Verhale van hoop
Verhale van hoop

Verhale van hoop

Dani Booysen
Ellen Pakkies straal 'n positiewe krag van inspirasie uit wat 'n mens selde ervaar.

Dié Kaapse moeder en ouma, wat haar tik-verslaafde seun in 2007 vermoor het, het verlede week haar verhaal en die hoop op genesing wat diep daaruit straal met Namibiërs op Rehoboth kom deel.

Kerkleiers op die dorp verdien krediet vir hul plan om dwelmmisbruik aan te spreek deur Pakkies met die jeug en hul ouers te laat praat.

Práát is 'n noodsaaklik eerste tree onderweg na verandering. Praat help, al dink ons soms dit doen nie.

Ook slaan die kern van Pakkies se boodskap veel wyer as net drank- en dwelmmisbruik – tot aan die hart van feitlik alle probleme wat ons samelewing teister. Verder as die geestelike en godsdienstige.

“Ons moet lewe oor onse ­mense uitspreek,” het Pakkies Donderdag in 'n video-onderhoud met Republikein gesê. Dus, nie dood, verdoemenis, geweld, haat en al die ander vorme van verwerping wat instinktief soveel makliker kom nie.

“Ons moet die regte woorde vind om ons gemeenskap weer op te tel,” het Pakkies bygevoeg. En daarmee saam die dade – 'n plig wat nie net op politieke en ander leiers in die gemeenskap rus nie, maar elke individu.

Wanneer ons mekaar ondersteun, is daar altyd hoop.

En ons kan op verskillende vlakke 'n verskil maak. Ongeag omstandighede en selfs ouderdom, soos die sesjarige Cat Adams se liefde vir diere, ander mense en die omgewing illustreer.

Hoe meer verhale van hoop ons vertel, hoe groter die kans op werklike, voortgesette verandering.



So sê ander

18 Mei 2019



South Sudan: Don't let hawks have the last laugh



Despite intermittent lulls and some degree of rapprochement among the protagonists, the six-year-old conflict in South Sudan shows no sign of ending.

President Silva Kiir has asked for a 12-month extension before he can implement a peace agreement he seemingly signed of his own volition while his partner in crime, Dr Riek Machar, remains holed up in Khartoum citing fears for his personal security.

This turn of events has once again deflated the optimism that greeted the latest agreement and left mediators at a loss.

The challenge for the mediators now is to disrupt the status quo in order to take the peace process beyond mere promise.

It is an open secret that Kenya, Uganda and Khartoum are safe havens for whatever has been looted from South Sudan by its leaders. Sanctions imposed by the AU would put Uganda and Kenya where they need to be and induce them to

adopt a firm stance against their clients.

While their participation may have seemed logical at the start, time has demonstrated that their vested interests may be at odds with what the ordinary people of South Sudan need—an environment that allows them to go about their lives without the threat of violence.

• THE EAST AFRICAN

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