I recently lost my older sister, Mary Catchpole, to a long battle with cancer. She was a wonderful person with a huge heart. She threw all her faith into her Oncologist and Western Medicine. Her battle with cancer lasted for sixteen years, with continued chemo and radiation but her body finally succumbed to the disease.

I have long been aware of the effects of the body, mind and spirit on our health. What we eat, what we think and our environment effects our behaviour and ultimately will have impact on our health.

Recently, Joel Ruttenburg, who is working with kid’s ministry in an informal settlement called Jika Joe, in Pietermartizburg, in South Africa, approached the Trustees of Awesome SA, to request that his initiative come under the banner of Awesome SA. The Trustees of Awesome SA have agreed to support Joel’s initiative. Joel has named his Non Profit Organisation the Eden Kids Trust. The Eden Kids Trust will fall under the banner of Awesome SA until it has become independent and self-sustaining.

Through the Eden Kids Trust, Joel has started a competition among the kids in Jika Joe to grow vegetables. Because of Joel and his passion to make a difference in the lives of these kids, who live in extreme poverty, I felt the need to share this TED Talk with you. Have a look – Collectively we could change the face of our world.

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Yesterday Calvern Kuziyamisa and I had the privilege of listening to a talk by Clem Sunter at Cedara
College, just outside of Pietermaritzburg.

We had a brief chat to Clem after his talk. He has endorsed the initiative that Awesome SA is
launching in mid-April called TOGETHER SA – BUILDING OUR FUTURE. We wanted to get his
consent to go public with what he had to say which is as follows:

“I think that Together SA is a brilliant initiative because it combines the power of the social media
with the underground revolution that is taking place in this country- ordinary people rolling up
their sleeves to become active citizens in the pursuit of creating a better life for all. Well done in
giving real power to the real people”

Bono has recently given a TED Talk which we believe will go viral, especially as he mentions Nelson
Mandela’ s message to the world in 2005 – “Be that great generation that overcomes that most
awful offence of humanity, extreme poverty. ”

Our generation want s to be the generation that changes the world for good.

Have a look.

Source

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My aging mom shares a birthday with Nelson Mandela. On thinking about buying her a birthday
present for the 18th July, my thoughts turned to Nelson Mandela and the sacrifices he (and many
others) made for freedom over the years. My thoughts then turned to Camus, the Algerian born
author, journalist, and philosopher, who was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize for Literature. Camus
was the first African-born writer to receive this Nobel Prize and he once said: “Freedom is nothing
but a chance to be better.”

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By Guestblogger Karen Lotter

It isn’t easy being a guest blogger, especially for someone like Di Smith, whose blog, like her book, You’re Awesome, is very much about her own personal philosophy.

For those of you who don’t know yet, You’re Awesome has been printed and is available on the Awesome SA website at the new online shop. A percentage of all sales will be donated to the Awesome SA non-profit organisation and this quite amazing book will be delivered free in South Africa, right to you.

(There are PayPal facilities for overseas buyers as well).

Please read the Foreword of You’re Awesome by Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and then follow the links to the Awesome SA website where you can have a look at some of Terrence (Mzi) Mtola’s iconic photographs.

Di Smith at home in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

It is easy for me to get a bit gushy and over intense about the book because I’ve been involved with the whole process of it, alongside Di, for many months. I fell in love with the simple honesty of Di’s words the moment I read them.

Anyone who reads the 52 Life Lessons that Di Smith has put together with the help of quotations from a diverse and eclectic collection of people and her own South African farm-girl, wife, mother approach to life, will feel a lightening of their spirit as they begin to awaken to the miracle of life and learn how to dance to their own rhythm. Ger a preview here.

You’re Awesome – Living a Fulfilled Life is a book that is as unpreachy as  the annual Azalea Festival in Pietermaritzburg  and as far from a spacey esoteric  self-help book as peacefulness of the Midlands Meander is from downtown Durban.

As far as I know the book is not in the shops yet, but it will be soon. Make sure you get it – for yourself and for everyone else you care about.

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It is hard to believe that it is only eight weeks until Christmas. I came to this realisation when I heard East Coast Radio asking people to donate toys for Christmas.

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