God, AIDS, Africa & HOPE

Reflections / Gedanken

07/26/2012 • 4:52 am Comments Off on A day at the conference..

A day at the conference..

6 am is a good time for a quick email review session before breakfast and bus transfer to the Convention Center downtown.  At 8.40 am the plenary session starts going on till 10.30 am and covering important topics. Today it was the question of prevention under the headline “turning the tide”.  11 am meeting with a group organized by the International AIDS Society for a review of the conference so far and an exchange amongst delegates. After that a brief meeting with a possible partner before heading to the next appointment with a doctor and priest from Hawaii who considers to work in Africa after retirement. What are the conditions for such an idea, what is possible, what is needed?
Further networking and revisiting some of the booths for more information intake before at 6.30 pm the next event starts with Stephen Lewis, the former adviser to Kofi Annan on HIV/AIDS in Africa. As usual he finds clear words on the situation and one wishes for more straight forward talk on the conference.
At 8.45 the bus is bringing us back to the hotel in Arlington.
And after another check on the emails, it is time to sort out everything for tomorrows day. Planing is everything, workshops, talks and networking needs coordination to succeed in having a successful day. But until then some rest is needed…

IAS Research Meeting

Filed under: General, HIV and AIDS, Medical and Research, Networking, Politics and Society, Reflection, Society and living environment, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

05/16/2010 • 8:46 am Comments Off on 15.05.2010 Third Day of the Ecumenical Church Day in Munich

15.05.2010 Third Day of the Ecumenical Church Day in Munich

Saturday and the last day of the Ecumenical Church Day in Munich. Together with Fr Wim we venture into the city of Munich – all over Munich, the churches are open during day and some during night to give chance for prayer and the experience of silence. On the “Marienplatz” we attend a prayer service – it is amazing to see, how the people join in into the singing even the temperatures are freezing cold today. Then we quickly pop into the “Virtualienmarkt” and later to buy some chocolates for the altar servers of Manenberg – German chocolate is different to their not so tasty South African counterparts… 🙂

The afternoon sees us heading again to the trade fair center – last meetings and an interview for the SWDR are scheduled. In Trier, there will be the nights of lights beginning of June – and the donations obtained at that occasion are partly for HOPE Cape Town. A good opportunity to speak about the work, HOPE Cape Town is doing as well as specific church related problems within the prevention work in our days.

At the OEKT Lounge, I bump into the Federal Minster of Interior –  a brief chat and hopefully we see each other again in South Africa during the Soccer World Cup or latest at the annual HOPE Gala in Dresden. A brief chat with one of  the auxiliary bishops of Trier and Martin, who happened to do an internship in Cape Town and is now a so-called “Gemeindereferent” in German parishes.

Then time to go back again to the inner city of Munich to attend a special service at the St. Lukas parish – a full church, beautiful hymns, a good and dynamic sermon – church as it should be. We leave with inner joy and walk back through the cold night to our hotel for some dinner. Another day full of experiences not to be missed and the reflection shows, that the networking was indeed working: we have many invitations and we had many meetings where a follow-up is needed still this year. All will benefit our work at home a great deal.

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

11/03/2009 • 10:59 am Comments Off on 03.11.2009 prevision

03.11.2009 prevision

Sitting in my hotel room in Munich this morning, I ponder the idea of prevision. Looking back on the last days and weeks it seems that all is coming together, people, I have never thought of have been met, networked, connected – time seems to be due for synergies of incredible force. Be it the extreme sports person Joachim Franz and his team, the energetic business woman Viola Klein, Prof Juergen Beckmann from sports sciences of the TU Munich, Ulrich Heide from the German AIDS Foundation – Isa from the Charite Museum in Berlin – it is indeed for me unbelievable that all these persons are now interconnected and willing and able and looking forward to join hands for the good cause. And there are more: the lady from St. Wendel looking to do something good, the business man from Russia, I met in Dresden, Michael Eisenmenger and all the Rotarians who, with the help of Rotary from 3 different countries looking for a matching grant…

I am counting my blessings and I am stunned – I am counting the people who are willing to go the extra mile and I am amazed to see how many are willing to do so. For me, all this is a miracle. And I am counting the blessings of my family, my dear friends and colleagues. And I know that despite all the obstacles and cliffs there is one truth: the world can be a good place for all – there is so much positive energy available waiting to be used for the good of humanity.  Our religion is right as written down in Genesis: God saw that it was good.

I have had a tough year behind me – and i almost thought I will lose my vocation – but now I can sense that all this might have helped me to count my blessings and to live my life every day to the fullest, to follow my charisma to connect people and see them working together in a way that can move the world. I am grateful this morning.

Filed under: Networking, Reflection, Uncategorized, , ,

10/23/2009 • 9:28 pm Comments Off on 23.10.2009 Friday eve…

23.10.2009 Friday eve…

Friday eve in Berlin – a long day draws to an end and it is nice just to have the perspective of going to bed before midnight. 🙂

The meeting with the Charite and all other invited parties was a very productive one and I am looking forward now to see the HIV / AIDS exhibition 2012/2013 being realised with the help of a whole network of supporters. As Joachim Franz said this morning: “There are times where you feel that things simply are coming together”. And this week was indeed such a time where all the networking of the last years brought different people together and drew several plans which will bring the topic of HIV and AIDS once again to center stage. Rising numbers also in many parts of Europe make it indeed necessary to highlight the danger of ignorance towards this pandemic.

It was an exhausting week, but a good one. Tomorrow morning I will meet up with an old friend of mine  and I am looking forward to it. Besides all business there must be time to refresh old friendships and to catch up with people close to your heart.

The week was also a good one for HOPE Cape Town and I am sure the management will be delighted to hear about the variety of networking and involvement it will have in the next years to come. For me personally, networking is in our days one of the most important ways of using resources wisely but also to create synergies which reach out in a way, a single organisation will never be able to do alone.

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

10/19/2009 • 5:13 am Comments Off on 19.10.2009 EIN or US 501c3 nonprofit

19.10.2009 EIN or US 501c3 nonprofit

In between – like an advert 🙂

HOPE Cape Town is searching for a serious partner which can promote the goals of HOPE Cape Town in the USA and/or Canada and has a EIN number which identifies the organisation an an nonprofit according to US tax law. HOPE Cape Town has a vast on knowledge on HIV and AIDS and is a regocnised NGO and NPO and PBO in South Africa. Such a partnership could benefit both parties to make the world a better place… – exchange of ideas, strategies, networking and extended fundraising  www.hopecapetown.com or stefan@hopecapetown.com

Filed under: General, HIV and AIDS, Networking, , , ,

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