The other day i stuck up a short video clip on the net inviting people to the challenge of ONE week with no meat. And a lot of you put your hands up and said we can do this [one of you said he thought he could manage a week without veg!] So the challenge is to join us in a week’s time [Week of Monday 24th August] when tbV and i enter our 4th [...]
There is that old joke that goes, ‘How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.’ i know, it’s NOT funny. please stop eating elephants. But the point it makes is pretty valid. i don’t know about you but when i think about my home country of South Africa and everything that needs i change i can feel completely overwhelmed and usually simply just paralysed. What can i do to make any difference? [...]
Can you go without meat for one week? Yesterday i posed the question on Facebook just to see what people’s response would be and it was interesting to see what people had to say [a number of people claiming they could but their spouse? No way. And one person who suggested he might be able to give up vegetables for a week]. But that’s really all this is. Check it out: […]
i am loving this book tbV pickedup for me at The Warehouse by John Perkins. So much of it resonates with where my heart is for South Africa and, although he is using Americaland examples, so many of the truths still completely apply. WILL I HOLD THEIR DREAM The well-known Martin Luther King Jnr "I have a dream" speech was the dream of the black person in Americaland. But to be honest, it could only [...]
One of the signs of privilege in a country is the expectation that everyone else will address you in your mother tongue. This is typically true for white english-speakers in South Africa and not even remotely for black mother tongue Xhosa speakers. i would hate to find out the statistics for white people who can't even say the basics of "Hello" "What is your name?" "My name is..." in an African language but fortunately this [...]
This is the last post in a series of four Tandem Blog posts where Dave Luis and Megan Furniss and myself have each picked a title and the three of us have written whatever it has inspired in us. So far we have done That Nagging Feeling... followed by 37 Million Miles... and lastly Boundaries. The fourth and final title was opened up to the Facebook and the most popular suggestion was by Valerie Anderson aka tbV [...]
Message South Africa is part of the Message family which is a worldwide movement that exists to share the Christian message with hard to reach young people through Prisons Ministry, Community Transformation and Christ-Centred Enterprise. I had the privilege of sitting down with three of the local members to talk a little bit about the impact they are having and hear some of the challenges and opportunities that have opened up. Jess is the Message [...]
i have just started reading a book called 'With Justice for All' by John Perkins, who was very much involved in the American Civil Rights movement and who i got to listen to at a CCDA conference when we were in Americaland. This first passage, although speaking about his country, resonated with much of what we see, feel and experience in South Africa. His definition of poverty is one i wish all of those who [...]
i know what you're thinking? What absolute clickbait, right? How could Brett "Fish" Anderson possibly have stumbled on to a real and practical way to achieve peace [of the worldly variety]? Well, what if i told you right off the bat that one of those ways involves flourless pancakes? Exactly. Your mocking is not needed here, chaps. [Nor yours, chapesses although i doubt you'd stoop to that level - you're just naturally better at some [...]
South Africans are used to hearing bad news. We see it strewn across the front of newspapers, on our social media feeds and even hear it from our friends and neighbours. But is that the only story? Back in February i started a series titled, 'One person who Gives me Hope in South Africa is...' and was super encouraged to see a number of you sharing stories about someone you know who is busy making a difference. [...]
