God, AIDS, Africa & HOPE

Reflections / Gedanken

10/03/2010 • 4:41 pm Comments Off on 03.10.2010 Sunday afternoon

03.10.2010 Sunday afternoon

Sunday afternoon – and my last service as a supply priest for Belhar. I must admit that I have enjoyed going there the last Sundays and to experience one of the South African parishes – so different from the once in Germany. The question I have in mind is: how can the church remain relevant for the people in the next 20 years. Eying to Europe one can see how societies and with it churches develop and I am convinced that one can learn to prevent some of the “European developments’ for the local church.

Besides the church work, there will be also a decision on the future of the POZ initiative catering for priests and religious who are themselves HIV positive. After the Southern African Bishop’s Conference can in the moment not see any need to set up a special offer for those infected working in the church, there are consultations to see how one can overcome obstacles and offer a pastoral service, the members of the working group believe is necessary and essential. Turning stigma into a blessing is important and combined with a process of healing and self acceptance it would be an important service the church could offer their own employees. But of course it is a sensitive field and I feel that we have to do more convincing to get those responsible in the church hierarchy on board.

The coming week will see not only trips to Durban and Johannesburg, but also visitors connected to the Romantic Hotel Group in Europe, the farewell for Rainer, who will find his final resting place here in Cape Town, meetings for the HOPE Cape Town Trust and HOPE Cape Town Association and as usual lots for preparation work for all things lying ahead.

Filed under: General, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, Reflection, Uncategorized, , , ,

09/30/2010 • 1:00 pm Comments Off on 30.09.2010 Diversity

30.09.2010 Diversity

Diversity has always driven my life, and also this week it is not different:

The death of Fr Roland continues to give reason for many talks about life and death, but also normal life is going on: The new HOPE Cape Town feature is ready now for post production and tomorrow I will sit with the chairperson to see the footage and to decide on the “red line” for the feature.
Premier Seehofer from Bavaria together with Premier Zille and Mayor Plato plus a delegation met in Kalksteenfontain to hear from NGO’s connected with Bavaria what they are doing here in the Western Cape. It was an interesting gathering and it is always also good for the NGO’s to see that they have neighbours they could relate too. But I guess it is also important for the politicians to see what is happening on the ground.And it is good to see the partnership between the Western Cape and Bavaria so lively; it is good to meet the same people again and again to  know that we are indeed on the same page in developing this partnership.

Senior staff meeting, a preparation meeting for a farewell next week, dinner with friends and a meeting with the Archbishop of Cape Town – never a dull moment and all is important – but I guess the most important part is really the meeting of hearts and minds, the exchange of ideas and the openness for a frank discussion, where everybody is listening to everybody. This human aspect of a business meeting becomes for me more and more important, because it is the base for good cooperation and a successful development in whatever stands on the agenda.

Next week will see me again in Johannesburg for 1,5 days and then directly afterward to Durban for the same amount of time. And then it is not far before I am leaving for Europe again with lots of meetings and talks – my last big travel for this year. Such travel needs lots of preparation, not only logistic but also the contents of what I want to bring over to my audiences and meeting partners must be well prepared.  3/4 of the year is gone – I am looking forward to the rest of the year and I know I will meet exciting people, new ideas and enough food for thoughts for the years to come.

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

03/19/2010 • 2:48 pm Comments Off on 19.03.2010 HOPE Cape Town Trust

19.03.2010 HOPE Cape Town Trust

In two hours the board of trustees of the HOPE Cape Town trust will congregate again at the Mediterranean Villa to discuss arising matters. The trust is still in the beginning, but the interest of the trustees is visible to make this trust a back up for HOPE Cape Town Association and to provide the necessary funds on the long-term run. This will take time and many efforts are medium term or long-term efforts, trying to guarantee the financial back up on the long-term run.

I am quite happy about our trustees and I trust that our meeting today will be a successful one. We will discuss the latest development at HOPE Cape Town Association before turning our attention to the efforts of our fundraising lady and her report back. A possible golf day and other events like the Ball of HOPE in May are on the agenda. But also BB BEE deals involving HOPE Cape Town Trust as a shareholder.

But this day was also about office work. I had to plan and arrange for the next travels, which will bring me to Johannesburg in April to attend the constitution of a national working group of the Southern African – German Chamber of Commerce and Industry on renewable energy/energy efficiency. Then Thailand for a couple of holidays. In May I then will travel to the Vatican and Germany for talks and meetings. June holds Johannesburg and Brits in church matters, before I have to fly to Vienna to attend the World AIDS Conference. August will bring some talks in Germany and Austria. So far the planing and the bookings are almost all done. In October / November I will attend the HOPE Gala Dresden and the Berliner AIDS Gala as well as attend some meetings. In between I have committed to quite some services and church related functions. So the year is indeed planed – but I am looking forward to each and every of these encounters with other people. Traveling makes tired, but meeting people energizes again. So  there is the balance of Ying and Yang in this case and I am looking forward to the end of the year, where hopefully a lot of these talks, seminars, meetings have been beneficial to HOPE Cape Town – especially those, who we care for in the townships of Cape Town.

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

03/18/2010 • 10:46 pm Comments Off on 18.03.2010 Why has a day only 24 hours..?

18.03.2010 Why has a day only 24 hours..?

This is a question, I often ask me, but then again, maybe I am the workaholic some people see in me. Be it as it may be, very often one wishes for more time to finalize matters, get the email box empty and all those nice things letting one feel satisfied in the evening when at home.

On the other hand one has to learn to limit oneself – life is more than just work. Only the balance between work and recreation makes life worth living. I guess sometimes my ying and yang are not in balance in this matter. 🙂

Today was filled with an interview, looking for a team secretary for our Ithemba ward and a meeting with the person responsible for the PR work of Tygerberg Academic Health Complex. It is important to keep in touch with her and also to discuss how we want to strive a balance now during the world cup year between the interest of visitors and journalists to learn first hand about the situation and the smooth running of a hospital ward. But I am confident that we are able to find the right balance. We also discussed the promotion of the  hospital itself – the fundraising efforts are – compared with other hospitals – still quite in the beginning of full blossoming and I offered my expertise to the lady if need be.

Rotary in the middle of the day – I needed some signatures to get a matching grant into motion. HOPE Cape Town needs urgently a second vehicle and we are grateful that some Rotary Clubs under the guidance of Michael Eisenmenger from the St. Wendel Club is taking it into their hands to organise the funding of such a vehicle. Rotary is a wonderful organisation, not only because of this, but after 13 years of being a Rotarian I am convinced that this big organisation is able to change a lot of the face of this earth.

Office work in the afternoon is part of almost every days life – sometimes I feel that emails are a curse rather than a blessing. But on the other hand quick communication is of essence in our days and so I try to keep up with it. Besides all the work in the fields of HIV and AIDS I am getting also more and more involved in the fields of renewable energy. Beginning of April we will constitute in Johannesburg a national working task force on renewable energy / energy efficiency under the umbrella of the Southern African – German Chamber of Commerce and Industry and I will be part of it as vice chair of the Regional Council of the Chamber. A lot new stuff to learn for me, but an exciting field and very much necessary in our days and specially also in South Africa. To learn new things also keeps an old mind going again.. good for my brain cells… 🙂

Evening – dinner with friends on a lighter note and with lots of laughter and chatter. Good so. A nice end to another 24 hours…

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

03/05/2010 • 3:22 am Comments Off on 05.03.2010 Just some bits..

05.03.2010 Just some bits..

Today was quite a day.. in the morning it took me two hours to get a number within the headquarters of TELKOM to report my grievance. There is still – after 8 days – no progress on re-establishing the ADSL line. The PA of the person in charge promised to phone me back.. well, maybe tomorrow…

Caught by police having a cellphone in the hand… the fine is 500 Rand. But as it is almost usual in South Africa I got away with donating towards some chicken wings for the hungry police.. – much cheaper than the fine…

I had to go to a dentist – and landed in Fourways at a dental clinic. The dentist spoke an excellent German – he was from Namibia and as far as I could see and feel, he did an excellent job. After finishing – the dentist said: “We all belive in one God” – and scraped the payment.  What a nice surprise..

Talk with Archbishop Buthi about our POZ initiative regarding HIV positive priests and clergy. Once again after the nuncio and Archbishop Steven in Cape Town a positive talk and sometimes I really feel home in my church, because there is a basic understanding for the care of people, even if theological positions seems to be far away. But the pastoral care is a level, where we all can meet and stand our grounds.

In the evening visiting friends – why are so many robots out-of-order in Johannesburg?? To drive 2 km in 1 hour can make one very nervous. On the way back seen a very bad accident – the motorcyclist was still treated on the road.. May God be with him and may he survive – the bike certainly did not…

These are only some of the bits and pieces of today – small stories but also needed to be told…

Filed under: Reflection, , , , , , ,

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