Make Everyday Mandela Day

Over the past year, we have seen many news headlines highlighting the vulnerability of the children in this country.

Furthermore, there are close to 4 million orphans in this country alone and this is excluding millions more who are either classified vulnerable or living under harsh conditions.

While not all of us are in a position to change the world single handedly, our combined efforts can and will certainly make a difference.

We may not all be a position to adopt, foster or mentor a child but small gestures such as taking part in a fun run, giving of our time, financially or in kind will go a long way in helping organisations such as Newkidz on the Block (www.newkidz.org.za), working towards creating safe living environments for the millions of children in need.

Please take time to share this with fellow club members, family, friends and colleagues that many will come out in great numbers as we host the 67 Minutes of Endorphins for Orphans Fun Run on the 18^th of August.

While this may not be timed a race, it is certainly a race against time, as we need to act urgently to ensure that all children in our communities grow up in safe environments and live to fulfill their dreams.

It is my sincere hope that we will see you on Sunday the 18^th of August, as our footsteps leave a mark on the roads of Durbanville that shows we care and are willing to go the extra mile for our future.

So whether you can run, walk or trot, please come and help us move a step closer to fulfilling the Newkidz philosophy, “There’s no such thing as an unwanted child, just an unfound family”  and make everyday a Mandela Day.

http://www.newkidz.org.za/references/NewKidzRunFlyer.pdf

“A prophet has no honor in his own home…” 

A statement that rings true more often than not. Well except in cases where the prophet comes in the form of ballad makers like Justin Bieber or wealthy business moguls of one caliber or another and it is 5 years after establishing one’s career.

 I am thankful to the many that have shown support, by cautioning the somewhat crazy individuals like myself against taking on more than a mouthful. Negative thoughts fester and when entertained, they can become debilitating. However, I choose to feed negative thoughts to fear, not in a bid to fuel fear but rather in a gesture of defiance that will nauseate fear to the point of bringing up courage.

The realization that Mission Possible Comrades Back to Back is upon us is more evident than ever. As the last few days go by, the anxiety mounts and courage is tempted to travel down the easy road marked "Give up!". 174 km in less than 24 hours may be no mean feat especially for a novice running this distance for the first time, but what stands to be gained is more worthy of dwelling upon.  

News reports in the past week alone, of children who are either perpetrators of crime or victims of it, wrenches at the gut of anyone who has the ability to feel. Running the Comrades Marathon twice this weekend is not just a sporting indulgence but the cry of a heart pleading with every individual to take a moment and make a difference.

Financial contributions will go a long way in furthering the activities of organizations such as Newkidz on the Block for whom I run. However, change will come when men and women lay aside the reasons not to do something and just do it. Just sacrifice a weekend to show a child what it is like to be loved. Just take a few moments to teach a child little things that show them they are worthy and here for a purpose. Just write a letter, pick up the phone or visit those who feel forgotten and forsaken. Change will come, when we see the dreams that could be born with the right foundation instead of just a statistic.

I run because I envision millions of dreams coming true, not because of what I or a few individuals have done but because of what you will do. I run carrying millions of dreams, afraid that if I stop, they may never reach maturity. I run as a page, a mere message bearer of good tidings. Our future is bright, not because of this simple gesture but because you hold the wax to make it shine. Please join me on the 174km journey, in mind, heart and spirit as we carry forward the hope that all children, our children will be raised lovingly and that the broken may find healing for a better tomorrow.

Still I rise

Maya Angelou, perhaps one of the most enduring figures in modern day art and civil rights wrote a beautiful piece exposing the heart of a woman perhaps aggravated by some form of injustice that violated her femininity. While the battle is not mine, yet the need to fight for others above myself compels me to continue pressing on against the odds. 

There is no doubt the plight of women and children should be on top of any agenda for if not, the future may very well be written off as a dismal one here and now. Rapists who plunder the very essence of what being a woman is, were once one mother's child. Criminals that hake people's heads off, once sucked on a thumb in the womb of some woman. The very victims who fall at their mercy, are or once were the little boy or girl of another.

Anene Booysen was a harmless young girl, yet because men who got their thinking corrupted at one point or another, she is no more. Many more men and women, stifling their cries in the dark, live with the scars of one form of injustice or another because a certain child grew up to be menace to society. While we cannot discount the fact that one can make choices regardless of upbringing and circumstances, should there not be room to at least try and ensure all children grow up in environments where their thinking is influenced for the good of society.

Those of old said, "it takes a community to raise a child" and "every child is everyone's child". While children are not raised on food alone, it takes setting examples and encouraging children to live beyond the limits and rise above circumstances. These may seem like the words of a dreamer but then again it doesn't cost much to dream but without a dream one surely has a great price to pay.

For Anene and every mother's child who's ever had to endure pain at the hands of another mother's child:

I rise when the darkness conceals my pain

At the hands of another who will nothing gain

When my inner being is overwhelmed with grief

And in the cold my all trembles like a leaf

I will rise 

I will rise when my childhood is my demise

And like an old river my womanhood  dies

When blame to me is imputed for being me

And the lie I have to live is so I can be

I will rise

Want to know why you are a hero? https://www.givengain.com/activist/90569/