God, AIDS, Africa & HOPE

Reflections / Gedanken

05/17/2010 • 7:20 pm Comments Off on 17.05.2010

17.05.2010

The ash cloud is approaching, but Frankfurt Airport promised to be a good boy and be open until midnight. That should do the trick to bring us out. This morning a talk for 150 students of the Gesamtschule Stromberg and I once again realise how far away the real world is for those kids, or better: how well protected they are not to know the realities of life in all its facets.

Then back to Frankfurt to check in the luggage and go quick to town for a last shopping. A sms telling me, that a friend of mine got a heart attack and is lying in hospital, another phone call from South Africa telling me, that a person I know from Rotary has been found dead floating in his swimming pool with 42 – and some last-minute chaos regarding the Ball of HOPE… I feel it is time to get back home.

Now sitting at the airport and trying to sort out all the emails of the last three days.. there was no time to really read and answer every of those and now it looks like work down a hug pile of emails from around the world.

So what is the result of the trip?

Many talks, new connections and the renewal of old connections with sponsors and donors of HOPE Cape Town. Quite a lot of invitation to give talks or preach – a donation from the Kolping family Muenster – Sarmsheim, a couple of new HOPE Cape Town fans and supporters – re-connecting with those who are faithful sponsors the whole years and finally a big step regarding our new project for HIV positive priests and religious.

This trip was full of wonderful experience, little sleep, some flu in between but when Fr. Wim and I will write our final report and outline future steps, I am sure that it is to the benefit of HOPE Cape Town, Justice & Peace Cape Town and the joined venture we persue. Thanks to all and everybody who made this trip worth the efforts – thanks for all cooperation in Wolfsburg, Rome, Munich and Muenster-Sarmsheim as well as Stromberg.

And of course I am always grateful that LH grants me the pleasure of flying with them.. those encounters at the counters have been a real inspiration – in the best and in the worst way possible.. alternating…  as usual. 🙂

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

11/04/2009 • 8:59 am Comments Off on 04.11.2009 last day…

04.11.2009 last day…

Today I will leave Germany and fly back to Cape Town via Frankfurt. As always I have the feeling it is really time to see “my” Table Mountain again and sleep in my own bed. Two more meetings are on the agenda for today before leaving for the airport. And even as it looks rainy and cloudy, it does not look foggy – Munich is known for awful fog and delayed flights in this time of the year.

As always I will sit at the airport and reflecting on the journey and ask myself where I am heading with my life and my work. When I am now home again, the reality of not having the German-speaking communities will kick in with full force. I have to focus on my new life and try to get a sort of rhythm into it. I would lie if I would not admit that I miss the people a bit, the usual Sunday service, the chat afterwards. But as it is with human beings, this will fade away and memories will replace it – fond memories of my time as a chaplain.

Filed under: Reflection, Uncategorized, , , ,

10/26/2009 • 9:18 am Comments Off on 26.10.09 new week, new ventures

26.10.09 new week, new ventures

While this post is coming alive, I am on my way to Frankfurt to meet with representatives of the AIDS action alliance to discuss possible involvement at the 2nd ecumenical church day in Munich in May 2010 and the World AIDS Conference in Vienna. Mid November we have our annual planing meeting with HOPE Cape Town and then most travel arrangements must be decided on. Monday Frankfurt, Tuesday/Wednesday Bitburg and Wednesday eve Aachen are the next stations of my travel – Bitburg with a talk @ the Lion’s Club and various encounters and talks with the students and teachers of the St. Willibrord Gymnasium regarding the work of HOPE Cape Town and obviously touches the general situation in South Africa.  In Aachen I will talk about “HIV and AIDS as sign of the times” and discuss a possible theology of HIV and AIDS for our days.  All encounters create the opportunity to function as a bridge between South Africa and Europe. This becomes more and more important. In my talks in Berlin I once again realised how necessary it is that information is floating freely and honestly between South Africa and Germany to foster the development of relationships between the two countries which are helpful to the people and not only to the ruling class. Sometimes the European or German partners are very quick with solutions to our problems between Cape Town and Johannesburg – forgetting the different way, people in the South experience their realities. South Africa has a lot still to learn and to develop, be it that politicians are team player and not lone warriors trying to gain as much as possible as long as they are in office. But also the cooperation between NGO’s and government needs improvement and also here, the working mechanism developed in Germany between those parties, could have an assisting factor for us at the bottom of Africa.

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

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