Welcome to 'The duPs' - The website of Paul and Margaret du Plessis - Margaret a former Medical Social Worker, Paul a physician.

They served with The Salvation Army in Zambia, the United Kingdom, India, and their homeland of South Africa. They retired to live in Bromley, in southeast London. Margaret passed away in 2019.

Their children, Catherine and Andre, and the wider family have always meant a lot to them. Placing Paul’s poems and other information on a website has been a family request for some years. Grandson, David, took on the project and became the website architect.

Please enjoy reading Paul's poems which reflect something of their life experiences.

Margaret has researched the life of Louisa Mary Tucker, the first wife of pioneer Indian missionary, Frederick Tucker.

Please use the menu on the left and the search function in the top right to navigate through the site.

Here is Paul's most recent poem:

Somewhere at the Back

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Written November 2019
Locked and left in the overflow car-park
After the long journey of exploration
Moving forward, compelled by obedience
And a hunch there was something better ahead.
 
Now finding the way through overcrowded aisles,
Dodging fairy lights flashing on artificial snow
Keeping time with music canned for popularity,
But jarring the hearing of a wise man seeking peace,
As he braves the uncertainty of a country’s future
And extinction rebels' warning of trouble ahead.
 
So they follow the star to the shed behind,
Where they find hope born afresh,
With love stirring within those gazing
On the new-born, sleeping in a cardboard box.
 

Written after visiting a busy garden centre in Bournemouth

Advent 2019