God, AIDS, Africa & HOPE

Reflections / Gedanken

07/01/2025 • 2:09 pm Comments Off on Drama, trauma and hope …

Drama, trauma and hope …

Much is written in our days about the cut down on foreign aid in the budgets of giver countries. There is a new sensitivity towards these cuts after USAID and PEPFAR were practically shut down in a moment’s time. Millions in developing countries will fall victim to those cuts, with deadly consequences. In a time when trillions of Euros and Dollars are spent on weaponry and tools to kill and destroy, the imbalance is visible and can’t even been covered and made invisible by the hardcore right-wing political tendencies the world experience.

But it would be very shortsighted to see only the drama and call for more aid without seeing the imbalances of money, skills, opportunities on the planet. It would be shortsighted to see all the drama without seeing the shortcomings of many developing countries ruled by single-handed power and greed. And it would be shortsighted without seeing the drama and trauma of social-political developments in the USA, where politics is turned into a cult-like mass phenomenon and similar tendencies rise in Europe and around the world. Real democracy has to pull up its sleeves to show what it is capable of and what values remain important.

But there is more: We have to see the current situation also as a chance to create better conditions for humanity and environment. The current situation is a wake-up call not to be missed in economical, but also political and social terms.

One of the calls is certainly for Europe to stand up and find its rightful place – and it will definitely fall short if it betrays its values or tries to negotiate the unnegotiable connected to it.

The wake-up call clearly also stipulates to have a deep reflection about our neighbours and the possibilities they pose. For Europe, the neighbouring continent of Africa has certainly all the ingredients of becoming in the future one of the most close ally. It holds the future in so many ways – notwithstanding all the problems and challenges it has to overcome. And instead of looking like the rabbit towards the snake in direction USA or China, we should start building up a much more beneficial win-win situation between the two continents. Creating value chains together, investing in the continent, share training and education and abolish the last colonialist tendencies still present in our days.

Looking at the USA, another conundrum is definitely the question of how to limit the influence of money on politics in the real sense of the word. Oligarchs and multi-billionaires should be limited in their ability to overrule democracy and its mechanism or to ignore/rewrite the rule of law due to undue influence. We need to reflect and to come up with rules and values serving more than just those who made it by luck, inheritance or using the system cleverly. The current “big beautiful bill” discussed in the US Senate is a showcase of how things can go wrong.

Once again: taking the current situation as a chance and the wake-up call will not take away the death and destructions we witness in our days. It will remain more than a scar in the skin of humanity and a clear defeat of its values and responsibilities. It is terrible! But in every situation there remains also the hope to learn out of it and to allow for progress and a dignified future. Democracy in different forms and shapes and a basic value system should be the framework for such a joined way

NGOs can be very flexible vehicles to support a way forward which balance the imbalance and to allow also Europe and Africa to grow. They are entrepreneurial in nature, and they have a lot to say and to contribute to politics, social questions and economy. They often consist of a pool of people from different walks of life and traditions – being able to show how a win-win situation is achieved. Alone for that very reason, the proposed cuts of development money in Europe remain short-sighted and plainly wrong!

Filed under: Africa, General, Politics and Society, Reflection, SA-German Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Society and living environment, South Africa, vocational training, , , , , , , , , , ,

12/01/2024 • 12:40 pm Comments Off on Europe has no future without Africa

Europe has no future without Africa

Economic refugees, asylum seekers, skilled workers, war refugees: anyone listening to European politicians in debates or on social media today can lose track of realities. Anyone who gets caught in Germany between the fronts of the populist debate with the right-wing party called AfD often completely loses touch with reality and has no chance of really understanding the intricacies of the issue of asylum and immigration. And this will only increase in the course of the German federal elections in 2025 and the campaign to fish on the fringes of the political extreme right.

Another victim of this situation is the view that many people have of Africa and the role that this large continent will and must play in a few decades if Europe wants to have a future. Refugee issues as well as poverty and hunger scenarios on the continent of Africa obscure many facts, for example:

Africa will account for more than half of the world’s young working population in 25 years’ time. Consumption and value creation will take place on this continent.
Africa possesses a large proportion of the mineral resources that are required for the further development of technology.
Particularly in the field of communication technology and renewable energy, Africa is leapfrogging many of the stages in which Europe is still caught up.

But Africa will only be able to play this role if it is prepared. This includes an exchange of information and skills on an equal footing. It also requires Europeans to realise that many environmental and status issues cannot continue in this way, with the corresponding practical consequences. It also includes a real end to colonial thinking and a corresponding development policy.

This also includes an end to the unspeakable refugee policy of European countries, which, instead of genuinely tackling the causes on an equal footing, repeatedly fall back into the old patterns: building walls, pushing refugees onto each other and often ignoring the historical causes and future realities. It is precisely here that the lack of imagination and foresight in politics and the limits of a European spirit of joint political action become very clear.

Of course, Africa and many of the 54 states must also do their homework. This certainly includes the issue of co-operation, but also honesty in looking at their own history and the relations between African countries. Corruption remains an important issue, as does democracy in African culture.

Ultimately, this includes, above all, providing young people in Africa with an education and training that is geared towards this future. Really looking at what the jobs of the future will be. Realising how climate change will change the conditions for human life and work, especially on this continent.

The challenges are complex – and only together will there be a future for the people of both continents. If the ‘America first’ policy in President-elect Trump’s version becomes reality, then it is high time for Europe to wake up and look to its neighbour Africa.

And this is where the many non-governmental organisations come into play. They can become a bridge of communication, learning and engagement at eye level for politics and business. For a good future to become a reality, business and NGOs in particular must give up their normal dance for a little charity and donations and develop joint synergies to enable life, health and a good education on both continents.

The issue is complex and certainly sometimes difficult to communicate to people who have lost confidence in politics. Here too, the NGO level can often assist with the credibility of arguments.

See the original German text under the headline: “Texte in Deutsch“

Filed under: Africa, General, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, HOPE Cape Town Trust, Networking, Politics and Society, Reflection, SA-German Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Society and living environment, South Africa, The Nex - Indawo Yethu, vocational training, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

09/23/2024 • 2:56 pm Comments Off on HOPE Gala Dresden

HOPE Gala Dresden

Celebrating life and sustaining this celebration in sharing wealth. Inviting others to do the same is also important. This is what the HOPE Gala in Dresden is all about.

And this is not only done because it is the right thing to do. It is done because giving is receiving. Receiving not only in an altruistic sense, but in understanding the deep-rooted changes our world and societies are going through.

How we act now, will decide the lives and future of the next generations. Never before had human mankind the capacity of understanding this statement so loud and clear. And it seems that instead of listening, people act diametrically. They try to keep what they have, hold, and know now. Anxiety and doomsday prophets, populists and self-proclaimed leaders are in overdrive in our days.

The challenges of today can only be overcome when we think and act globally. The problems we face as human species can only be solved when we understand, how we depend on each other. And that no money of this world and no island creating politics will change this fact.

Solidarity and synergies are needed, compassion and bravery, dedication and determination. And all those we celebrate when joining the HOPE Gala. Because those are the ingredients of a life well lived.

The HOPE Gala is about supporting the work of an NGO. It’s about doing good. It’s about Africa. But it is so much more. It is about being part of people believing in a better tomorrow for all, which only can be achieved together – starting today.

www.hopegala.de

Filed under: General, HIV and AIDS, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, HOPE Cape Town Trust, HOPE Gala Dresden, Politics and Society, Reflection, Society and living environment, South Africa, The Nex - Indawo Yethu, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , ,

08/23/2024 • 12:49 pm Comments Off on Be a hope hero…

Be a hope hero…

Who does not want to leave a legacy and be remembered for being a force for good? How fascinating will it be if your deeds are bearing fruit still in a hundred years time. Seeing the bigger picture and being a hero driven by hope and the imagination, how the world could be; and not only imagining it but putting your money where your mouth is….

We invite you to do exactly this – walk with us while scrolling down…

Thank you for walking with us until this point. You have certainly done the first steps. The question, which remains, and only you can answer: Do you want to go one step further and become a hope hero in-deed?

If you do, please feel free to contact trust@hopecapetown.org

It is a ringfenced email address and all correspondence remains confidential.

Tax receipts can be issued by HOPE Cape Town in Germany, Austria, South Africa and the USA if the donation to capital is received in the respective local HOPE Cape Town related bank account.

Thanks for considering being a HOPE hero…

Filed under: Africa, Catholic Church, General, HIV and AIDS, HOPE Cape Town Association, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, HOPE Cape Town Trust, HOPE Cape Town USA, HOPE Gala Dresden, Networking, Reflection, SA-German Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Society and living environment, South Africa, The Nex - Indawo Yethu, Uncategorized, vocational training, , , , , , , , , , , ,

04/05/2024 • 10:18 am Comments Off on Explainer: HOPE Cape Town – Charity versus Development

Explainer: HOPE Cape Town – Charity versus Development

Travelling in Europe and the USA trying to tell the story of hope to the respective attentive audiences and to introduce our work, I am very often confronted with the word “Charity work”.

People, especially in the religious or humanitarian context, see HOPE Cape Town and its work in the context of “charity”. We collect money to help poor people – to say it in simple word. And obviously as a religious or humanitarian person, you give a contribution via the organisation to assist those in need.

“Those in need” – indeed this is charity when you help those who are in dire need, who are in a direct and life-threatening emergency. Charity means to feel with those who are in situations turning their lives upside down. And yes, HOPE Cape Town has in some segments of work also this charity aspect: giving out meals, handing out cloth is charity work.

But HOPE Cape Town does not define itself with “charity”alone – we pride ourselves of being a development agency. That sounds big and almost governmental – most people think of the respective government departments spending money on big projects via the foreign government entities; often in the knowledge that it is triggered rather by political interests than real needs. And obviously being aware that often not all money is reaching the goalposts set for the specific project.

Development, as we understand it, means indeed walking with the people we encounter. It means to sit and listen first to what the needs are instead of what we think is needed. It means to discuss matters, include all considerations and to make at the end joined decisions. Furthermore, it means to take people seriously, to discover the wisdom of people with different thinking – and sometimes it also means to run against a wall and to knock your head before being successful.

This development work is in our understanding the only way to sustain changes, to allow growing in personal lives, but also communities and to strive for a better world.

And “the better world” means that development does not end there. To really change the world on all levels there must be a clear understanding, that the impact is not alone – in our case – in South Africa – but that there is a two-way road back to Europe and the so-called developed countries.

The world is currently changing massively and only if we allow for encounter, for touching each other’s life and mindset, we develop an understanding for each other which is an added fertilizer for tomorrow’s better world. And those encounters have to be on eye-level. Some people say, the West has the money, the South the humanity and wisdom – whatever it is: only if we want to develop jointly we have a chance to create a world where the next generations will be delighted to live in. We owe it to them.

So development as we see it at HOPE Cape Town, it is like a bridge bringing worlds together to walk together and to reflect together to make sense of the colourful diversity and to show that nobody is an island any more. We need each other to overcome all the challenges be it social, economic or environmental.

Filed under: Africa, General, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, HOPE Cape Town Trust, Networking, Politics and Society, Reflection, Society and living environment, The Nex - Indawo Yethu, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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