God, AIDS, Africa & HOPE

Reflections / Gedanken

04/28/2016 • 6:30 pm Comments Off on May days and US blues

May days and US blues

It is the time of the year – May and the prestigious Ball of HOPE is on again – this year with Nevio Passaro as a special guest coming from Germany to entertain those lucky to have a ticket. A sold out event is always a dream for the organizers and also this year we are indeed full to capacity. The Southern African – German Chamber of Commerce and HOPE Cape Town celebrating 15 years of the Ball of HOPE, 15 years of HOPE Cape Town Association and 10 years of HOPE Cape Town Trust. Time is indeed flying and it seems yesterday when we started humbly with opening the ward G7 at Tygerberg Children’s Hospital. Was it at the beginning important to have a ward dedicated to infectious diseases and to administer treatment – in those days government were battling anti-retrovirals as poison – so is the scenario now completely different. The mother to child transmission rate is down to 5% but could be pressed further down to under 1%. People on anti-retroviral treatment are staying healthy longer and longer – but still HIV is a major contributor to the death toll of South Africa. All the prevention work has not cut down the new infection rate the way it was expected – so the status quo of HIV in South Africa is still remaining a mixed one.
15 years of HOPE Cape Town Association also means 15 years of support from so many different people, some being members of the HOPE family since interception of the project, others have come and gone and many are joining in our days. They are all a blessing for those HOPE Cape Town is able to assist in getting a life back with the possibility of a good future.
But “balls” are not falling from heaven – preparation is hard work and bringing together great entertainment, good food and all the logistics coming with it seems every year to be a never-ending story. That the AGM of the HOPE Cape Town Trust is the very same day of the Ball of HOPE makes this day even more challenging.

If you live in South Africa welcome to watch Expresso Show on SABC 2 Friday, 6th of May in the morning and watch Katlego Maboe, our HOPE Cape Town Goodwill Ambassador performing with Nevio Passaro from Germany. So you get a glimpse of what to expect at the Ball of HOPE 2016.

But May is not only marked by this local event, HOPE Cape Town is adding a new sister entity called “HOPE Cape Town USA” which was founded in Dallas Texas some weeks ago. I will fly to the first directors meeting mid May and if you read this blog and live in or around Dallas, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago or New Jersey and you want to help, assist, meet up – just let me know and we will get in touch. The HOPE family is growing and being a HOPE ambassador is a worthwhile cause. Spread the word, make connections, support those living here in South Africa with little hope for a bride future. HIV, TB and related illnesses, connected with poverty, unemployment, weak education is a recipe for disaster, not only in a personal life but at the end for a society as a whole. You can make a difference in the life of others – count your blessings and pass on some to those without/.

 

Filed under: HOPE Cape Town Association, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, Networking, SA-German Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Society and living environment, South Africa, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

08/04/2015 • 3:31 pm Comments Off on The Gap

The Gap

Sitting at the Waterfront in Cape Town I watch the crowd of people making their way through the shops and passages of this No 1 tourist attraction. It is buzzing as always after the day of pay for most of the people. Having read a report of the NGO Oxfam just a bit earlier, I wonder how to reconcile what I see with what was written in the research ” Is South Africa Operating in a Safe and Just Space? ”  In the conclusion they mention that South Africa has one of the highest official unemployment rates in the world (25%) and is one of the most unequal countries, with a Gini coefficient of 0.69. The wealthiest 4% of households receive 32% of total income while 66% of households receive only 21% of all income. Over half of South Africans live below the national poverty line and more than 10% live in extreme poverty, on less than R15.85 per day.
Once again it is obvious which gaps exists between those who have and those who don’t have. All BEE and BB BEE and revised BBBEE has not achieved that the entrepreneurial spirit ignited on a scale changing the destiny of the country. Poor leadership and cadre deployment has done injustice to those aspiring to leave the spiral of poverty, hunger and desperation. It is the millions still living under conditions not suitable for humans which did not get the fair share in the new South Africa. But not all is lost – there is an immense will and dedication in many places to better the lives of those in need and hope never has disappeared. But South African society will remain unequal till the spirit of 1994 re-emerges and people understand that only together we can make it and turn the tide towards a prosper nation. It is also this inequality which makes sometimes working in the fields of HIV and AIDS so difficult: empowerment of patients to understand their treatment, to have the means to dish out good food on their tables, a social network which carries those in need the extra-mile. It is not only about donations – bridging the gap between those who have and those who don’t have means to get to a real understanding of each other and a solidarity which comes from the dept of the heart and not as a feeling of obligation to share some bucks with the poor. Religion could play here a much better and supportive role – if all the energy which goes into the controlling of sexuality and related fields as well as marking the territory against competition or those believing differently into supporting social coherence and healing the wounds of our society, much could be achieved in little time. At least the aforesaid gap could be narrowed and the blessings of the new South Africa could be spread to many more as it is done in the moment.

Filed under: General, HIV and AIDS, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, Politics and Society, Reflection, Religion and Ethics, Society and living environment, South Africa, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

06/26/2015 • 4:37 pm Comments Off on Laudato Si

Laudato Si

Seldom was an encyclical so much anticipated and then so much welcomed by almost all quarters of society with the exception of those denying global warming as a matter of principal. Having read the document there is indeed a unique beauty and meaning in how Pope Francis combined and interlinked ecology, poverty and economy as well as social justice. It feels like an updated “Pacem in Terris” written in 1963 by the good Pope Johannes XXIII: Here is someone catching at the right moment the sentiments and worries of all people of good will living in the global village.
A document, the Catholic Church can be proud to have produced and worth reading bit by bit, even if one doesn’t agree with faith as such or with the Catholic Church as an institution.

Much is already written about it – form your own opinion by reading the document yourself.
Here the link to the English version:
Laudato Si

Filed under: Catholic Church, Politics and Society, Society and living environment, , , , , , , , , , ,

11/15/2013 • 4:03 pm 1

Any difference between South Africa and the USA?

Food bank Somerville NJNew York  – a buzzing city which never sleeps and lots of people living obviously on the streets and in extreme poverty. The discrepancy between rich and poor is certainly as extreme as in South Africa.
Somerville – visit at one of the three food banks in the county. 850 people are regulars at this food bank, which is supported by church communities and private supporters. My question, whether they get expired food from the big supermarket chains is denied. The fear to be brought to court when somebody gets sick from expired food overrides any charity attempt.
I meet two women, mother and daughter who are living in their car: house gone, job gone – car and food bank keeps them going, at least they have a place to stay in the bitter cold winter nights of New Jersey.
The food bank is placed within an industrial zone – far away from the city center and I guess it’s too far for a lot of needy people. The city has no interest to have it close by – poverty should not be seen in the city center.
Watching TV in the evening – FOX news and others. The way, politics is presented and commented leaves me speechless. I am used to a lot of nonsense in South African politics – but the stupidity of comments on American TV leaves me often speechless. These are no news, that is indoctrination – Gupta news on a well advanced level. It is scary to think that something like this will emerge on that scale also in South Africa.

It seems to me, that the US and South Africa are not that far away on certain levels. The incomprehensible way of politics, the gap between rich and poor, the impact of poverty and unemployment on society, violence of all sorts. The USA is a country which combines first and third world as South Africa does – it is interesting that we perceive one as a world power and the other as an emerging country. How relative is our judgement?
Speaking to people on the ground and in the social services I realized how much we can share and work on together to create a better world for all, not for only those more fortune. And when it comes to HIV and AIDS, some areas of the US and some populations are as in the same bad shape as South Africa. It is amazing that we in South Africa achieved so much when it comes to treatment due to the assistance of the USA, a country which seems to struggle to get their own people on adequate treatment.

Well, of course they are major differences between the USA and South Africa. But at a closer look there are much more similarities and common ground then we usually think. This common ground gives chance to close cooperation and joint ventures looking eye to eye. Any attitude on any side would be wrong.

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

03/28/2013 • 3:29 pm 1

A real Easter for the church?

Watching closely the first days of the new pope and the reaction of the church officials it is amazing or shocking to see how quick people change the tune and the approach to their ministry. Performing last week still like electors in the medieval time they now preach about poverty and a new direction in the church. Not that I am not in favor of this direction; I have been my whole life advocating that the church must be there where the reality of life meets our faith. What astonishes me is how fast people can turn around and run in the opposite direction. “Faehnlein im Wind” (Going with the wind all times) ?  – or is there really a deep sense emerging that the church served itself the most in the last years and that next to the gospel and sometimes even above came the career and pomp and glory for those in positions. The power of the powerless were marginalized and often forgotten. Whoever went to Rome to attend an audience: it was the triumphed church, almost like a medieval theater performance and instead of embrace one saw mostly the raised finger to exhort the faithful – a teaching church spelling out the “do and do not” Maybe all this shows that the church also suffers a from the danger of relativism and that centralism can distract from the core  message of the gospel: Looking always to Rome means no time no time to look for those next to oneself in the local church.

It seems that the Catholic world breath a sight of relief after this election of Pope Francis and that somehow change is in the air – and I am well aware that the theology of Pope Frances is also sound conservative, but does it really matter when we are dealing with a world where the poor  and marginalized are the those to whom the gospel should bring liberty, justice and a new sense of life.  “The numbers of people living below the poverty datum line are staggering. 3 billion people live on less than US$2 per day. 1.4 billion People live on less than US$1.25/day – and such people in economic terms have become a definition of those who live under the conditions of “extreme global poverty.” An estimated 30,000 children die each day due to poverty  – that is 18 children a minute; a child every 3 seconds.  2.6 billion people around the world do not have access to adequate sanitation and about 885 million people do not have access to clean water. Every day, 4, 100 children die from severe diarrhea – as a result of poor sanitation and hygiene. Approximately 600 million children live in extreme poverty. Nearly 11,700 people die every day from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Nearly two-thirds of these people are living in sub-Saharan Africa.” ( from an email of the Jesuit Institute perspectives on the Jesuit Pope – 28th March 2013 ).

Maybe it is time to forget the words progressive and conservative and all the intern church battles – and focus together, each of us in his or her own way of that what counts: to bring the unconditional love of God to every corner of this world – in our life and presence. Maybe it happened really a change of heart in all those now switching from a church which ruled to a church which serves the people. Maybe it is like in the times of the good Pope Johan XXIII: the windows of the church are suddenly open and the wind of the Holy Spirit can blow like the Southeastern in Cape Town everything away which had the danger to darken the face of the church for the last years. Whatever it may be: it is certainly a time to enjoy as a Catholic and to feel the energy when 1.2 billion sense and experience together a time of spiritual and factual renewal. And that this is all happening during lent, the Holy Week and Easter makes it even more powerful.

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Filed under: Catholic Church, Reflection, Religion and Ethics, Society and living environment, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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