Ndiyavuya Ukukwazi. It means “no worries, for the rest of your life”. Oh no, wait, that’s something else. ‘Ndiyavuya ukukwazi’ is the Xhosa phrase i am trying to learn today, as tbV and myself and a roomful of others move into week two of our six week Xhosa class and attempt to get the basic conversationals under our belts. It is nice to meet you. i just thought that since this is such a significant [...]
i really enjoyed reading this book by John Perkins recently. Despite being about his experiences in Americaland i found that so much of it resonated with the present conversations happening in South Africa. The passage i posted on Why Do You Live Where You Live? gave much food for thought and there are some other pieces i would love to share, but as always, you will do much better if you just make some effort [...]
A lot of people complain about South Africa or just feel completely overwhelmed by stories [and experiences] of crime or corruption and more. There is good reason for a lot of that, but if you aren’t planning on leaving the country, then it makes a lot more sense to be a part of the change. In Part I, we looked at five practical ways at which we can genuinely get involved in seeing change in [...]
It is the start of a brand new week. With it come opportunities to reflect on what has been, to consider what might be, to wipe slates clean and start again, to get freshly excited for old relationships and new causes, to lift up your head once more and believe in everything that is possible, to seek forgiveness where relationships might be frayed, to entertain the 'What If?' of the seemingly impossible and to consider [...]
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 [...]
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 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. [...]
This rollercoaster looks familiar. i had just posted a link to an article titled Get Real White South Africa, written by Milisuthando Bongela on the Times Lives site. It contained this challenging and eye-opening statement: Only white people can end white supremacy from within their communities - from their churches, schools, dinner tables, clamber clubs, sports clubs, boardrooms, banting restaurants, neighbourhood-watch WhatsApp groups, advertising agency brainstorms, rebranded Broederbond organisations, newsrooms, coffee roasteries, and homes. Which [...]
i saw this picture of a giant stack of bacon on Facebook the other day: And fortunately someone hadn't yet shared this particular piece on my wall [although give it time] but it still made me a little angry. It had the message "Tag someone you know who would eat this" and fortunately no one had yet, because you know what? i would not eat that much bacon. Gasp! Shock! Horror! WHAT? Surely you jest? [...]
