God, AIDS, Africa & HOPE

Reflections / Gedanken

06.06.2010 stampede in Jozi

Only some days to go until the opening of the Soccer World Cup 2010 and a friendly match in Johannesburg ends with a stampede and injuries.. Not well done and please get it right – and “thanks” for sending another signal of incompetency to the world. As if we have not enough bad press to fight every day…

Besides this horrible news, the day went by quiet – Sunday service at Brooklyn Catholic Church,  and as always the mixture of cultures and traditions in this community is for me a symbol for the rainbow nation. Later the day visit of some friends and a premature birthday party for Fr Wim at Lands End in Gordon’s Bay – a nice crowd of people, good food and good conversations. Thanks Wim for the great eve.

With some preperaton for tomorrows meetings and interview requests the day ends on a working note.

Filed under: Reflection, Uncategorized, , ,

04.06.2010 Back to normal…

Arriving yesterday evening home again and unpacking – the usual after a week away. Today the morning starts with office work – so many email still to be answered, preparation for the weekend and sorting out all the commitments for the next two weeks. Then off to Tygerberg Hospital to attend the HOPE Cape Town management meeting, which takes most of the afternoon. Lots of interesting topics to be discussed surround new ventures, new approaches but also the consolidation of the existing: always that small little red line between conservation and new adventure, the proven ones and the trial phases as a consequence of new challenges. HOPE Cape Town is developing further and we plan a workshop in July to determine medium and long-term goals for the next years to come.

In the evening then farewell party for diplomatic staff – and it is good to meet and greet a lot of people I have not seen for ages. It is something I will never get used to: to bid farewell people you learned to like and to know and to work with and after a couple of years they have to move on as part of their profession. After 13 years it feels sometimes a bit tiring to befriend new people but I guess, that’s part of working as a citizen of this world.

A full day, and, as most days, too much is still waiting to be prepared, finalised etc.. Why days not having 36 hours is sometimes a mystery to me…

Filed under: HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, Networking, Reflection, , , , ,

02.06.2010 Doha…

Arriving in Doha after leaving Hamburg this very early morning to fly to Frankfurt and to Doha on my way back to Cape Town. In Frankfurt I speak once again with the Station manager to assure that the airline gives me a hotel room as my transfer time is 11 hours.  Arriving in Doha I experience that the 5 star service on board does not apply to the ground staff. No hotel at the airport and yes, the IATA rules say that if the transit time is more than 8 hours one is entitled to a hotel room, and yes, Qatar Airways is part of IATA, but no, the rules do not apply to Qatar Airways. No hotel room – they actually don’t even care at all..

Well, of course I can apply for a visa, pay for a visa and then go in search of a hotel in Doha – assistance, no assistance at all – that is my problem.. . I guess, that this is the last time I use Qatar Airways… So I will sit now for 11 hours waiting for my flight.. what a delight..  😦
I got a frequent flyer card from Qatar Airways and I tried now twice to give it back.. but somehow nobody wants to take it here. Well, I will sent it back – so much for flying with arab airlines..

Besides the inconvenienced of not being able to sleep at all, the trip is has been a good one so far. The talk show went well, even I am not sure that my previous employer will be happy about my analysis regarding my “no-show” the last time I was invited.

The deal with the Udo Lindenberg Foundation, the contribution to the small 1-minute-movie-teaser regarding the Safehouse project, the meetings with Viola & Hermjo and Joachim & Sandra – all went well and hopefully the results are fruitful for HOPE Cape Town and the people we are looking after in the Western Cape.

Now I will start counting the sheep or the minutes.. 11 hours times 60 minutes.. a lot to count… hopefully I am falling not at the end asleep and miss my flight..

Filed under: General, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, Networking, Reflection, Society and living environment, , , , ,

01.06.2010 Chaos Day…

Monday, 31.05.2010 – somehow a very intense day: Waking up to the news that Israels attempt to stop some vessels trying to deliver food to Gaza are stopped the heavy way: deaths and injured people and cries from all corners of the world complaining what many call state sponsored terrorism. And I must admit that I agree: Attacking boats in international waters with such a result has to be condemned in the strongest terms.

Hours later declared our German President his immediate resignation – what a symbolic act of defeat: In a time, where politicians in Germany and in Europe are not able to come up with one meaningful solution to stop the derailing of capitalism, where politics struggles to re-gain its position to put a framework in place for economic development – where there is one crisis after the other and nobody dares to tackle them honest – at such a time the German President – as banker part of the derailing process in the earlier times and in the last years trying to speak against it – steps down because he feels that he is too much criticized. Wow – that is a real shock for Germany – and it showcases that there is no solution in reach for all the problems.. But this is also

All this has obviously consequences to the talk show I was invited to join – forward and backward and at the end the talk show is tapped and will be aired next Monday – so there is time yesterday eve to discuss the retreat of the German President.

The talk show is going well, obviously my previous “no-show” is part of the discussion and I am not willing to cover up again. Truth is spoken out – not sure the person responsible for the “no-show” will like it. But that’s only a brief visit in the past – the situation of South Africa, the impact of the Soccer World cup 2010, the HIV pandemic is the main focus, followed by the anniversary of 50 years “the pill”. The father of the pill is part of the discussion – and suddenly the situation gets very lively when it comes to question of creation and of ethics and what we are allowed to do and not to do..

After the show still some time for further discussion, the Minister of Health of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern invites me and I have to admit that this province is completely new to me.. I never have been there before. Well, a reason more to pay a visit at the end of the year.

A long day draws to an end – full of news, excitement, concentration, discussion, meeting new people – full of life in all facets. For those interested: The talk show will be aired on Monday, 7th of June at 22h45 ARD German Television (Bei Beckmann).

Filed under: HIV and AIDS, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, Networking, Politics and Society, Society and living environment, , , , , , , ,

31.05.2010 Sunday in Hamburg

Yesterday breakfast with Joachim Franz, Sandra Wukowich and Viola Klein – a longer breakfast with lots of discussion points. In the afternoon a brief meeting with a Facebook friend and family before meeting with the Udo Lindenberg as well as Hermjo & Viola Klein. Udo Lindenberg has an own trust since 2006 and it was decided, that his trust will support the HOPE Cape Town Association for the next two years. The money will be dedicated for the work of HOPE Community Health Workers. The official launch for the support will be in Tuebingen in July this year.The rock star will visit the HOPE Cape Town project in due course.

It emerges that the “Beckmann team” has not decided yet to air the talk-show directly today or a week later – the decision will be taken midday only.

Filed under: HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, Networking, Uncategorized, ,

Blog Categories

Follow God, AIDS, Africa & HOPE on WordPress.com

You can share this blog in many ways..

Bookmark and Share

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 2,711 other subscribers

Translation – Deutsch? Française? Espanol? …

The translation button is located on each single blog page, Copy the text, click the button and paste it for instant translation:
Website Translation Widget

or for the translation of the front page:

* Click for Translation

Copyright

© Rev Fr Stefan Hippler and HIV, AIDS and HOPE.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Rev Fr Stefan Hippler and HIV, AIDS and HOPE with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

This not withstanding the following applies:
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.