2010... it was here

2010 as JR would say gave us the chance to "show them"

And we did, we showed the world that we have so much more to us than 1st world media depicts developing countries. Ag shame, they thought that we built Sandton City for them.

Yeah, there are lots of sentiments like these so when the world cup ended and the life of South Africans returned to "normal" with residue of optimism being washed away by the service delivery strikes, morality discussions about Zuma's 21'st child (no...not his childs 21st), Malema's revival and crime re-manifesting itself in daily routine we should have known.

we normal south africans should have known that for everything that happenned , Fifa would be hailed the kings of the new South Africa. We should have known that the feeling would come to "Sepp Blatter did it " rather than "South Africa did it". We should have known that we would lose.

As we lost our belief in us as the winners of the reform , we lost the belief that we were the winners of the personal fights against crime, poverty, HIV/Aids, a better eductaion , good raods, good service...and all the luxuries that we experienced during the period of the world cup. It all seems like a mirage, unobtainable, even more now that the veil has lifted and SA presents itself to us ...bare , barren , hopeless , all greatness sucked into the sporting glory.

If anything , Fifa made us believe even more that " we deserve". Shakira now forgotten , we are no longer beleive that we are good soldiers in battle , we no longer goad each other to get up when we fall

I didnt want to believe any of it. I truly wanted to belive that the country had started holding hands in solidarity against the elements that destroy us. 702 launched LEADSA to keep the world cup spirit alive. Concerned citizens are making the effort. Rhino poaching is being dealt with, we drive with lights on to save lives, we are attempting to be courteous as often as possible...and the remainder of the citizens are planning the next heist , the next murder, the next fraudulent deal to make a quick buck.

I didnt believe it even when the news reported incidents, even when law enforcement officers were arrested for their part in the incidents, even when government officials were accused of fraudulent dealings; even then i said it was a minority.

And then my family had a hold up at home. And all my hopes faded; career criminals wanting easy money. They waltzed into our home,  thretaed our lives , took what they wanted, and left. They left something in repayment for these things off coarse- Fear in copious amounts. Fear enough to hate the next person whether he be known to you or not.

11 months ago I was ready to change South Africa. Fifa infused us with hope of a better life. now i continue my tasks with less enthusiaismand i hope that good eventually overrules the bad and the stupid and the lazy .

Deservedly so

What a lovely morning. The first email and the first call that I received this morning ( a day which i dreaded coming to work because of the amount of other work which i had left behind at home, the loads of studying and assignments on top of that which was being deferred so that i could prioritise office work) was great news.

Two of my closest friends just received promotions. Yip, and to think that both of them have been worried about this for ages and may have even been getting a bit despondent.

like he aptly said " When one door closes another one opens"

Congratultions guys

May you prosper in your new positions and may you continue to grow in knowledge and stature.

My nerdy comments

My dear friend Prixie posted her valid reasons for needing a 3 day weekend and i couldnt help but share the conversation I had overheard in the common room at the University the previous week. I personally could do with much, much more weekend but academics tend to see this in a different light:-)

dear Prixie,







i recently overheard some nerdy ppl talking about measurement units. The discussion started off with comments about the horror of imperial units and the ease of use of SI units.






It moved swiftly, to an a discussion about the day when imperial will be defeated to the awesome SI.






Until an Imperial supporter, a type from the old school- quite literally, put a spanner in the works by suggesting that the calendar would have to be rearranged. "This of coarse is because the number of hours in a day is based on the imperial system. So while SI uses simple tens and multiples thereof, imperial uses inches , feet , and yards etc where there are 3 feet in a yard and 12 inches in a foot etc. There are also 12 months in a year so 12 is the relating factor."






So 12 hours to reach midday wouldnt be internationally recognised under the SI time frame and we'd probably have 10 hours to midday with 100 minutes in each and then 100 seconds. I dont know if this works out but ...perhaps being all uniform we will have 10 months in a year and things will become verry bizzarre.






this leaves room for wonder. Perhaps there will be 10 day weeks...and hopefully , just hopefully






MORE WEEKEND:-)






Naeema

Worklife

My first office was what I had expected of an engineering office environment. Designers with large screens, plotters spewing chunks of 2-D metal designs in the A0 format, complicated fabrication techniques scrutinized on these A0's by teams grouped in the open plan space, all sorts of intricate software 2 suit d need of the design. Specialists at work in a specialisd environment.

My next 'studio' was adjacent tn the offices of the first but a differemt vibe prevailed. I had missed the rays of natural light freely prancing on my sun-depravd skin, the wavelength of a beam dat made my eyes beam in dilation. This office offerd that feature of a warm greeting through an unbarred window. The people here were still not gelled as a team and work was different,more generalised,more individualised. Id often look out d window @ d trains being shuntd by and marvel at d conversion of models and paper designs 2 magnificent machines. It was not perfect here but a psuedo harmony prevaild among my colleagues. I had my window of wonder.
Fast forward to the next department dat my training program lands me in...its dar from ideal. Id compare it to a burrow ,the almost underground effect ,single passage workspace dat dat double as a meeting area -walls lind with supplies, claustraphobically closin in on my inner being- left no room 4 creativity. Everyone workd in mindblowing silence.for 8 hours.day in,day out! I had 2 escape but d window servd no comfort. Situatd insid a workshop, d window only reflectd a close up view of those long ago drawings being panelbeaten into place. Grit,noise,cold,cold,selective silence. I escapd this torture into the virtual window of my computer. I removd myself 2 friends in other countries, cities ,@ home. My escape turnd 2 an addiction. The virtual escape my saviour...fast forward 2 three months later. No office,a piece of furniture discarded by another marks my temporary space in the open plan office. I am grateful 2 hav my own, despite its inadequacies. Escapism has become a signature & through the lonlines of this frantic fish market I plot my way out. This team needs me 2 prove myself. But its nt mine. I cant be part of them. I am there on a difernt mandate. I get to
Work...headphones-check,internet-check,window- it looks out onto a barren mine dump of dust that was once deprivd of its preciousnes - the remains discarded with residue of a hope that it gave,useles- I felt useless just looking at it.
Im
In a catch 22, virtual reality has been denied 2 me- I turn away from the dump 2 face the people.the hum of oblivious chatter churns my empty belly,it must be lunch time,i notice wafts of different flavours for the first time. Noone notices me as my face turns 2 disapproval. I needed a break...i turned away and escapd!

1GOAL - Education for All

By 2015 Africa should be turning a new leaf: overcoming the disease, famine and localised faction fights by focussing on education 4 all.  Financial circumstances, age and geographic location shouldn’t be a reason to stop anyone from learning.

When Ma Nkosi puts her three year old grandchild to bed at night and reads out a story to him, not only does little Sipho hear new words, but he hears them used in sentences so that he may begin to speak with correct diction, he learns of fantastical things which make him as a child curious, he wants to learn more and he asks questions. Ma Nkosi , could be of the millions who were before 2015 illiterate but who were given the opportunity by 1GOAL to learn to read and write. She now enjoys reading about the on-goings of the world in newspapers and even television and radio starts making more sense. She knows about the latest outbreak of malaria, what to do and who to go to treat it. Ntate Nkosi, Ma Nkosi’s husband, has also been able to advise the village on the use of their money. Last year they had a better than expected growth of crops. This was because of new farming methods which he had introduced. They made a lot of money from this and the community members are now saving for a rainy day. Everyone is happier.

The need for education has to be inclusive, keeping in mind that as much as the future leaders need to be educated, the primary care givers need to be the primary educators.

 If we consider South Africa as a microcosm of Africa, the focus on education on the younger generation has failed us in the “brain drain”. All the new young professionals with the knowledge and ability to add value back into society are searching for greener pastures. The few that make it beyond a secondary education are few and far between making it an uncompetitive, unchallenging experience. This doesn’t mean that the focus shouldn’t be on creating a learning environment for young people, it means that the environment should be wide-spread and available to all so that have the ability may have the opportunity.

Higher education undoubtedly has its role. Africa has among its people, some of the greatest academics historically. Higher education forms the basis of research into the new methods for solving problems unique to Africa. It also trains individuals to become part of the population that can contribute back into society and thereby become the society that runs the parliaments, courts, hospitals, schools and businesses that form the economic thrust of the country.

Furthermore, in this analogy, poor education allowed the spread of myths. In 2002 a myth called the “virgin cure“ spread faster than media could persuade people that they were being misinformed. Hundreds of young women were raped because HIV positive men were of the opinion that they could be cured by sleeping with virgins. Such transgressions can be dealt with if we have better education.

How can education for all be achieved ? Firstly by teaching the teachers, that’s teaching the educators that will be teaching in the many learning centres across Africa. Setting up these learning centres which are accessible to adults and children alike. Setting up libraries in all the centres.

William Kamkwamba is an inspiration in the way he used his thirst for knowledge and his belief that he could make a difference . He built a windmill in his back yard during the drought in Malawi. At first people thought that he was crazy, but later they revered his ingenuity.

People like William need to travel the continent to promote the idea of education. The fear associated with ideas different to tradition will always grip us. We need to find icons to help us overcome the fear.

My dream for education by 2015 is simple. Make it easier for all of us as Africans to be educated so that we can survive.

 letter to 1GOAL campaign

 Naeema Kharsany 

(on behalf of ReDineo)

19 September 2010

There comes a time...

A time comes in your life when you


finally get it. When in the midst of all

your fears and insanity, you stop dead in

your tracks and somewhere the voice

inside your head cries out- Enough!

Enough, already! Enough fighting and

crying, or struggling to hold on. And,

like a child quitting down after a blind

tantrum, your sobs begin to subside, you

shudder once or twice, you blink back

your tears and through a mantle of wet

lashes, you begin to look at the world

through new eyes. This is your awakening.





You realize that it is time to stop

hoping and waiting for something to

change, or for happiness, safety and

security to come galloping over the next

horizon. You come to terms with the fact

that he or she is not Prince Charming and

you are not Cinderella and that in the

real world there are not always fairy

tale endings (or beginnings for that

matter). In addition, you realize that

any guarantee of " happily ever after "

must begin with YOU, and in the process a

sense of serenity is born, a sense of of

acceptance is reached. You awaken to the

fact that you are not perfect, and that

not everyone will always love, appreciate

or approve of who you are or what you

are, and it is OK nevertheless. After

all, everyone is entitled to their own

views and opinions. In addition, you

learn the importance of loving and

championing yourself, and in the process,

a sense of newly found confidence is born

of self-approval.





You stop procrastinating and blaming

other people for the things they did to

you (or didn't do for you) and you learn

that the only thing you can really count

on is the unexpected. You learn that not

everyone will always be there for you,

and it is not always about you.

Therefore, you learn to stand on your own

and to take care of yourself and in the

process a newfound sense of safety and

security is born of self-reliance.





You stop judging and pointing fingers and

you begin to accept people as they are,

and to overlook their shortcomings and

human frailties... and in the process a

sense of peace and contentment are born

of self-forgiveness.





Your shoulders drop, your neck relaxes,

and you smile.





You realize that much of the way you view

yourself, and the world around you, is a

result of all the messages and opinions

that have been ingrained into your

psyche. And you begin to sift through all

the crap you've been fed about how you

should behave, how you should look, how

much you should or shouldn't weigh, what

you should wear, where you should shop,

what you should drive, how and where you

should live, what you should do for a

living, who you should sleep with, who

you should marry, what you should expect

of a marriage, the importance of having

and raising children, or even what you

owe your parents.





You learn to open up to new worlds and

different points of view. In addition,

you begin reassessing and redefining who

you are and what you really stand for.

You learn the difference between wanting

and needing, and you begin to discard the

doctrines and values you have outgrown,

or should never have bought into to begin

with. In the process you learn to go with

your instincts. You learn to distinguish

between guilt and responsibility, and the

importance of setting boundaries and

learning to say No.





You learn that the only cross to bear is

the one you choose to carry, and that

martyrs are burned at the stake.





Then you really learn about love,

romantic love, and familial love. How to

love, how much to give in love, when to

stop giving, and when to walk away. You

learn not to reject your needs or your

feelings onto a relationship. You learn

that you will not be more beautiful, more

intelligent, more lovable, or important

because of the man or woman on your arm,

or the child that bears your name, as the

case may be.





You learn to look at relationships as

they really are and not as you would have

them be. You stop trying to control

people, situations, and outcomes. You

learn that just as people grow and

change, so it is with love and you learn

that you do not have the right to demand

love on your terms, just to make you

happy. In addition, you learn that alone

does not mean lonely.





And you look in the mirror and come to

terms with the fact that you may never

be a size 7 or a perfect 10 and you stop

trying to compete with the image inside

your head and agonizing over how you

" stack up. " You also stop working so hard

at putting feelings aside, smoothing

things over, and ignoring your needs.





You learn that feelings of entitlement

are perfectly OK, that it is your right

to want things that you want and that

sometimes it is necessary to make

demands. You come to the realization that

you deserve to be treated with love,

kindness, sensitivity, and respect, and

you will not settle for less. In

addition, you allow only the hands of a

lover who cherishes you, to glorify you

with his or her touch and in the process,

you internalize the meaning of

self-respect.





In addition, you learn that your body

really is your temple. You begin eating a

balanced diet, drinking more water, and

taking more time to exercise. You learn

that fatigue diminishes the spirit and

can create doubt and fear, so you take

more time to rest... your body as well as

your mind, because just as food fuels the

body, laughter fuels our soul, so you

take more time to laugh and to play.





You learn that, for the most part, in

life, you get what you believe you

deserve, and much of life is a

self-fulfilling prophecy. You learn that

anything worth achieving is worth working

for, and that wishing something to happen

is different from working toward making

it happen. More importantly, you learn

that in order to achieve success, you

need direction, discipline, and

perseverance.





You realize also that you and you alone

are responsible for your own life, and

that you must stand on your own two feet,

let go everybody else's hand, and do what

you need to do to take care of yourself.





You also learn that no one can do it all

alone and its OK to risk asking for help.

You learn that the only thing you must

truly fear is the great robber baron of

all time: FEAR itself. You learn to step

right into and through your fears,

because you know that whatever happens

you can handle it, and to give in to fear

is to give away the right to live life on

your terms.





You learn to balance those two facts...

standing on your own and asking for

help... so that you don't just use other

people to do what you yourself must do.





You learn to fight for your life, and not

to squander it living under a cloud of

impending doom. You learn that life is

not always fair, you do not always get

what you think you deserve, and that

sometimes, bad things happen to

unsuspecting, good people. On these

occasions, you learn not to personalize

things. You learn that God is not

punishing you or failing to answer your

prayers. It is just life happening. In

addition, you learn to deal with evil in

its most primal state: the ego.





You learn that negative feelings such as

anger, envy, and resentment must be

understood and redirected, or they will

suffocate the life out of you and poison

the universe that surrounds you.





You learn to admit when you are wrong,

and to build bridges instead of walls.

You learn to be thankful and to take

comfort in many of the simple things you

take for granted... things that millions

of people upon the earth can only dream

about: A full refrigerator, clean running

water, a soft warm bed, and long showers.

Slowly, you begin to take responsibility

for yourself by yourself, and you try to

make yourself a promise to never betray

yourself and to never ever settle for

less than your heart's desire. In

addition, you hang a wind chime outside

your window so you can listen to the

wind. In addition, you make it a point to

keep smiling, keep trusting, and to stay

open to the possibility of a very

wonderful future.





Finally, with courage in your heart and

with God by your side, you take a stand,

you take a deep breath, and you begin, as

best as you can, to design the life you

want to live.





And you finally learn to smile with new

contentment.
  Author:  Unknown

International Women's Day

Sunday, August 1, 2010


Israeli mother adresses European Parliament



Dr. Nurit Peled-Elhanan is the mother of Smadar Elhanan, 13 years old when killed by a suicide bomber in Jerusalem in September 1997. Below is Nurit's speech made on International Women's Day in Strasbourg earlier this month. Please listen to the words of a bereaved mother,whose daughter fell victim to a vicious, indiscriminating terrorist attack.





The speech:



Thank you for inviting me to this today. It is always an honour and a pleasure to be here, among you (at the European Parliament). However, I must admit I believe you should have invited a Palestinian woman in my stead, because the women who suffer most from violence in my county are the Palestinian women. And I would like to dedicate my speech to Miriam R`aban and her husband Kamal, from Bet Lahiya in the Gaza strip, whose five small children were killed by



Israeli soldiers while picking strawberries at the family`s strawberry field. No one will ever stand trial for this murder. When I asked the people who invited me here why didn't they invite a Palestinian woman, the answer was that it would make the discussion too localized.



I don't know what is non-localized violence. Racism and discrimination may be theoretical concepts and universal phenomena but their impact is always local, and real. Pain is local, humiliation, sexual abuse, torture and death, are all very local, and so are the scars. It is true, unfortunately, that the local violence inflicted on Palestinian women by the government of Israel and the Israeli army, has expanded around the globe, In fact, state violence and army violence, individual and collective violence, are the lot of Muslim womenUSA. This is because the so-called free world is afraid of the Muslim womb.



Great France of "la liberte egalite et la fraternite" is scared of little girls with head scarves. Great Jewish Israel is afraid of the Muslim womb which its ministers call a demographic threat. Almighty America and Great Britain are infecting their respective citizens with blind fear of the Muslims, who are depicted as vile, primitive and blood-thirsty, apart from their being non-democratic, chauvinistic and mass producers of future terrorists. This in spite of the fact that the people who are destroying the world today are not Muslim. One of them is a devout Christian, one is Anglican and one is a non-devout Jew.



I have never experienced the suffering Palestinian women undergo every day, every hour, I don't know the kind of violence that turns a woman's life into constant hell. This daily physical and mental torture of women who are deprived of their basic human rights and needs of privacy and dignity, women whose homes are broken into at any moment of day and night, who are ordered at a gun-point to strip naked in front of strangers and their own children, whose houses are demolished, who are deprived of their livelihood and of any normal family life. This is not part of my personal ordeal.



But I am a victim of violence against women insofar as violence against children is actually violence against mothers. Palestinian, Iraqi, Afghan women are my sisters because we are all at the grip of the same unscrupulous criminals who call themselves leaders of the free enlightened world and in the name of this freedom and enlightenment rob us of our children. Furthermore, Israeli, American, Italian and British mothers have been for the most part violently blinded and brainwashed to such a degree that they cannot realize their only sisters, their only allies in the world are the Muslim Palestinian, Iraqi or Afghani mothers, whose children are killed by our children or who blow themselves to pieces with our sons and daughters. They are all mind-infected by the same viruses engendered by politicians. And the viruses , though they may have various illustrious names-such as Democracy, Patriotism, God, Homeland-are all the same. They are all part of false and fake ideologies that are meant to enrich the rich and to empower the powerful.



We are all the victims of mental, psychological and cultural violence that turn us to one homogenic group of bereaved or potentially bereaved mothers. Western mothers who are taught to believe their uterus is a national asset just like they are taught to believe that the Muslim uterus is an international threat. They are educated not to cry out: 'I gave him birth, I breast fed him, he is mine, and I will not let him be the one whose life is cheaper than oil, whose future is less worth than a piece of land.' All of us are terrorized by mind-infecting education to believe all we can do is either pray for our sons to come back home or be proud of their dead bodies. And all of us were brought up to bear all this silently, to contain our fear and frustration, to take Prozac for anxiety, but never hail Mama Courage in public. Never be real Jewish or Italian or Irish mothers.



I am a victim of state violence. My natural and civil rights as a mother have been violated and are violated because I have to fear the day my son would reach his 18th birthday and be taken away from me to be the game tool of criminals such as Sharon, Bush, Blair and their clan of blood-thirsty, oil-thirsty, land thirsty generals. Living in the world I live in, in the state I live in, in the regime I live in, I don't dare to offer Muslim women any ideas how to change their lives. I don't want them to take off their scarves, or educate their children differently, and I will not urge them to constitute Democracies in the image of Western democracies that despise them and their kind. I just want to ask them humbly to be my sisters, to express my admiration for their perseverance and for their courage to carry on, to have children and to maintain a dignified family life in spite of the impossible conditions my world is putting them in. I want to tell them we are all bonded by the same pain, we are all the victims of the same sort of violence even though they suffer much more, for they are the ones who are mistreated by my government and its army, sponsored by my taxes.



Islam in itself, like Judaism in itself and Christianity in itself, is not a threat to me or to anyone. American imperialism is, European indifference and co-operation is and Israeli racism and its cruel regime of occupation is. It is racism, educational propaganda and inculcated xenophobia that convince Israeli soldiers to order Palestinian women at gun-point, to strip in front of their children for security reasons, it is the deepest disrespect for the other that allow American soldiers to rape Iraqi women, that give license to Israeli jailers to keep young women in inhuman conditions, without necessary hygienic aids, without electricity in the winter, without clean water or clean mattresses and to separate them from their breast-fed babies and toddlers. To bar their way to hospitals, to block their way to education, to confiscate their lands, to uproot their trees and prevent them from cultivating their fields.



I cannot completely understand Palestinian women or their suffering. I don't know how I would have survived such humiliation, such disrespect from the whole world. All I know is that the voice of mothers has been suffocated for too long in this war-stricken planet. Mothers' cry is not heard because mothers are not invited to international forums such as this one. This I know and it is very little. But it is enough for me to remember these women are my sisters, and that they deserve that I should cry for them, and fight for them. And when they lose their children in strawberry fields or on filthy roads by the checkpoints, when their children are shot on their way to school by Israeli children who were educated to believe that love and compassion are race and religion dependent, the only thing I can do is stand by them and their betrayed babies, and ask what Anna Akhmatova - another mother who lived in a regime of violence against women and children - asked: Why does that streak of blood, rip the petal of your cheek?!

Hello World, Welcome to Africa

Hello world, Welcome to Africa

Touch the earth, revive your soul

Let your ears feel the resound of the roar

of your most feared animal

Hello world, Welcome to Africa

Blow a Vuvuzela, dance a jig, score a goal, 

sew a seam on the flag of unity

Hello world, Welcome to Africa

Dispel, transcend, expend...

Myths, fears, jeers

Catupult your embrace

Hello world, Welcome to Africa

Purchase hope, perseverance, true love, real happiness

Abandon Mistrust

Hello world, welcome to Africa

Return to your worlds in 

Awe, inspired, ashamed

Hello world, Welcome to Africa

Communicate, celebrate,

Similarities, differences, change

Obviate distance, distrust, despise

Hello world, Welcome to Africa

memorable moments

So, in a minute of being carried away by the "2 oh 1 oh" fever that has gripped the nation, I fell into a moment of reminiscing.


THE LAST SWC I was at a turning point in my life...deciding whether 2 continue with my degree or not. I remember tht world cup not because of Zedan or the countless goals saved by the german Goal keeper, but because of the sudden high status that the so-called Engineering "pansy" gained for offerring to organise DSTV.

The SWC before that was my matric year...and so the SWC's have played important roles in my life. The 1 before that I recall watching with my then 3yr old cuz who used to lurv soccer. He seems to have outgrown the game now though.

I cant wait for this World Cup to get underway. I'm hoping for more memorable moments :-)

Engineers bring home the cup

Thank you to the engineers(and engineering practitioners of whatever sort who worked on the projects) of the south Africa. if no1 else thanks you then, let it be noted, that I have taken notice.

In the past few years with stadiums being constructed , highways and roads being revamped, the GAUTRAIN being whispered of, our infrastructure being developed, power crises being dealt with, information transfer rates being challenged, and all in all our credibility being on the line...you have soldiered to make South Africans proud.

I guess that i am proud , because, when people say "I was there" , I can be part of the few who say " I made it happen"

Imports of FIFA items are being delivered on-time and to the right people on world class sea, rail and road transport systems, to destinations that are world class and are leaving the northern hemisphere in awe of our ability rather than our primitivity.

Thank you for inspiring me to aspire to be the best that I can be

soccer fever

I wont go there

Stereotyping is just an extension of the power of fears…well we stereotype when we want to ease our fears. I guess it’s sometimes alright because it brings around conformity of a good kind, but often breeds conformity of the bad kind.

In the apartheid government we were stereotyped by classing us according to race. If you had a lighter colour skin you were more important than if you had a darker colour skin.  As absurd as it sounds, propaganda played on people’s fears that they were/ would become lesser beings if they associated vertically down the food chain and so the story goes on.

In the freed society we live in our fears and most definitely mine still linger on this subject of “my worth”. Society has historically been classified as rich and poor; this is geographically true as well as embedded in our thinking. We have developed a society that yearns money and in doing so have idolised the previously disadvantaged that have managed to make money quickly. The “black diamond’s” seems to be what all working class “black” people aim to become. The “Indian” people have been revered for their ability to make wealth. When people see young Indian kids in smart cars, they simply assume that their families are rich. White people are known as the previously advantaged and South Africans expect them to already have everything.  The classifications and assumptions and expectations developed through the years have made us weary of being different lest someone questions us. We think as we have been taught to, we act as we have been taught to, we interact as we are taught to and if we do anything that’s not “as expected” we bashfully turn defensive.

There’s a place in South Africa called Laudium. For me, and I guess many others, it represents the most flippant contrast between the haves and the have-nots. Poor people living in squalid conditions juxtaposed by the most magnificent homes and the largest concentration of a certain brand of luxury vehicles in the world.

I have only ever visited this place twice; both times out of necessity but with a sense of curiosity aswell. I had heard of Laudium residents and their mansions.

 The residents of Laudium are mostly “Indian” having been moved there under the group areas act ages ago.  I had previously accepted that the expectations that non-indian people had of me being rich and owning many vehicles and buying my way through school stemmed from nothing other than the business mindedness that “Indian” people are known for. Indians were known for their enterprising nature to sustain themselves. In the past, bribes were made to make lives easier (not condoned).  Everything had some explanation. Then… I encountered Laudium in the day time! I saw the palaces, the  pomp and pride called Laudium (ironically pronounced Lord –ium) crusted by  the Itireleng informal settlement.

I don’t understand; I couldn’t interpret, I still can’t begin to imagine how this happened. My eye’s dilated, my jaw dropped and I took a deep breath. Whatever happened to loving thy neighbour? Wait a second, am I like this? My mind started racing through all the remarks I had ever heard. Rationality failed me…the questions wouldn’t stop

• ·         Do I live in a fort while my neighbour huddles under a tree unable to keep a roof over his head?
• Do I live expensively at the cost of others?
•  Do I drive flashy cars and flash my money to escape unsavoury situations?

Laudium represents even more of a parody to me. I have developed a fear of being classified “Indian” but in the process I am stereotyping the “Indian” whose values I disprove of. My visit to the little town was a colossal shock to my system. I won’t go there again, if not just because visually it imparts such dementia but also because my fear of interacting with Laudiumers may ignite a deep seated ugliness in me. 

What would you do?

Employee Motivation: Elements of Greatness

Employee Motivation: Elements of Greatness

Discover , innovate , create ...: win a converse

Discover , innovate , create ...: win a converse http://bit.ly/cHppuQ

win a converse

win a converse

a world designed and operated by men

I wonder if the engineering world was designed to keep women out. It sure seems like it !

When I was at varsity I couldn't say out loud what class I was late for or what assignment I had outstanding or even what exam I had to study for...not to my non-engineering friends. My subject list always invoked a discussion on the perversity of engineers. I didn't blame the "others", with subjects like vibrations, fluids and heat transfer along with study topics like contact stresses I was always the butt of a joke or 2 if i happened to mention anything.

It is no better in practical engineering situations. It makes me wonder what inspired this type of terminology. Surely there was a better way of labeling!

to put you in the picture here's just a few examples:

Engineers ,not the HIV/AIDS activists that promote the use on condoms, coined the term "safety first"
we're all acquainted with the nut and bolt stories ...i wont go there!
there's also pipe fittings which are referred to as male and female ( and they try to act innocent about the naming )
I recently had a project where the technician kept on referring to a nipple. Can you just imagine how uncomfortable that made me feel?
engines will be "serviced"
pipes will be cleaned
coupling is necessary for flow through pipes and for trains ...to make it bigger!
Civil engineers all believe "bigger is better"!
Lubrication is the order of the day...theses a whole subject on it called tribology
there's a flow theory in fluid dynamics called "separation" and a graph which describes an engineering phenomenon which is referred to as the bathtub curve, this no doubt sets their minds into some other dreamy world

talking about dreamy world...I think that many of my male counterparts and their predecessors could be described as social rejects. They don't know how to approach a lady (or any other form that may be attracted to) because of their technical minds(maybe this is an excuse) so they vent the frustration in their work and in this case through their work. I think they even do it sub-consciously.

My point tho' is that the engineering world draws the most parallels to "the Flintstones". Its archaic , but as advanced as the immediate world would like to believe it is . Men created this world, I think its being in development since the invention on the wheel.

Ladies ( and I refer to the elite here) in Europe in the time of the industrial were so misled. While their men displayed the best of the best of chivalric practice, he was amusing himself by inventing a males only society in the engineering field. "The chivalric code places an extremely rigorous standard of conduct on anyone who lives by it. To achieve it completely takes almost super-human qualities. One is expected to fiercely protect the honor of his liege, his love, and himself while remaining totally without pride. " I guess it could be these super-human qualities that "he" could not live up to.

What if the ladies designed engineering? Would it be just as perverse?

my 1st international conference

No i didnt present a paper! I am totally inspired to go that route though.

I understand now the pomp of the final year presentations, this was just as boring and just as exclusive. I was lucky (even though I believe that everything happens for a reason)I love the idea of zooming in on one component and discretizing it so much that it looks like a monumental task to overcome.

So a conference was held from the 14th to th 18th of March 2010 to bring together developments in the world on railway wheelsets. The discussions covered everything from wheels profiles, noises, crack developments, maintenance, NDT etc.,etc.

I guess it appealed to the academic in me. but the socialite in me shied in the presence of all the foreigners. i guess i found them somewhaqt intimidating...they are eons ahead of us in thought, developments, approach to solutions and personal development. nine out of ten of them are PhD candidates or higher( maybe because sending anyone with less of a qualification is too expensive,), most of them are old males.

Im have to wonder, why it takes old persons to present changes for a dynamic changing world. i appreciate the need for experience to assist in getting the best designs out , I also appreciate that without the oldies we we may just reinvent the wheel but i tend to wish for younger faces, more dynamic people , more innovative solutions.

definitely inspired to be the change i want to see. Im becoming more ambition my career than i think feasible. being invited to the 16th international wheelset congress has opened my eyes to a different part of the engineering environment.Something that is designed to challenge me.

Should You Seek Answers or Wisdom?

There is a powerful difference between searching for the answer to a question and pursuing the wisdom in any life challenges.




Consider for a moment that we think of "answers" as one-sentence conclusions to questions: Here's the question and here's the answer. Q&A makes a great partnership, so why shouldn't we apply that method of investigation to probing the deeper concerns of our life? Because sometimes the Q&A method misses the target when that target becomes more complex than a one-sentence response. Sometimes the more pressing matters of life are better served by recognizing that a simple answer will not suffice. Rather, a meaningful quest is better served by the acquisition of wisdom and insight rather than an answer to a question. Consider that wisdom is a game-changing force because in seeking wisdom, you are pursuing a "truth trigger," a hidden mechanism in a situation that, once discovered, initiates a process of transformation that cannot be aborted. Answers can be argued with; wisdom is a final but enlightening truth.



Take the question, "What makes you happy?" Is there really a one-sentence answer to that question? For all the seductive energy that question generates—and it does—listing the ingredients of personal happiness remains among of the most challenging questions for people to actually answer. I know. I have asked countless audiences throughout my workshop career to answer that question, to actually articulate in detail the specific items that equal happiness for them. In the vast majority of cases, people respond with silence or by saying that they are uncertain.



At first, these responses baffled me. Was it stage fright? Were people not interested in happiness? Hardly. I reshaped the question to, "How many of you are searching for happiness in some way?" That question hit the high marks, and most hands flew up. That question then became the precursor to, "What makes you happy?" Logically, if you know what makes you unhappy, surely you must have at least a slight idea—a fantasy—anything, something in your imagination about what would make you happy. Still, when it came to actually articulating the specifics of what they wanted and needed to be happy, most people hesitated—and still do.



I finally realized that beyond the discontentment that often drives us to despair or to think we are unhappy is a deeper wisdom that that tells us that, "You may be unhappy, but that does not mean you are in the wrong place with the wrong person or people." Unhappiness may be a temporary phase, an overload of the current pressures of life or a need to recognize self-neglect. It may be that you need to take a step back and evaluate if and how you have "de-animated" much of your life. Perhaps, over time, you gradually withdrew your enthusiasm, and you never even realized it. We often de-animate relationships, jobs, everything and anything, and because it happens so gradually, we don't discover we are depleted until we are so low on energy that our entire life looks bleak.



Not answering the happiness question can also be an indication that a person is waiting for someone else to change everything and make her world a better place, a place she doesn't really want to leave but just have renovated. So the person is still aware that the fundamental ingredients for happiness are in her life—they just need to be reenergized. But who is supposed to change and do all that work? Ah—that's the deal-breaker.



Part of the reason for the inability to chart a "happiness course" or to actually list the items on your happiness wish list may also be due to the inadequacy of the Q&A model itself, meaning that we associate answers with finality. And we are held to our answers, like flies on flypaper. If we say, "I need more freedom in my life and less responsibilities and a more understanding partner," we have to logically wonder, "Is that just for now or will that always be true?" Answers are dicey things. How we answer today is not how we would answer this same question tomorrow—and there is a wisdom in us that knows this to be the case. Thus, we often prefer to pass on the question, to ponder it a bit longer, to hesitate awhile before we actually commit to an answer.



If you look through the lens of wisdom, you can discern an even more subtle reason that holds people back from giving "direct answers to direct questions": We know that truth changes our life. We hesitate to speak or seek truth too ambitiously precisely because of the power it yields—the power to change our life. Again, an inner wisdom tells us to proceed with caution when we are asked questions that may appear to be socially interesting but that could, in fact, pick at deep scabs beneath the surface. I suspect that many people fear answering life-changing questions—such as matters regarding happiness—too directly because they really do not want to be lifted all that far from the circumstances of their familiar world. Most people really do not want to be jettisoned away from the people both dear and irritating to them because, in spite of the highs and lows, these are "their" people. And our gut wisdom tells us that if we answer too loudly, if we say too much, we just might lose the familiar world we know. So we hold back and say very little. The most common pattern I have experienced is that we feel comfortable admitting that we are seeking happiness, but we hesitate to actually name what is missing—unless we have nothing to lose.



As with all matters in life, we have exceptions. I have met several people who have no fear in speaking up and saying exactly what they are looking for and what they believe will make them happy. Some are prepared to go the distance and initiate all life changes. Others often review their wish lists and compare them with their ambition and then hit a midrange compromise. Most people, however, "dwell in possibilities," as the great poet, Emily Dickinson so aptly put it. Part of the reason for the inability to chart a "happiness course" or to actually list the items on your happiness wish list may well lay in the reality of the Q&A model, meaning that it is.



So what does wisdom tell us about happiness? If we thought about seeking wisdom in the significant matter of life rather than answers, how would that change our approach?



Wisdom Jewels



1. Wisdom is the search for truth and insight. Do an evaluation and appraisal of all the ingredients in your life. Is it likely you will walk away from your present situation? If not, then the wise move is to walk back in and give it all you got. Life has cycles of good times and bad, ups and downs, highs and lows. It's the wise person who recognizes where she is in that cycle and whether it's the energy of the cycle that is exhausting or a more personal level of guidance.





2. If you come to the conclusion after your appraisal that these are not the right ingredients for you—then have the wisdom to acknowledge that truth and realize that truth will not change. You have to act on that truth if happiness is of any value to you much less your health.



3. And no matter what you decide, you can't go wrong following these wise policies in all matters, as they can only add to your happiness: Make no judgments; have no expectations; give up the need to know why things happen as they do; and release the words "blame" and "deserve" from your vocabulary forever.
 
 
 
Author: Unknown