Juli Van Zyl is a single mother of 3. After a difficult divorce in Johannesburg she moved to Port Alfred with her son. She started off as a painter, living in a caravan on a construction site. They fell on hard times but found support in Corrie Parsons, a local community volunteer. Juli agreed to receiving food parcels from Corrie as part of Parsons’ Loaves & Fishes initiative. Later, Juli was asked to move off of the construction site. Having nowhere else to go she turned to Corrie for help.

“Every time for whatever reason it may be that I need to move on again, it’s back to the same thing again of where to go and what to do. Without finances in the bank, or a car to drive, or anywhere to actually put your head under at night, it’s a very scary place to be,” says Juli. Later that day she received a call from Corrie. She found out that she had a new home in Corrie’s son's aeroplane hangar in the 43 Air School air field.

After a long day of work Juli sits down to admire their birds. She recalls how Liam spent most of his time alone when they still lived in the caravan. She bought the white bird to keep him company. Juli still doesn’t like that the birds are caged.