God, AIDS, Africa & HOPE

Sometimes it is amazing how even flights can bring moments of upliftment and joy and reflection at the same time. On my flight back from Hamburg via Istanbul to Cape Town I watched a movie based on the real story of an japanese youngster, student of medicine, who was looking for that “extra kick” in life – studying, drinking and partying and some love in between seemed so shallow. One day he saw an advert “build a school in Vietnam” and without ever been to Vietnam he takes the challenge to raise quite an amount of money to do exactly this: building a school in one of the lost corners of Vietnam. The movie takes you through all the stages of such a journey: the excitement, the different characters of his fellow friends trying to assist, the ups and downs, his first travel to Vietnam, his first encounter with a woman who is HIV positive, the history of Cambodia with millions of killed – the first encounter with kids of the village the school is later build. Very emotional but real – a real journey of this young fellow which ends with the opening ceremony of the school. At the end one learns that for all four students, driving the project, it is life changing – one is even working now in Africa for an NGO.

For me the movie triggered lots of own memories the way HOPE Cape Town was developed, the hopes and joys, the ups and downs, the success and the failures along the way – but at the end, like in the movie, there stands a sentence I truly believe in: Going such a way, you will find people showing you real hope to live for a meaning in life. And can you ask for more?

Filed under: HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, Networking, Reflection, Society and living environment, Aids, development, first encounter, first travel, flight, history of cambodia, hiv positive, hope, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, real journey, school, ups and downs, Vietnam