|
| Contents |
Issue No. 350 -- 28 November 2005 |
Editor's Message
Quote/s of the Week
Ad Hoc Article/s of the Week
Bits and Bobs
The Legal Beagle
Help Desk
Where are they now?
Club and Other News
Humour
Recipes
Sports News
Credits and Contact Info
Subscribing and Unsubscribing
| Send this Issue to a Friend! |
TOP |
I did promise two more editions of SAWmail... unfortunately, due to everyone’s favourite company, Telkom, I am only able to publish one. We were without phone and Internet access for nearly a week. But... we are back now and this is the last SAWmail you will receive in its present format and from me as the publisher.
I have two people interested in taking over SAWmail and the SAW site and I will be continuing negotiations between now and the end of this year.
Hopefully (please everyone hold thumbs and keep crossing fingers) there will be a new SAWmail published at the beginning of 2006.
I want to thank every one of you for helping me over the years... without my subscribers and contributors we would have had no SAWmail.
I know it is a little early for Christmas wishes but here is my trusty message that I have said over the years...
“We don't all celebrate Christmas, but most of us do celebrate family time together at this time of year.
So to all South Africans around the globe, including those still living in South Africa, I would just like to wish you all a happy holiday season... and hope that if you can't be with your family in person, then you can at least be with them in spirit.
Have a good one... and treasure the time you get to spend with those you love.”
Maureen
These from me...
There is no ideal Christmas; only the one Christmas you decide to make as a reflection of your values, desires, affections, traditions. - Bill McKibben
Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. - Norman Vincent Peale
From home to home, and heart to heart, from one place to another. The warmth and joy of Christmas, brings us closer to each other. - Emily Matthews
Somehow, not only for Christmas, but all the long year through, The joy that you give to others, is the joy that comes back to you. And the more you spend in blessing, the poor and lonely and sad, the more of your heart's possessing, returns to you glad. - John Greenleaf Whittier
These from Des Cowie...
Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision. - Peter Drucker
We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same. - Carlos Castaneda
Now if you are going to win any battle you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tiered if the mind is not tired. When you were younger the mind could make you dance all night, and the body was never tired.....You’ve always got to make the mind take over and keep going. - George S. Patton
If I am only happy for myself, many fewer chances for happiness. If I am happy when good things happen to other people, billions more chances to be happy! - Dalai Lama
Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best. - Henry Van Dyke
No great deed, private or public, has ever been undertaken in a bliss of certainty. - Leon Wieseltier
This from Daniel Jan le Roux...
When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace. - Jimi Hendrix
| Ad Hoc Article/s of the Week |
TOP |
Whenever and wherever South Africans meet, the surest way to start a lively discussion, is to ask someone for an opinion about emigration from or remigration back to South Africa. In 2002 we (i.e. the non-profit immigration service, Company for Immigration, and the trade-union, Solidarity) realized that the return of South African expats had become a fact and that their inputs are essential for the growth and development of the country. We are neither interested in a debate about the reasons why people leave or come back, nor about the merit of their decisions. We prefer to provide a practical service instead:
offering advice and assistance to prospective remigrants;
addressing the problems which cause people to emigrate; and informing people about the pros and cons of emigration, to help them make an informed decision before leaving.
Interested? Want to receive our monthly newsletter by email? Have questions or suggestions? If so, please visit our mirror sites www.comehome.co.za or www.komhuistoe.co.za and leave your details on the visitor's page, or contact us at admin@cfi.org.za. We are looking forward to hearing from you!
This week’s Q&A:
Marianne, USA: I am a South African citizen married to an American. We intend to return to South Africa in the near future. How long do we have to be married for him to be able to apply for permanent residence status of South Africa.
Dear Marianne
According to the latest Immigration Act, five years.
Kind regards
Alana
COME HOME CAMPAIGN
Migrasie / Migration
Solidariteit Alliansie / Solidarity Alliance
P O Box 8766, Centurion, 0046, RSA
Tel: 0027-(0)12-6438532
Fax: 0027-(0)12-6438587
admin@cfi.org.za
Asylum seekers enjoy little protection, says HRW
This from Theo Truter truter@mweb.co.za
Johannesburg, 11/17/2005 (IRIN) - A leading international human rights organisation has criticised South African officials for allegedly harassing and extorting money from desperate asylum seekers and refugees.
In a 66-page report, 'Living On the Margins, Inadequate Protection for Refugees and Asylum Seekers In South Africa', the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) claimed that while South Africa had adequate refugee laws on paper, asylum seekers, who lived on the sidelines, did not enjoy any protection in practice.
According to HRW, South Africa has over 140,000 asylum seekers from Zimbabwe, Cote d'Ivoire and the war-torn Great Lakes region, and refugees were frequently the target of extortion by police officers who took advantage of their undocumented status.
The HRW study based its findings on interviews with NGOs serving refugees, immigration and police officials, asylum seekers and refugees in Johannesburg. It identified some of the barriers that prevented asylum seekers from accessing timely and enduring protection.
One of the major problems was the 14-day temporary protection document given to asylum seekers on arrival, which often expired before permanent documentation was processed.
HRW attributed the problem to delays and red tape at refugee reception offices, which heightened insecurity and increased the fear of deportation among asylum seekers.
The report also highlighted the heavy presence of 'brokers' who linked desperate asylum seekers with corrupt departmental officials to procure permits for a bribe. Although HRW placed the current illegal fee for processing temporary protection permits at US $60, some asylum seekers said it was much more - about $223.
Officials at the Johannesburg refugee reception centre were found to be incompetent, as they did not know where to refer cases requiring special protection, such as unaccompanied children.
HRW noted that the department of home affairs was understaffed, and that it was slow to grant successful refugees their rights as defined in the constitution.
Despite being granted refugees status, applicants were denied 'indefinite stay' status and were required to renew their refugee permits every two years. HRW said this policy effectively denied refugees access to rights, such as health care.
The controversial Lindela Repatriation Centre, outside Johannesburg, was singled out for ill-treating refugees and running a poor healthcare system for its large population of inmates.
Over 45 people, mostly Zimbabwean asylum seekers, have died mainly of disease in Lindela since the beginning of the year. More than 400 were hospitalised in the same period.
The report called for improved training of police personnel, many of whom were unfamiliar with refugee laws and documents.
Georgette Gagnon, HRW deputy director for Africa, called on the South African government to become more practical in applying its refugee protection laws, and said the country should commit itself to protecting and respecting the rights of refugees.
"On paper South Africa has exemplary laws to protect refugees and asylum seekers, but in practice government is failing to provide protection to these vulnerable people. Asylum seekers should not have to bribe a policeman to avoid an unjust arrest, detention or possible deportation," Gagnon remarked.
Stung by last month's damning findings of a commission of enquiry into the deaths at the Lindela centre earlier this year, Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe-Mapisa Nqakula promised action within 30 days.
Officials at the department of home affairs refused to comment, saying they would only do so after seeing the full HRW report.
Government spokesman Joel Netshitenzhe acknowledged that corruption and red tape were serious problems at refugee reception centres and in the police system. He noted that the country needed to do more to ensure adequate refugee protection measures, and that all officials were expected to perform their duties within the law.
Zimbabwean human rights lawyer and activist Daniel Molokela said the HRW findings confirmed many asylum seekers' experiences.
"The same allegations have been made so many times that they are nothing new to refugees," Molokela told IRIN. "What is needed, though, is concrete action that should be characterised by a fully-fledged crusade against official corruption."
World's lifeline runs dry-could it affect SA?
More from Theo
16 November 2005 04:05
A boat tries to make its way through a shallow section of the Amazon in northern Brazil. Water levels along many sections of the river have fallen to the lowest ever recorded.
Not far from the mouth of the Amazon, dead animals, including manatees -- mammals up to 3m-long with flat, paddle-shaped fins -- and distinctive pink dolphins, line the banks of some tributaries. Normally, you would have to take a boat to cross these rivers but today, because of the Amazon Basin’s worst drought in memory, the rivers are little more than mudflats with a trickle of water in the middle.
So far, the drought has had its most serious impact in the upper reaches of the river and its hundreds of tributaries in Brazil, Colombia and Peru.
There, along many stretches, the water has fallen to the lowest levels ever recorded and has become impassable even for canoes. About 600 Brazilian schools in Amazonas state have had to be closed and many hamlets, whose only contact with the outside world is by river, are running short of food and medicines. Several districts have been declared disaster areas and the army is having to bring emergency supplies to 900 towns and villages.
The problems are expected to get worse before the drought eventually breaks, perhaps in the next month when the Amazon’s rainy season usually comes.
“Most little towns don’t have sewage treatment,” says Dan Nepstad, a United States scientist based in Brazil. “Their sewerage is to put a pipe into the river. When you reduce the flow of these rivers, you have less water to dilute the sewage and cesspools build up. That has got all the makings for intestinal diseases and cholera. Water that’s not moving is also a breeding ground for insects that carry malaria, dengue and other diseases.”
But what is worrying some scientists even more than the growing scale of the humanitarian crisis is a suspicion that this year’s drought may be the harbinger of a much greater disaster that could push the whole Amazon forest to a critical flip-over point and into an unstoppable process of self-destruction.
This is how the theory goes: the Amazon river contains a fifth of the planet’s fresh water. More than 300km wide at its estuary, it carries more water than the world’s next nine largest rivers combined. In a remarkable process, much of this water is recycled within the forest.
“The watering of the Amazon Basin is a cycle that starts with the trade winds that fly over the surface of the Atlantic Ocean from Africa,” explains Peter Bunyard, science editor of The Ecologist and an expert on the Amazon. “The winds flow over warm tropical water so they become utterly laden with moisture. When the winds reach the Amazon forest, some of the vapour comes down in rainfall, but three-quarters of this rainfall is then recycled back into the atmosphere through evaporation and transpiration -- which occurs when water is sucked up from the soil into the trunks and then out through the leaves. This process of convection, as it is called, occurs seven times as the winds cross the continent. It leads to the absorption of huge amounts of solar energy,” says Bunyard.
When the winds eventually hit the Andes in the west, a huge air mass is pushed high up into the atmosphere. It moves out of the influence of the spinning of the Earth and drifts back to Africa.
“By the time this air mass reaches Africa, it is high, cold, dry and dense,” says Bunyard. “It forms a high--pressure zone and, in sinking, causes the dry winds that blow across the Kalahari and Sahara deserts towards the Atlantic ocean. Africa’s deserts are the other side of the coin to the tropical forest in the Amazon.”
This process occurring around the very middle of the Earth is the driving force in the world’s climate. It is directly responsible for much of the rainfall in South America and even, scientists have discovered, in faraway places such as the corn belt in the US Mid-West. If there is poor rainfall in the Amazon’s rainy season (November to February), then the US is likely to have a drought four months later during its all-important growing season.
What happens to the Amazon affects the rest of the planet, and scientists have long been aware that, if too much forest is felled by loggers, cattle rearers and soya farmers, the convection process will be disrupted, with disastrous global consequences.
“If the Amazon loses more than 40% of its forest cover, we will reach a turning point where the world’s largest forest will begin an irreversible process of savannisation,” says Carlos Nobre, a senior scientist at INPE, the Brazilian institute of space research, and a leading climatologist.
The consensus is that a smaller forest would be unable to sustain the convection process and will start drying out. A vicious spiral will begin in which the drier forest becomes more vulnerable to forest fires and the fires, by destroying vegetation, will make the Amazon more vulnerable to drought.
Until last week, it was widely assumed that only 17% of the forest -- an area larger than the size of France -- had been felled. This is well short of the critical 40% postulated by Nobre, but an article printed in Science journal last month shows that the satellite images on which this figure was based were not telling the full story.
The images, the scientists said, were detecting only clear-cut swaths of land, where all the trees had been removed. They were failing to detect so-called “selective logging”, where timber companies go into a forest under the canopy and take out valuable hard timber. The scientists reckoned that this kind of activity was destroying on average an additional 15 500km2 of forest each year. This means that the destruction, previously put at about 20 000km2 a year, is almost twice as serious as had been thought.
Dorothy Stang, an American nun who was killed in February by gunmen sent in by local landowners, was a passionate environmentalist. Living in the Amazon Basin for more than 20 years, she complained in one of her last filmed interviews of the devastation caused by loggers and cattle farmers, which, she believed, was changing the climate.
“It used to rain steadily for nine months,” she said. “Now it rains for six or seven months at best. The destruction is killing the forest. We’ve got to stop it.” -- © Guardian Newspapers 2005
I Am an African
This from Wayne Visser wayne@waynevisser.com
Hi Maureen
Thanks for your ongoing efforts with the SAW newsletter. I thought you and/or your readers may be able to resonate with this recent poem I wrote.
I am an African
Not because I was born there
But because my heart beats with Africa’s
I am an African
Not because my skin is black
But because my mind is engaged by Africa
I am an African
Not because I live on its soil
But because my soul is at home in Africa
When Africa weeps for her children
My cheeks are stained with tears
When Africa honours her elders
My head is bowed in respect
When Africa mourns for her victims
My hands are joined in prayer
When Africa celebrates her triumphs
My feet are alive with dancing
I am an African
For her blue skies take my breath away
And my hope for the future is bright
I am an African
For her people greet me as family
And teach me the meaning of community
I am an African
For her wildness quenches my spirit
And brings me closer to the source of life
When the music of Africa beats in the wind
My blood pulses to its rhythm
And I become the essence of music
When the colours of Africa dazzle in the sun
My senses drink in its rainbow
And I become the palette of nature
When the stories of Africa echo round the fire
My feet walk in its pathways
And I become the footprints of history
I am an African
Because she is the cradle of our birth
And nurtures an ancient wisdom
I am an African
Because she lives in the world’s shadow
And bursts with a radiant luminosity
I am an African
Because she is the land of tomorrow
And I recognise her gifts as sacred
Regards
Wayne
Wayne Visser
Author: South Africa: Reasons to Believe
wayne@waynevisser.com
Editor’s note: You can also go to this link and download this as wallpaper: http://www.southafrica.co.za/i_am_an_african_87.html
Warning about banking (phishing) scam emails
This from Mike Preston
I am sure many of you already know about this, but I prefer to make sure it gets maximum coverage as it is surprising how many people fall for these scams.
I have had a larger than usual number of phishing scam emails in the last few days purporting to be from Barclays Bank. Apart from the fact that the grammar and spelling are sometimes suspect, the emails look superficially genuine.
For those who may not know, a phishing scam works as follows.
You receive an email supposedly from a bank, or EBay, or PayPal, in which they say that for security reasons, or as a result of a suspected illegitimate attempt to enter your account, they need to review your details, or they will close or suspend your account.
They ask you to go to a website, which is a faked version of the real thing, and enter your login details, credit card number, PIN number, and so on, and sometime even the 3 or 4 digit security number on your credit card.
Remember that your bank, or PayPal, or Ebay will NEVER ask you for such details.
If you receive such an email asking you to click on a link it will almost certainly be fake, as genuine emails from your bank will usually tell you to 'log on in the normal way'. Also if you hold the cursor over the link, you can usually see that it does not go to the same URL as the genuine bank one.
Be on your guard in respect of all such emails as they are now becoming even commoner than the African 'deposed dictator' 419 scams, fake lottery scams, and so on.
The Way Children See Things
This from Des Cowie
NUDITY
I was driving with my three young children one warm summer evening when a woman in the convertible ahead of us stood up and waved. She was stark naked! As I was reeling from the shock, I heard my 5-year-old shout from the back seat, "Mom! That lady isn't wearing a seat belt!
HONESTY
My son Zachary, 4, came screaming out of the bathroom to tell me he'd dropped his toothbrush in the toilet. So I fished it out and threw it in the garbage. Zachary stood there thinking for a moment, then ran to my bathroom and came out with my toothbrush. He held it up and said with a charming little smile, "We better throw this one out too then, 'cause it fell in the toilet a few days ago.
KETCHUP
A woman was trying hard to get the ketchup to come out of the jar. During her struggle the phone rang so she asked her 4-year-old daughter to answer the phone. "It's the minister, Mommy," the child said to her mother. Then she added, "Mommy can't come to the phone to talk to you right now. She's hitting the bottle."
MORE NUDITY
A little boy got lost at the YMCA and found himself in the women's locker room. When he was spotted, the room burst into shrieks, with ladies grabbing towels and running for cover. The little boy watched in amazement and then asked, "What's the matter haven't you ever seen a little boy before?"
ELDERLY
While working for an organization that delivers lunches to elderly shut-ins, I used to take my 4-year-old daughter on my afternoon rounds. The various appliances of old age, particularly the canes, walkers and wheelchairs, unfailingly intrigued her. One day I found her staring at a pair of false teeth soaking in a glass. As I braced myself for the inevitable barrage of questions, she merely turned and whispered, "The tooth fairy will never believe this!"
DRESS-UP
A little girl was watching her parents dress for a party. When she saw her dad donning his tuxedo, she warned, "Daddy, you shouldn't wear that suit." "And why not, darling?" "You know that it always gives you a headache the next morning."
SCHOOL
A little girl had just finished her first week of school. "I'm just wasting my time," she said to her mother. "I can't read, I can't write and they won't let me talk!"
BIBLE
A little boy opened the big family bible. He was fascinated as he fingered through the old pages. Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible. He picked up the object and looked at it. What he saw was an old leaf that had been pressed in between the pages. "Mama, look what I found", the boy called out." What have you got there, dear?" With astonishment in the young boy's voice, he answered, "I think it's Adam's underwear.
Mind Massage
Ah, it's that time of year again. Here in Old Mazatlan, I heard my first Christmas carol in the grocery store. It was a lovely rendition of 'Ave Maria'--a favorite.
But I'm sure I'll hear a few less transcendent pieces before the season is finished.
Back by popular demand, here's my ode to Jingle Bell Schlock.
Warmly,
Maya ;-)
Holiday Mindfulness: Finding Joy in Jingle Bell Schlock
“Near-na-near, Near-na-near, Near-na-near-na-near....”
That's the guitar intro to 'Jingle Bell Rock' and one of the most ubiquitous sounds of the holiday season. It's nearly impossible to escape this tune—it’s played repeatedly from Thanksgiving through Christmas on radio stations and in department stores.
I used to love it as a kid. Then I grew to despise it in my adolescent years, inspired, no doubt, by my rocker-wannabe friends and their complete disdain for this holiday schlock. 'That's not rock!' we'd howl, disgusted. I mean, come on—“Giddy-up jingle horse, pick up your feet'?
That song set my teeth on edge for years. I'd scowl. I'd roll my eyes. I'd smack my forehead in mock despair. You could say I had my own little holiday tradition of hating that song.
And then, one December morning, as I helped my four preschoolers decorate the house with paper chains, that song came on the radio. They instantly started dancing, rockin' around the Christmas tree as only exuberant toddlers can.
I thought it was the cutest thing I'd ever seen. I couldn't for the life of me remember why I hated that song so much. It was catchy. It sounded happy. Clearly, my kids felt the joy in it. What was my problem, anyway?
I'd spent a fair amount of time and energy despising something that was completely innocuous. Cringing every time I heard 'Mix and a-mingle in the jingling feet' wasn't bringing me any comfort and joy.
We've all got our favorite holiday annoyances. Maybe it's your Aunt Mary's Christmas sweaters. Perhaps it's your parents' tattered aluminum tree. It could be your neighbor's inflatable Homer Simpson in a Santa suit in plain view from your living room window.
Well, here's the good news: you can use your holiday irritation to become more mindful. That's right. Pay attention to the little things that bug you about the preparations and celebrations. Find the goofiness in it, and laugh—not at others, but at yourself.
You've got a perfect opportunity to step back in order to see your reaction for what it is.
Hate your partner's snow globe collection? Despise the way your brother always takes charge of the present distribution on Christmas morning? Get riled by your sister's habit of outspending everyone? Cranky about the way stores put out their decorations before Thanksgiving?
Gosh, you're funny.
Watch your irritation, and then watch yourself grin. Be present enough to see the humor in your response. Pay attention to the things that get on your nerves, even if they're hopelessly hokey.
ESPECIALLY if they're hopelessly hokey, because if hokeyness doesn't make you grin, what will? Look for your trigger and turn it into something that tickles you.
May you and your loved ones dance in your living room this holiday season.
'That's the jingle bell...that's the jingle bell... that's the jingle bell rock....'
Your Secret Assignment: Operation Candy Cane
In addition to paying attention to your favorite holiday annoyance, let's add a special holiday secret mission, shall we? Because frankly, we can use a little extra mindfulness.
We're going to zero in on a Christmas cue: a red-and-white striped candy cane. Picture it right now: the hook at the top, the swirling stripes. Taste the sweet peppermint.
Now, each time you notice a red-and-white striped candy cane this week, you're going
to simply say, 'Mmmmm...I am mindful.'
That's it. Nothing fancy. You simply want to catch yourself in the act of noticing something in the present moment, and reinforce the fact that you noticed it. It's a very simple brain exercise that encourages some very powerful connection-building. Ooh, can't you just feel those synapses sizzling?
Candy cane====='I am mindful.' Got it? Good, because this will tie in quite nicely with next week's issue. ;-)
**********************************
Maya Talisman Frost has taught thousands of people how to pay attention. Through her company, Real-World Mindfulness Training, she offers playful and powerful eyes-wide-open ways to get calm, clear and creative. To receive her free special report, 'The Dirty Little Secret About Meditation,' visit her website at MassageYourMind.com
(C) Copyright 2005, Maya Talisman Frost
**********************************
52 Stories - What is a Hero?
The Tsunami in Asia brought many acts of heroism. None saw these more clearly then President Yudhoyono of Indonesia. This is his story of the people within his country and what being a "hero" means to him.
With Kind Regards, Sandy
Every society needs heroes. And every society has them. The reason we don't often see them is because we don't bother to look.
There are two kinds of heroes. Heroes who shine in the face of great adversity, who perform an amazing feat in a difficult situation. And heroes who live among us, who do their work unceremoniously, unnoticed by many of us, but who make a difference in the lives of others.
Heroes are selfless people who perform extraordinary acts. The mark of heroes is not necessarily the result of their action, but what they are willing to do for others and for their chosen cause. Even if they fail, their determination lives on for others to follow. The glory lies not in the achievement, but in the sacrifice.
Heroes serve to remind us of the higher purpose of self and society. In the 1950s, my father was a soldier in Indonesia's then ragtag army, so in my humble household, the military was our hero, symbolizing honor, duty and nationhood. Back then, Indonesian soldiers were combatants who also acted as public servants. They were fierce and cunning warriors, but they also built roads and bridges, dug wells and canals.
Since those great revolutionary days, I have met many men and women who shaped my definition of heroism. During these dark days of natural disasters, both in my country and elsewhere, I am reminded of Catur. A lieutenant-colonel in Meulaboh, one of the Aceh towns hardest hit by the tsunami, Catur risked his life again and again to rescue survivors.
He broke down in grief when he found out that his own wife and child had vanished. They'd been at the beach collecting seashells when the tsunami struck. But even then, he stayed at his post, and spent the whole day guiding Meulaboh residents to safety. His wife and child were never found.
Catur was one of many silent heroes that day, and in the days that followed. When I met him in Meulaboh, he did not tell me this President about his personal loss because he did not want to distract me from my job. I found out only later on from his peers.
My country is full of silent heroes. Butet Manurung, one of TIME's heroes last year, had a near-impossible goal: eradicating illiteracy among the isolated tribes of the Sumatran jungle. She knew they would not come to her, so she went to them deep in the forests. At first, the tribes wanted nothing to do with her. But her resolve gained their trust, and today she continues to teach them reading and writing, living among them as if she were one of them.
Butet represents the countless aid workers who wake each day to fight the odds—against malnutrition, disease, poverty. I have met teachers who walk tens of miles each day to reach their school, all for the meager reward of some $20 a month (and no doubt plenty of grief from their students). Yet they make the journey every day. They all are silent heroes.
So what is a hero? Who is a hero? Is it the decorated general who leads his army to victory, or the unknown soldier quietly obeying orders? Is it the researcher who finds a cure for cancer, or the country doctor treating the sick? Should a hero be one who saves thousands of lives, or who comforts just one? And what drives them, these men and women we call our idols, our mentors, our elders, our friends? Is it duty? Determination? Perseverance?
All these factors play their part. But I believe there is another vital, unquantifiable element, and that is love. It was love—a love for education, a love of humanity—that sent Butet Manurung to the jungle, and keeps her there. Love for their students makes bearable the long miles those schoolteachers walk each day. And love for his community, for his country drove Catur into the same perilous sea that took his family.
Perhaps Catur did not set out to be a hero; no doubt he would rather have his family back. But circumstances stirred something in him, something he could not hold back. What Manurung does giving up her way of life to fight illiteracy is too extreme for some, but not to her.
I often wonder when I meet these brave men and women who are our heroes: what would I do in the same situation? Would I rush out to those deadly waters if my family or my country needed me to? Would you?
Perhaps there is a hero in all of us. We just need to look.
~ The Author is Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono who is President of the Republic of Indonesia. This article is from Time Magazine and is located by clicking here. ~
http://www.52best.com/hero.asp
Ramblings Of A Francophobe
I’d have to look in my files to see how long I’ve been writing this column for SAW – but it’s a few years. It’s become, whilst perhaps not a way of life, certainly a habit, at times a compulsive one. Events which might have otherwise gone undocumented and unremembered have found their way into ‘Ramblings of A Francophobe’, bringing nostalgic pangs to some of my readers, anger and resentment to others who feel my criticism of France and the French to be unjustified, and hopefully, a smile or a laugh to the majority. The last is in fact what is intended, because I find writing entertaining and cathartic, and do so more for my own enjoyment than for that of those may read the column. Those who choose to take issue with my uncharitable treatment of the French and their country are free to disagree and several have contacted me to express their opinions, which are welcome.
So SAWmail as we know it, under the very able editorship of Maureen Cram, is coming to an end, and I have to echo (Boertjie) Ray’s words in calling it the ‘End of an Era’. I had a sneak preview of Ray’s column this Sunday morning, after I’d been out and scraped the ice off the cars and replaced the solid ice in the dog’s bowl with water, for we’ve had a sudden cold snap. Ray, in Melbourne, is 10 hours ahead of me and for a long time I’ve enjoyed my preview of his column with my early morning tea. Ray is one of a number of people whom I’ve met personally as a result of SAWMail, a perfect example of how it has enriched the lives of so many, and provided support, encouragement, information, humour, inspiration and a lifeline.
I met Ray on a blustery Cape winter’s day, with a watery sun bravely trying to force its way through the clouds above False Bay. We enjoyed a long lunch in a restaurant at Gordon’s Bay, with a roaring log fire and lots of Stellenbosch’s finest to keep us warm, and although our lives have been, and still are, very different in many ways, we found a lot in common too, and forged a friendship. Our paths could well have crossed again after Ray finally found his new love and home in Melbourne, but my trip to that wonderful country took place before Ray got there. I did however meet Glen Green, whose ‘One Man’s Australia’ was another cornerstone of SAWmail, with its rich factual and historical content mingled with Glen’s personal accounts of his life in Australia.
More recently, in Dubai, I met Jack Hirschberg, whose sporadic contributions you may have seen in this newsletter. Jack is a pillar of the SA community in Dubai and published a newsletter called ‘Tokoloshe’ to which I contributed. Jack and I discovered we have a lot in common, in fact his wife commented, after listening to us ‘gaaning on’ one night after a number of beers and whiskies, that we could be brothers. (So, howzit boetie!) We have the same profession and several common interests apart from that, one of which is having fun at the expense of Nigerian scammers who pick up email addresses from newsletters such as this one (which is why mine is not published). Apart from Dubai, Jack and I have met up in Frankfurt and Johannesburg and keep in frequent touch, sharing exploits and stories. He's also a controversial chap, probably why we get on so well!
Since I’ve been writing this column, I have had emails from people all over the world, some warm and friendly, others critical, and some just downright abusive. I welcome them all. I’ve met South African expats, got chatting, and the subject of SAW has come up and people have asked me if I’m the ‘Francophobe’. I usually deny it, in order to hear their real opinion, and then afterwards admit to being the guilty party.
Perhaps the most surreal meeting I had was when I was in an Internet café in Pokhara (Nepal) and as I was writing my SAW letter from there, happened to glance across at the fellow next to me, and saw that he was reading SAWmail on his computer. We chatted and it turned out that his parents’ garden in Rondebosch backed onto that of our friends’ house.
Last and obviously not least, I’ve met Maureen too, and am aware of the tremendous dedication and energy she puts into SAWmail, always finding time not simply to do things, but to do them in a totally professional manner, as you can see from every edition. Putting together a newsletter and distributing it worldwide is something only a few people can do (trust me, I’ve tried, on a much smaller scale, for our local SA Club). Doing it as competently and as consistently as Maureen has done is an exacting and time consuming task even fewer could achieve. Well done Maureen, and many thanks for the newsletter itself and for the enrichment it has brought to so many of us. May all your other ventures bring you enjoyment and prosperity.
Finding a worthy successor will be hard. I understand that there are a couple of possibilities and I do hope all of you will support SAWmail so that it can live on.
Three cheers for Maureen, and for Ken who has obviously provided loving support.
Tot siens
MIKE
Boetjie Worldwide - End of an era
It was really sad news to hear that SAW Mail may soon be something of the past. Over the years I have experienced much enjoyment through my involvement with this commendable effort. SAW Mail has played a hugely important role in my life, as I will soon explain, and Maureen has become a friend to me, even though we have never actually met, so I can only wish her all the very best for her road ahead.
I first heard about SAW in July 2001, when I was still living on the island of São Miguel in the Azores. A fellow South African had come across the site and told me about it. Liking what I saw, I decided to join and become a columnist for SAW Mail. Alas, my stay on the island where I was so happy was soon to come to an end: there were financial and personal reasons why I felt it was better for me to return to South Africa and try to make a fresh start, something I knew was not going to be easy...
Maureen's friendship and support meant a tremendous amount to me in the tough few months that followed. I soon discovered that a 50-year-old was not the most sought after commodity in the SA labour market, especially as I did not feel the smallest desire to return to teaching, which was what I had been doing for the previous 24 years of my life. So the days went by and I came closer and closer to a crisis point in my life.
In the mean time I had received a number of emails from readers of my column, then called Boertjie in the Azores. One of these readers was living in Japan, where she taught English. A correspondence developed between us, and the more she told me about English teaching there, the more I felt attracted by the prospect. We were also getting closer on a personal level, so it probably was only natural that I would end up scraping together what money I could to fly out to Japan to see whether I could make a home for myself there.
The Japan I discovered was a far cry from what the average tourist gets to see, and my columns from there attest to that. We lived in a, by Japanese standards, small village where the children could still play soccer in the streets and where there were rice paddies and tea plantations among the houses. The village of Okabe lies in a valley, the hillsides dense with bamboo groves and cryptomeria trees, and I spent many happy hours exploring the surroundings. At the same time I was applying for just about every English-teaching post available, and had to go in to the city of Shizuoka a few times for interviews. But sadly my age and experience actually counted against me, as most of the agencies recruiting English teachers were more interested in young American, Canadian or Australian applicants whom they could more easily bend to company policy. So, after a very intense four months in Japan, I came to the realisation that I was not going to be able to stay and teach, as I so much wanted to. It was time to bid Japan and the wonderful people I had met there adieu.
While in Japan, though, I had come in contact with a group of South Africans, ex-South Africans and friends of theirs who all belonged to a Yahoo group. I joined and soon found myself very much at home in the group. One of the members from Australia, especially, and I had a great deal in common and we became close friends.
I returned to South Africa in July 2002. It was a terrible time, because I felt I no longer belonged in the country of my birth. My travels had changed me and I felt constricted by my once familiar surroundings. My columns from this period hint at what life was like for me at the time. I was deeply saddened by the growing poverty I saw everywhere around me and my own situation was becoming pretty closer to desperate.
Then, purely by chance, I met a wonderful man who was in the process of starting up a fast-food business next door to the boarding house where I was staying. We became very good friends and I started helping him with the business. I was learning to run a fast-food outlet, something I would never ever have dreamt I would find myself involved with! It was an intense time in my life, and I made friends with amazing people. Things seemed to have turned and were looking more rosy.
My correspondence with the Australian member of the Yahoo group was developing into more than that between mere friends, and soon we were talking about the possibility of me visiting her in Australia to see how we got on in the flesh, at it were. Eventually we decided I would fly out to Melbourne; not easy, because it placed a financial burden on both of us, especially on her, though. As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened to us both, even though I was sad to leave my new friends, and even though I felt that I was needed in the business.
I arrived in Melbourne on the 1st of November 2002 and immediately felt at home in the city that, with Cape Town, Ponta Delgada and Lisbon, ranked among my favourite cities. Maggie and I also discovered that we could be very happy together, so we set the wheels in motion for me to try and get permanent residency. We were married on the 22nd of March the next year, and have been happy together ever since. The wandered had found home at last...
SAW Mail, and my involvement with it, was the main influence in the changes that my life underwent from that fateful day in July 2001. My columns from four countries and four continents were the constant amid all the change and sometimes upheaval. The friendship that I developed with my Francophobe friend has been enriching, as has all my dealings with Maureen and many others who took the trouble to contact me in connection to my fortnightly ramblings. I feel a better person for having had these people touch my life.
One thing that I have discovered during the last five years of my life is that things happen as and when they are meant to. Another is that often really terrible events occur in our lives in order for happy things to be able to happen. My divorce was a wrench, but it enabled me to get to the most wonderful place on earth. Leaving my paradise island was painful, but it led me to a very special time in Japan, and so the sequence continued. Now I am happy and content once more (not that the travel itch doesn't get really bad every now and then!).
My fervent hope is that SAW Mail will be able to continue, that someone will step in and carry on with this wonderful task that Maureen has managed so excellently for so long. If it does continue, you can be sure that I will be back with more natters.
To all my readers of the past four years and a bit goes a heartfelt thank you for your support, your kind comments and for just being there. Without its readers, SAW Mail is nothing. May we all see the good work continue. And of course the greatest thank you of all must go to Maureen for all she has done for this newsletter. My wish for her and Ken is that they will always know only the good things in life.
Mooiloop until we meet again.
Ray
raytheron at iprimus.com.au
No questions this week.
Nobody needing help this week.
If you are looking for a lost friend... if you would like old friends to contact you... If you want to find old school friends... if you just want people who used to know you to find you again for a chat...
Send in your info, the info of anyone you are looking for and let’s see if we can find them for you!
Hello everyone,
Wonder if anyone can help... I am trying to find Dr Hillel Faktor formerly of the Park Lane Clinic, Parktown. I think he and his family left South Africa around 1988/89 to settle in Israel. Could anyone help with an email address or contact number - I would be SO appreciated.
Many thanks and happy holidays to all,
Bev Legrand
beverley.legrand@gmail.com
No news received for this week.
A little aircraft humour
This from Captain Ken
After every flight, Qantas pilots fill out a form, called a "gripe sheet," which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The mechanics correct the problems, document their repairs on the form, and then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight.
Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humor.
Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by Qantas' pilots (marked with a P) and the solutions recorded (marked with an S) by maintenance engineers.
By the way, Qantas is the only major airline that has never had an accident.
P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.
P: Test flight OK except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.
P: Something loose in cockpit.
S: Something tightened in cockpit.
P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on back-order.
P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet-per-minute descent.
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.
P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.
P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to more believable level.
P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That's what they're for.
P: IFF inoperative.
S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.
P: Suspected crack in windshield.
S: Suspect you're right.
P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.
P: Aircraft handles funny. (I love this one!)
S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious.
P: Target radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.
P: Mouse in cockpit.
S: Cat installed.
And the best one for last...
P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.
S: Took hammer away from midget.
Old Bones
This from Colin Morgan colin.morgan@t-systems.co.za
Some tourists in the Chicago Museum of Natural History are marveling at the dinosaur bones. One of them asks the guard, "Can you tell me how old the dinosaur bones are?"
The guard replies, "They are three million, four years, and six months old."
"That's an awfully exact number," says the tourist. "How do you know their age so precisely?"
The guard answers, "Well, the dinosaur bones were three million years old when I started working here, and that was four and a half years ago!"
A Woman's Life Cycle
This from Des Cowie
What is the difference between girls/women aged:
8, 18, 28, 38, 48, 58. 68, and 78 ?
At 8 -- You take her to bed and tell her a story.
At 18 -- You tell her a story and take her to bed.
At 28 -- You don't need to tell her a story to take her to bed.
At 38 -- She tells you a story and takes you to bed.
At 48 -- She tells you a story to avoid going to bed.
At 58 -- You stay in bed to avoid her story.
At 68 -- If you take her to bed, that'll be a story!
At 78 -- What story??? What bed??? Who are you???
Easy chocolate goodies to make for Christmas...
Ingredients
80g (3 oz) dark chocolate, melted
300g (12 oz) marzipan
20 whole blanched almonds or glace cherries
2 tbsp amaretto or brandy (optional)
Instructions
1) Soak the cherries or almonds in the brandy or amaretto.
2) Wrap individual cherries or almonds in a small piece of marzipan and roll into a ball.
3) Skewer with a cocktail stick and dip into the chocolate.
4) Leave to set on a plate, or you could stick the cocktail sticks into a potato wrapped in foil until the chocolate has set.
Springbok captain cited
John Smit, the South African rugby captain, has been cited to appear before an IRB disciplinary committee for his action against Jérôme Thion, the French captain, who may have suffered a fracture of his larynx.
Watson makes history
Doug Watson became the first player to make three consecutive centuries in the Standard Bank Cup with his 101 not out for the Dolphins against the Cape Cobras in Cape Town on Sunday.
Schoeman's SA future uncertain
The future of Roland Schoeman, one of South Africa's Olympic swimming heroes, is undecided after nothing has been heard of sponsors to support him financially. It was reported earlier that the oil-rich nation Qatar has offered him a R20m deal.
| Credits and Contact Info |
TOP |
South Africans Worldwide - SAWmail Copyright © 1998 - 2005 Maesti
Editor: Maureen Cram
Copy Manager: Maureen Cram
Contributors: Everyone!
Web Development: Wizard
Post Master: Albert E. Stein
Hosting: Afrihost
Bandwidth: All You Can Eat
SAWmail - An Internet service brought to you by Maesti.
Web: http://www.saw.co.za
E-mail: editor@saw.co.za
Tel: +27 11 708-2632
Fax: +27 11 708-2632
| Subscribing and Unsubscribing |
TOP |
SAWmail is only sent to subscribers and is never sent unsolicited
Please forward this message onto a friend!
Visit the link below to join up to SAWmail (subscribe):
http://maesti.mojo.jtm.co.za/cgi-bin/mojo/mojo.cgi?f=list&l=sawmailhtml
You're receiving this newsletter because you signed up to get it.
If you prefer, alas, not to receive email from us, you can unsubscribe
from SAWmail by visiting the link below: (un-subscribe):
http://maesti.mojo.jtm.co.za/cgi-bin/mojo/mojo.cgi?f=list&l=sawmailhtml
If you are having any technical problems with SAWmail, please send a message to: editor@saw.co.za
For advertising enquiries please contact us via e-mail: editor@saw.co.za
|
