Nutrition and training … so much needed … and to give hope for 2 Euro a month – share your hope with those less fortune – what could be more rewarding…?
We need your help to support our “𝐒𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐄” project! Donate now to support families in Delft, Cape Town and to finance training within the project. Your donation can make a big difference and contribute to improve the lives of many in need. We believe in the power of community and the change we can make together. Thank you for your support.
A new and fresh year has started – and while the world as such is still in combat mood regarding Covid-19 admittedly in different stages and variations around the world, also other challenges have not changed because a new yearly chapter has been opened.
Building a holistic campus like “The Nex – Indawo Yethu” in such times was and is a challenge in itself; looking at how South Africa is perceived by many currently adds to the woes. Besides all praise for doing what HOPE Cape Town is doing in the various townships of Cape Town in the last 20 years, there are a lot of nagging questions we face on an ongoing base:
How can you build in a notorious violent township, a place nobody wants to go? How can you dare to think, that you can change a place riddled with desperation? And more general questions and statements:
South Africa is doomed – how can you invest time and energy in a lost cause? Are you not dreaming of a pie in the sky – believing in values while corruption, cadre deployment, empty promises and betrayal of “our people” governs daily life in South Africa?
Yes, maybe I am a dreamer; maybe HOPE Cape Town is taking on more than it can handle. Maybe I have too much confidence in our partners and their ability to walk the talk and to show the world, that change – positive change – is possible.
But in my view, this is the only way to get out of the doomsday vision and the self-fulfilling prophecies of decline and retrogression. Believing in people, in partnerships, and trusting in the ability of people to join and work together towards a better future is what creates positive development. And this is not only a humanistic or religious motion.
Africa will be soon to have the youngest population in the world and with it one of the biggest markets and opportunities. South Africa remains the gateway for quite a part of it. The whole environmental questions currently discussed are a challenge for African countries, but if done right, they will be on the forefront of a new reality which is not determined by Covid-19, but ambience needs bringing humanity in line and in tune with the preservation of environment simply for survival of human mankind.
South Africa is not doomed but deserves every effort for upliftment. The world, being currently in discussions and battles of all sorts and manners about the history of colonisation, racism, male dominance and asking critical questions about how the world economics is run and dominated warrants much more patience and determination to get it right. South Africa has still the possibility to become again a beacon of hope for the world, showing how diversity can be an asset and how the own history can be a teacher for future generations.
“The Nex – Indawo Yethu”, the holistic campus in Delft and the work of HOPE Cape Town in general will continue to contribute to this vision of a better world and a decent future for South Africa and the people living in it. It understands itself to be one little building block – offering to partner with whoever is walking the same talk – dreaming big and walking little realistic baby steps at the same time.
And coming back to the question of how to pull through with the project?
I don’t know – HOPE Cape Town walking with the local people and not having all answers means the adventure of development, based on trust and the confidence, that doors will open at the right time, people will join at the right time and that together we will – despite all bumpers and rollercoasters on the way – succeed in creating a better future for all.
That does not mean that there are no plans and strategies, that there are no aspirations and wishes, but not prescribing a way but discerning a way together with those living in Delft – a participatory process – means no fixed road to walk but landmarks on the way. Agility would be the word in the business world used.
Despite what we read in the newspapers and on social media every day – the majority of people – also in a township of Delft and in South Africa – are prepared to work for the common good. And that willingness, together with all the partners joining, should be enough to pull it through.
The #Bavarian House at #The Nex-Indawo Yethu in Delft, was officially opened by Western Cape Premier Alan Winde and Matthias Boddenberg, CEO of the Southern African German Chamber of Commerce. Thank you to German Consul General Tanya Werheit; MECs Tertius Simmers, Sharna Fernandez, Debbie Schafer, Ivan Meyer and Deputy Speaker Beverley Schafer for your presence and ongoing support. We missed our Bavarian friends from the Bayerische Staatskanzlei – per video, represented by State Minster Melanie Huml. We hope to see them soon in #SouthAfrica #hopecapetown #hopekapstadstiftung #hopecapetownusa #thenexindawoyethu #bavarianhouse #sagcci #partnerships
After taking occupation of the buildings of Phase 1 construction @ Then Nex – Indawo Yethu Campus yesterday another milestone was achieved: The opening of the Holistic Health Facility “La Maison de Christoph”, witnessed by representatives from government, political spheres, health departments, nursing staff and representation of the sponsor for this building. The Holistic Health Centre will be open to the public in November, but in the fields of Early Childhood Development, the centre has already welcomed participants of training sessions.
HOPE Cape Town is grateful to Advocate Martin Hoernig representing the European Trust, which sponsored the building and equipment. He cut the ribbon and so allowed those present to have a glimpse of the facility and its services offered.
Dr Perez & Adv Martin Hoernig
Blessing by Fr Wim
Planting a bush called yesterday, today and tomorrow
Delft, a township near Cape Town in South Africa, makes often headlines for the wrong reasons: violence, crime, gangster, rape, drugs, guns – you name it, Delft is in for it.
Looking a bit deeper, it appears that Delft has all credentials to be the opposite: a beacon of hope for the new South Africa and a promising place for what should be the norm for aspiring communities.
Delft is not only located close to the airport – an economic hub which should provide for jobs and upliftment of a community, the township also has excellent schools, all necessary infrastructure and a mix of people from all walks of life mirroring the diversity which should be the norm in South Africa.
There is indeed no reason for Delft not to rise from the ashes of lost hopes by violent crimes and high unemployment towards a really confident hub within the greater Cape Town area where people live, earn and spend their money and participate in the economic development provided by the expansion of the airport.
The question is what it takes to ignite the pride of the residents and the energy needed to move from a place of fear and partly hopelessness to being a crown jewel and an example of successfully turning a township around towards prosperity for all.
HOPE Cape Town has set a mark of uplifting with the decision to settle its home in Delft and to concentrate on this area with holistic services and the intent to walk the talk with the community, building on years of work within the community of Blikkiesdorp and services rendered at the health facilities.
It might sound more like a dream to turn around the township of Delft into an area of peace and prosperity, but every real action starts with the imagination of a dream. Obviously nobody can do it alone, but together with all parties concerned and putting aside for a while the egos and rivalry, much can be achieved for a better life for all in this area.
Lots of ideas and initiatives are already in place – but the joined effort and the synergies possible if those efforts are coordinated would promise faster results and more possibilities in a feasible timeframe. Political will and the buy-in of the people would be the base for such synergies.
God, AIDS, Africa & HOPE 