topic for the column was kick-started partly by an email accusing Philip of neglecting his mother tongue (Afrikaans). I'll leave the rest of that story to Philip (and if you want to be sure to get your copy subscribe here now), but the discussion that ensued and has followed, raises an interesting topic as to whether Sabona magazine should include articles written in Afrikaans (with an English translation available on the website).

It's important to us that Sabona caters for its readers so we'd like to hear what you think.

• Do you think that as Afrikaans-speaking people are a very big part of Sabona's target market we should include articles in Afrikaans?
• Are you an Australian/English-speaking South African/Zulu-speaking South African etc who reads the magazine and our other correspondences who wouldn't understand articles written in Afrikaans?
• Do you think that Southern Africans who have moved to Australia need to accept that they need to become more ‘Australianised' and adopt the ‘when in Rome do as the Romans' philosophy?
• If you are an Australian/ English-speaking South African/Zulu-speaking South African etc, what would your response be to seeing Afrikaans articles in Sabona?
• If you are Afrikaans-speaking, what would your response be to seeing Afrikaans articles in Sabona?
• If Sabona's aim is to help Southern Africans settle in Australia, what can Sabona do to further this purpose and how does the language debate impact on this?

Incidentally, as an English-speaking South African from KwaZulu-Natal, my work with Sabona has resulted in me reading more Afrikaans in the last few months than in the past 20 years during which I was living in South Africa (and before which I learned Afrikaans at school). In fact, I'm regretting not bringing my English-Afrikaans dictionary with me (expecting not to have much need for it in Australia), and am probably going to have to ask the next family member who visits to bring one over for me!

So what's your opinion?

• http://www.seek.com.au/
• http://www.careerone.com.au/
• http://www.debramanson.com.au/main/page_jobs.html
• http://www.recruitr.com.au/Industries.aspx (construction; design & engineering; mining & resources; oil & gas; architecture)
• http://www.plexusrecruitment.com.au/ (medical jobs)
• http://www.avnrecruitment.com.au/employment-opportunities-recruitment.php
• http://terricooper.com.au/theinitiative.htm

• www.immi.gov.au
• www.immi.gov.au/visas/migration-agents/using
• www.immi.gov.au/gateways/agents/pdf/using-migration-agent.pdf
• www.mara.com.au

1. South Bank beach and water activities area.
2. Wynnum Park playground and whales.
3. Ipswich Workshops Rail Museum.
4. Special tickets for Queenslanders giving cheap access to Sea World, Wet ‘n' Wild and Movie World.
5. Sabona Business Network and Sabona Coffee Club get-togethers!

Looking to relocate to Australia and unable to decide between Melbourne and Brisbane, a writer to Sabona questioned whether to go where family are based (in this case, Brisbane), or where there may be more jobs available (in their view, Melbourne).

Putting the question to Sabona readers we received an overwhelming response. Many emails focused on the kind of criteria that people should consider when deciding where to settle in a new country. Of course, many of the responses are personal opinions. Such a decision really is a very personal one. There are people living happily in both cities, and many people do not have experience living in both cities, making it rather difficult to compare.

Interestingly there were some people who thought that family support should be the deciding criteria, while others said that the job market should dictate.

“Never underestimate the power of a support structure,” said Craig Oxford. “If the two are a close run thing go to your family and friends. Hey, you have just moved 10,000 kms. What is another 1,000kms in a couple of year's time if Brisbane is not everything you wanted in Australia?”

Family and friends were particularly important for Lara Ford, who said that she is not sure how they would have managed without them. “From what brand of washing powder to buy, to knowledge of different schools, areas to live, places to work, and so on.”

Anonymous agreed: “Go to where there are family and friends. A support network is essential, work opportunities are a secondary concern, unless it is an absolute golden opportunity.”

Family and friends may also help in the job search. Russell Williams suggested going where the friends and family are as newcomers need the support. “They will have networks that you can utilise to get a job.”

There were many references to the job market and the current economic situation. Avril Sellars questioned: “Who knows where the best opportunities lie? Her advice: “When it comes right down to it, having a job is just a start. As the present economic downturn has shown, no one should be totally dependent on a job. We should all be looking to diversity our income as much as possible. Australia is a land of tremendous opportunity to set up alternative sources of income.”

Others said that it is really difficult to say whether job prospects in one state are better than in another.

Vannessa Cushway suggested going to http://www.seek.com.au/ and searching for jobs in each city to suss out the opportunities available for relevant professions.

Anonymous believes that Melbourne is more open to employing ‘New Australians' than Brisbane. She said that her son had no trouble obtaining employment in Melbourne five years ago, but later went to Brisbane and battled, even with Australian experience, as he was not born in Australia.

The job market is an important criteria for Lynda Owen, who has been in Brisbane for a short while and has struggled to find a job. She said that one can make friends through work as well as through other networks. “To fly to Brisbane and back to see friends is easy. I would rather have a job.”

Dickie Naidoo agreed: “I think with the global crisis and huge shortage of jobs, let the job dictate where you should stay, and not the lifestyle for now. That should come later when you have got your feet in the door.”

Climate was a key factor for a number of people who have already made the decision on where to settle. Lara Ford said they chose Brisbane because they had lived in Durban and felt the climate, as well as the size and culture of Brisbane, was most similar to Durban.

As far as Craig Oxford is concerned although Brisbane gets pretty hot and humid in summer, it's way better than the howling wind that he used to put up with in Cape Town.

Avril Sellars said that the decision depends on what is important, and if a pleasant climate is a top priority, then “Brisbane wins hands down”.

Mark and Collette chose Melbourne because it was where they had a good friend, but describe Brisbane as too humid, and Melbourne having very extreme temperatures.

Several people suggested visiting each location in person before deciding where to settle, even though a visit is somewhat different to actually living in a city. One writer said that you certainly can get a feel for a city during a visit.

A property buyer's agent Martyn Fleming provided a somewhat scientific response to the question. He did the search on http://www.seek.com.au/ and found:

• 22,374 jobs in Victoria (of which 20,900 were in Melbourne)
• 19,628 jobs in Queensland (of which 13,574 were in Brisbane and 1,372 on the Gold Coast)

Then he considered the population for each state (2007 figures):

• Victoria 5,205,200
• Queensland 4,182,100

And then calculated that the current opportunities per person are approximately:

• 4.3 jobs per 1,000 people in Victoria
• 4.7 jobs per 1,000 people in Queensland

Martyn also provided unemployment figures for March – 5.7% in Victoria and 4.5% in Queensland, while median house prices as at January 2009 were $439,005 in Melbourne and $442,060 in Brisbane.

Based on these figures, he declared Queensland a winner. However, he did caution that it depends on one's trade or profession as opportunities vary between states.

Martyn also stated that late last year Brisbane surpassed Melbourne as having the higher average wage and this occurred at a time when there were significant interstate migration patters, with many residents from Victoria and New South Wales moving to Queensland.

For added measure, Martyn has lived in Queensland and Victoria and said he prefered the lifestyle on offer in Queensland.

In making the personal decision about where to settle, there are range of criteria to consider. Wessel Appel said the decision should involve deciding what type of lifestyle you want: More slow paced or a major city, rain in winter or summer? Can you stand up to the temperatures – hot or cold?

Finally, for added measure, the response from one reader showed how personal the decision is. She suggested settling in Adelaide: “It is the most beautiful city, slow and quiet.”