God, AIDS, Africa & HOPE

Reflections / Gedanken

01/29/2010 • 6:00 pm 1

A small message…

….but a serious background: It shows how Chinese authorities still deal with the issue of HIV and AIDS:

The same weekend the Mr Gay China pageant was cancelled, a prominent AIDS activist said his NGO was forced to cancel its 16th anniversary celebrations while a state-sponsored and UN-supported radio talk show dealing with HIV issues slated to air last Saturday has been postponed. Less than 24 hours after the police shut down Mr Gay China pageant which was to be held at a Beijing club for not possessing relevant license, Aizhixing, a prominent Beijing-based AIDS non-government organisation (NGO), was reportedly forced to cancel a gathering to mark the 16th anniversary of its founding. “We don’t know exactly why, and we did not really ask,” Dr Wan Yanhai, founder of the Beijing Aizhixing Institute, and a leading HIV/AIDS and LGBT human rights advocate in China, was quoted as saying in a CNN report. “The government might not believe in what we are doing. We hoped we could operate more openly in society. But it seems that the government will not accept this.” Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post and CNN also reported that what was to be the debut of the mainland’s first state-sponsored radio programme dedicated to HIV issues last Saturday has been postphoned.  The CNN report also quoted Zhang Wei, a spokesperson for the UN Development Program, as saying that the program, “Positive Talks,” was scheduled to start airing weekly on China National Radio but so far has not received final approval from the government.

Source: http://www.fridae.com/newsfeatures/2010/01/19/9558.china-aids-ngo-forced-to-cancel-16th-anniversary-celebrations?n=sec

Filed under: Uncategorized

01/27/2010 • 10:25 pm Comments Off on 27.01.2010 a normal day..

27.01.2010 a normal day..

Standing up at 6h10 this morning, and being at the office before 7am. First checking emails & news before going to town. Meeting with my co-operation partner Anja Tambusso Ferraz from the Southern African – German Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Petra Reichwein from the Mediterranean Villa to discuss the next Ball of HOPE, to be held on the 22nd of May 2010 at the Westin Grand Hotel. A bit later our musical director Adolf Thelen joins to discuss the musical arrangements. After that planing for the service on Ash Wednesday for the Holy Cross Primary School in Brooklyn.  Back to the office and working on reducing the stable of papers, files and folders on the desk, answering letters, phone calls before heading off again to an interview regarding a volunteer position during soccer world cup 2010. I am considered for a “protocol position” and faced with 3 interviewers I try to answer all the questions. It is amazing to sit again in an interview on the side with the one chair.. 🙂

Back to the office, more phone calls, more paper work, some preparations for tomorrow for a talk and some meetings and at 6pm home, only to meet with friends at 7 for dinner. Back home at 9h30 pm – some reading of theological nature and now the blog and a last check on emails. Preparing some papers for the senior staff meeting of HOPE Cape Town tomorrow and for my sergeant duties at the Rotary meeting tomorrow noon time.  A day is done… nothing extra-ordinary but enough left for tomorrow and the rest of the week.

Filed under: General, Reflection, Society and living environment, Uncategorized, , , , , , , ,

01/24/2010 • 12:56 am Comments Off on Pope asks priests to get online, spread the Gospel

Pope asks priests to get online, spread the Gospel

It is good to know that the Holy Father supports blogging:

CNS STORY: Pope asks priests to get online, spread the Gospel.

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01/22/2010 • 10:49 pm Comments Off on 22.01.2010 Friday eve…

22.01.2010 Friday eve…

Discussion with a lecturer from Munich about a photo exhibition during the World Cup 2010 featuring the lives of people here in South Africa. We discuss the possibility to feature in this exhibition also a HOPE community health worker or the HOPE doctor. An interesting way of having a look on the life of a person from HOPE Cape Town: through a camera which keeps moments in a life’s time to show the reality of daily routine, hardship and joy. I think it is a good idea and for HOPE Cape Town also interesting to get a photographic feed back  on the work we are doing through our front people: the HOPE community health workers.

Luncheon with a friend – always good just to let go and talk and consider and plan for going together to Germany and Italy in May – unfortunately business related. But still: it is interesting to see after so many years, that friendship can create synergies assisting the work within the Archdiocese of Cape Town. A very good feeling about it – and an outstanding service at the so-called family restaurant.

Office work, phone calls, preparations – a decent dinner with nice people – this day brought a good mix of everything and looking back at the week, which started in Bangkok and will end in Newlands – a diversity of experience within a week which makes one grateful. I hope for more such good weeks to come in the next time…

Filed under: Reflection, Society and living environment, Uncategorized, , , , , , , ,

01/20/2010 • 11:05 pm Comments Off on 20.01.2010 Haiti

20.01.2010 Haiti

What can one say about Haiti – days after the earthquake one can still find miracles – people being found while trapped for days – but one also finds the impotence of the modern world to deal with disasters like it. After hurricane Katharina now Haiti is showing us how little we so developed nations with all our equipment can do when nature strikes. For me, besides all the human tragedy it is always amazing to see that we reach to the stars, explore the universe – but are not able to handle mother nature and it’s sometimes brutal aftermath. We are not the crown of creation – but part of it – and being part of creation means being part of living and dying in the circle of life – sometimes so completely against the way we portrait nature: gentle, perfect – or as it is stated in the Bible:  – and it was good.

We have to reconcile our longing for harmony between human mankind and nature with the realities: eaten and being eaten, natural disasters killing innocent people every year. The lion is still not laying with the lamb – but in Africa every year people are killed by wild animals; tornados, thunderstorms, storm flooding, earthquakes, avalanches – they all produce victims and most of it is completely unpredictable and most times, the poorest are impacted the most.

For me it also shows how precious life is – how sumptuous every minute we live and how fast it can be end. Such tragedy is not only a challenge for our compassion and solidarity, but also a reminder about the value of every minute we are able to live and put a meaning to our living.

Haiti – time to open our hearts and show solidarity, but also to open our minds and reflect on the meaning of it all.
And yes, it is difficult to reconcile or explain what has happened, but the most stupid explanation I have read so far was the one of a well-known American preacher Pat Robertson, who according to CNN attributed the earthquake to the fact, that Haiti “swore a pact to the devil” by the creation of Haiti.

Filed under: General, Reflection, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , ,

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