Stuur Vader Kersfees bali toe

Ek wens daar was 'n kerk waarteen ek hierdie kon vasspyker om die rewolusie te bevorder. Maar Martin Luther se era is verby en selfs al is ons meer geisoleer as ooit, is ons issues nou wereldwyd, en ons oplossings ook.

As boertjie maak dit my baie bang dat daar nie n kerkdeur is waar almal elke dag verby loop nie. Ek weet hoe moeilik dit is om almal in Afrika deel van die groter prentjie te kry. Selfs iets so voriehandliggend soos die AIDS krisis is onoorkombaar bleddie onmoontlik om aan almal mee te deel as gevolg van 'n handjie vol halstarrige aartappels en n knoffelhuisie genaamd Manto. So hoe dan gemaak met die klimaat krisis?

O jong, as cosmopolitan moet ek aanhou glo dat Amerika nooit weer so 'n spesifiek dom president sal kies nie, dat die wereld Sjina in die regte rigting sal kan stoot om skoon energie te vervaardig, dat Richard Branson se droom vir zero carbon jet fuel waar word en dat ons regerings teen 2015 bygepik het, wereldwyd, en 'n oplossing bewerkstellig het.

My kersfeeswens vir 2007 is dat Ban ki Moon sal sterk staan in Bali volgende maand, dat hy George Bush en Hu Jintao kan oorreed dat dit nou die tyd is om saam te span, en dat die wereld soos een span sal saamwerk om ons lug skoon en koel te kry teen 2050. Want die alternatief is net te verskriklik.

Hoe kies mens as jy geen keuse het nie?

Ons word daagliks hier in die industriele lande gebombardeer met die regte keuses en aksies wat ons moet neem vir die omgewing. Tog, as mens net bietjie onder die oppervlakte gaan krap is min van daardie keuses regtig beskikbaar. Meer nog, in derde wereld lande bestaan die infrastruktuur daarvoor nog nie.

Laas naweek het ons beplan om die ferry te vat Engeland toe om vir John se broer te gaan kuier. Ons sou lekker baie koolstof emmisies kon spaar deur nie te vlieg nie, en dan skuldloos lekker vakansie hou. Maar nee, die ferry is 4x duurder as die vlug! Selfs al is dit 4x so lank ook. Dan is daar nie n gereelde trein van Holyhead waar die ferry aankom inland nie, so ons sal die kar moet oorvat. En dan n halwe dag lank ry tot in Oxford. Om vir n naweek Engeland toe te gaan met die ferry van Dublin af, het ons na n paar uur agterkom, is heeltemal onprakties en onbekostigbaar. So moet ek nou my kop in skaamte laat sak en se ons het gevlieg.

Maar dit was dieselfde penarie met ons trippie Dingle toe. Mens kan die 200km of afle deur 4 ure met die kar te ry, oordat die paaie so om en dom en vol is, of ses ure met die trein ry en dan in elk geval daar n kar moet huur en nog meer as n uur tot by Dingle. Publieke vervoer bestaan net nie daar nie! So, dan klim jy maar in jou eie kar, want n naweek is net so lank.

Totdat die regering dit nie in hulle eie hande neem om publieke vervoer bruikbaar en bekostigbaar te maak nie, kan hulle nie van die bevolking verwag om die regte keuses oor leefstyl te maak nie. Maar nie net vervoer nie, elektrisiteit, behuising, dis als die regering se verantwoordelikheid om seker te maak ons het keuses om uit te voer. Die regering besluit waar om geld in te stoot, en keer op keer stel hulle ons terleur terwyl advertensies steeds voorhou dat ons kan en moet kies hoe ons wil leef.

Hier is slegs een elektrisiteit verskaffer. Geboue word met so min as moontlik nuwe tegnologie toegerus en ontwikkeling geld word slegs in paaie ingestoot. Toe ek die engelse treinstasies en treine sien het ek besef, hulle is ligjare vooruit en selfs daar bou hulle kool kragstasies, brei vir heathrow uit, stroop die green belt. Seid euch verruckt? Is ons mal?

In Suid Afrika is dit dieslfde storie. Eskom sukkel tans geweldig met krag omset. Nou offload hulle deur die gebied sonder krag elke paar ure te roteer, sodat almal in die pyn deel. Dis als goed en demokraties. Wat nie goed is nie is dat hulle die mense se krag verbruik beskuldig as die oorsaak vir die tekorte. Maar mense het geen ander keuse. Eskom is die enigste elektrisiteit verskaffer. Meer nog, daar is geen sonpanele of windkragopwekkers beskikbaar nie. In n land van sonskyn en wind, is dit skandalig. Eerder as om hierdie hulpbronne beskikbaar te maak draai die regering 'n blinde oog en se mense moet onthou om hulle ligte af te skakel. Mens bekragtig 'n bevolking deur hulle keuses te gee. Mens maak hulle mismoedig en desperaat deur hulle hande af te kap. Dit was aaklig om te hoor dat my skoonouers voel hulle enigste uitweg is om n diesel kragopwekker te koop. En ek wil nie eens aan die sekuriteitsrisikos dink wat gepaard gaan met beplande krag onderbrekings nie.

Dis die jaar 2007 en ons maak nogsteeds keuses uit die 1980's. Regerings laat nogsteeds grootskaalse uitbranding van woude, vissery, aviation, en uitbreiding van motorwee toe. Watter hoop is daar dan dat ons betyds n oplossing vir klimaatverandering gaan vind? Watter hoop is daar dat die verandering wat ek in my daaglikste bestaan probeer maak (en meestal vaal) 'n impak gaan he? Watter hoop is daar dat ons n werkbare oplossing voor 2015 gaan implementeer? Kanse lyk al skraler. En die volgende geslag gaan ons met ongeloof aankyk as hulle besef ons het teruggesit en op beter dae gewag. As daar ooit 'n tyd was om los te moet breek van regerings se leuens, valse voornemens en lee beloftes, dan is dit nou.

Regerings is deesdae te gemaklik, te goed gebuffer teen die bevolkings wie hulle skroef, en te ryk om aan enigiets anders as die bevordering van hulle eie rykdom te dink. Ons is weer in n posisie waar Marie Antionette ons uitlag en koek aanbied. Ons revolusie moet begin. Ek wil my kinders eendag in die oe kan kyk, en met trots kan se ek het hierteen baklei. De le Rey, De le Rey, daar's baie meer as boere trots wat tans in die weegskaal le, dis die mensdom se oorlewing waarvoor ons moet baklei.

Dis tyd om ons kwasi-demokratiese regerings reg oor die wereld te herinner dat die mensdom nog n stem het, en dat ons nie dankbaar is vir die grootskaalse verwoesting van ons wereld en onderontwikkeling van alternatiewe nie. Gee nie om wat die GDP is nie. Regerings het ons lank genoeg omgekoop met geld en goed. Dis tyd om te fokus en te begin DEMAND.

laat jou stem gehoor word!

15 Oktober is blok aksie dag! Hierdie jaar skreeu ons hard saam oor omgewing kwessies:

The starfish dilemma

www.who.int

The age old story contained in every "Chickensoup of the soul": a man walking along the beach comes across another guy, throwing starfish back into the ocean one by one. Asked why he even bothers since there are about a million washed up on the shore that will not be saved, and with millions more in the ocean he isn't really making a statistical difference; the wise, patient man replies "it made a difference for that one".

Now this is what all young doctors and hopefully people in most professions aspire to. Making a difference in that one person's life, saving a life, influencing it for the better or giving someone a second chance is so inspiring! But in modern society, we are forgetting the true meaning of the starfish story. In pursuing healthcare the way we are today, we are not only making a difference for that one, but also neglecting the others left over because of the way in which we are helping the lucky one.

An example: South Africa's exemplary health minister recently underwent a liver transplant. Now while the reasons behind her transplant are covered up and top secret, many aren't. For an alcoholic with liver failure to be allowed on to a transplant program that person needs to prove being alcohol free for a year. That's not too difficult and depending how much money or political power the person has, the timeframe is adjusted. A liver transplant costs $350,000. Now I am not joking. Please see the website for other complicated healthcare procedures. www.crossgrove.com/ces/cihospitalcosts.pdf

Now when a government allows procedures like these to slip into the healthcare budget of a developing country, eyebrows should start raising. How, it should be asked, can it be allowed to push that much money towards one person, a person who caused his own condition knowingly, to the detriment of basic care for so many others. The fact that it makes a difference for that one, at this point, is inexcusable.

Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital currently spends only R7m on new equipment purchase out of a budget of R1.1bn. Some newborn babies are put into cardboard boxes because there are no incubators for them. It is being argued that too much money is being spent on admin but in the same way it can be argued that health care is not being prioritised correctly.

In healthcare there is an important and oft forgotten saying "prevention is better than cure". How did we eradicate smallpox? By vaccinating everyone. How much did it cost? Less than a dollar per person. And how many lives did it save? More than two million. Prevention is cheaper, less invasive and more far-reaching than curative medicine.

Now it's not only childhood illnesses that can be prevented, saving governments thousands of dollars to use towards other, more pressing causes. The most interesting thing about prevention is its knock-on effect.

Here's an example: Get out of your car and switch off your telly = walk around for an hour every day --> prevent pollution and obesity --> prevent global warming(with all its disastrous health effects including heatstroke, malnutrition and migration for people you don't even know) and also heart attack, stroke, diabetes, colon cancer, hip fractures and all their side-effects for yourself.

Contrary to popular belief, this is well documented with studies done to prove it. See The Lancet for more info.

Another example closer to home: Stop alcoholism --> prevent alcohol induced injuries such as car accidents, fights and falls and sexual assault --> prevent the need for urgent CTscans, brain and orthopaedic operations. Also prevent unwanted pregnancy due to irrational behaviour, alcohol dependance, depression and suicide.

The elderly are a difficult example to explain without sounding ruthless. It's much easier to think of yourself in ten, twenty or fifty years' time. And then it's also very thought-provoking to hear how doctors feel when posed with the scenario for themselves: If you are 80 years old, had a stroke, are unable, to walk, talk or even write, would you want to be kept alive at all costs? My answer is no. Standing at your elderly relative's bedside, making a decision for her is much more difficult. But my decision would still be no. Modern healthcare innovations cause many such patients to survive up to five years with a feeding tube and catheter, a myriad of medications and confined to bed. They are also exposed to numeruos hospital admissions. The costs are great, but the human suffering brought on by the condition is not allayed through the costs. This is a pit no-one should drag an elderly relaive into.

Last example. Mandatory testing for HIV --> prevent undue spread of the disease and improve cmpliance with treatment --> prevent mother to child transmission, skin cancer, malnutrition, TB, meningitis, pneumonia and gastro-enteritis: the diseases that are currently laying SA's healthcare to waste. --> prevent the death of countless teachers, police, nurses, doctors, politicians, businesspeople and labourers that have skills to enrich the country.

There are a couple of reasons why societies are not willing to take a few simple steps to markedly improve the health of their people.

Politics. It's hardly ever about money, as it is simple to see that the savings involved in implementing simple preventative healthcare measures are vast. It's more about the money in the politician's pocket. If the alcohol company is allowed to advertise and sell freely, he will ensure the politician's campaign is well funded, same with the motor industry and a good few other industries!

Human nature. We are such trusting beings. So, if my president doesn't censure my alcohol use, why shouldd I? If it was bad for me, government would have regulated it, wouldn't they? If my president doesn't beileve the virus exists, what is the testing for, then?

Family bonds, or the lack thereof. It is only when there are relationship issues between family members that you would feel guilty about stopping treatment to allow them to go in peace. How many times have you spoken to your family about what you would want when you are not able to talk for yourself? Will they feel empowered to make the right decision for you? I can promise you this, no doctor I have spoken to wants a feeding tube. They all say the same thing. "I will go in peace."

Cowboys. The first heart transplant surgeon is about as useful to the average person as the first astronaut who landed on the moon. He is a celebrity. It was a major breakthrough. But was it neccessary? And to what cost? Everyone needs the best chance in life. But if I'm saving your life to prove how amazing I am, and to the detriment of a thousand others that could have been saved for a 1000th of the price, what are my primary pursuits?

In 1970 the WHO set up the Health for All in 2000 goals. These millennium goals are still not achieved even though the world has more than enough resources, money and capacity to do so. The correct channels are the only missing ingredient to vastly improving world health.

So, to conclude, instead of blindly throwing healthcare at the sickest person, it should be worked from the bottom up, to ensure that less and less people end up needing less and less healthcare. Maybe a starfish that has been washed up on the beach is already too weak to save. Maybe it's more important to ensure the others stay in the ocean where they belong. I have decided to start focusing away from the current dilemma that the current starfish is finding itself in, and maybe rather start curing the system that got it there.

over and out.

n roerende brief van n held se vrou

Why I'm fleeing South Africa

by Anne Paton (widow of Alan Paton)

London Sunday Times—DISPATCHES, Sunday, November 29, 1998

I am leaving South Africa. I have lived here for 35 years, and I shall leave with anguish. My home and my friends are here, but I am terrified. I know I shall be in trouble for saying so, because I am the widow of Alan Paton.

Fifty years ago he wrote Cry, The Beloved Country. He was an unknown schoolmaster and it was his first book, but it became a bestseller overnight. It was eventually translated into more than 20 languages and became a set book in schools all over the world. It has sold more than 15 million copies and still sells 100,000 copies a year.

As a result of the startling success of this book, my husband became famous for his impassioned speeches and writings, which brought to the notice of the world the suffering of the black man under apartheid.

He campaigned for Nelson Mandela's release from prison and he worked all his life for black majority rule. He was incredibly hopeful about the new South Africa that would follow the end of apartheid, but he died in 1988, aged 85.

I was so sorry he did not witness the euphoria and love at the time of the election in 1994.But I am glad he is not alive now. He would have been so distressed to see what has happened to his beloved country.

I love this country with a passion, but I cannot live here any more. I can no longer live slung about with panic buttons and gear locks. I am tired of driving with my car windows closed and the doors locked, tired of being afraid of stopping at red lights. I am tired of being constantly on the alert, having that sudden frisson of fear at the sight of a shadow by the gate, of a group of youths approaching - although nine times out of 10 they are innocent of harmful intent. Such is the suspicion that dogs us all.

Among my friends and the friends of my friends, I know of nine people who have been murdered in the past four years.

An old friend, an elderly lady, was raped and murdered by someone who broke into her home for no reason at all; another was shot at a garage.

We have a saying, "Don't fire the gardener", because of the belief that it is so often an inside job - the gardener who comes back and does you in.

All this may sound like paranoia, but it is not without reason. I have been hijacked, mugged and terrorised. A few years ago my car was taken from me at gunpoint. I was forced into the passenger seat. I sat there frozen. But just as one man jumped into the back and the other fumbled with the starter I opened the door and ran away. To this day I do not know how I did this. But I got away, still clutching my handbag.

On May I this year I was mugged in my home at three in the afternoon. I used to live in a community of big houses with big grounds in the countryside. It's still beautiful and green, but the big houses have been knocked down and people have moved into fenced complexes like the one in which I now live. Mine is in the suburbs of Durban, but they're springing up everywhere.

That afternoon I came home and omitted to close the security door. I went upstairs to lie down. After a while I thought I'd heard a noise, perhaps a bird or something. Without a qualm I got up and went to the landing; outside was a man. I screamed and two other men appeared. I was seized by the throat and almost throttled; I could feel myself losing consciousness.

My mouth was bound with Sellotape and I was threatened with my own knife (Girl Guide issue from long ago) and told: "If you make a sound, you die." My hands were tied tightly behind my back and I was thrown into the guest room and the door was shut. They took all the electronic equipment they could find, except the computer. They also, of course, took the car.

A few weeks later my new car was locked up in my fenced carport when I was woken by its alarm in the early hours of the morning. The thieves had removed the radio, having cut through the padlocks in order to bypass the electric control on the gates.

The last straw came a few weeks ago, shortly before my 71st birthday. I returned home in the middle of the afternoon and walked into my sitting room. Outside the window two men were breaking in. I retreated to the hall and pressed the panic alarm.

This time I had shut the front door on entering. By now I had become more cautious. Yet one of the men ran around the house, jumped over the fence and tried to batter down the front door. Meanwhile, his accomplice was breaking my sitting- room window with a hammer.

This took place while the sirens were shrieking, which was the frightening part. They kept coming, in broad daylight, while the alarm was going. They knew that there had to be a time lag of a few minutes before help arrived - enough time to dash off with the television and video recorder. In fact, the front-door assailant was caught and taken off to the cells. Recently I telephoned to ask the magistrate when I would be called as a witness. She told me she had let him off for lack of evidence. She said that banging on my door was not an offence, and how could I prove that his intent was hostile?

I have been careless in the past - razor wire and electric gates give one a feeling of security. Or at least, they did. But I am careless no longer. No fence - be it electric or not - no wall, no razor wire is really a deterrent to the determined intruder. Now my alarm is on all the time and my panic button hung round my neck. While some people say I have been unlucky, others say: "You are lucky not to have been raped or murdered." What kind of a society is this where one is considered "lucky" not to have been raped or murdered - yet?

A character in Cry, The Beloved Country says: "I have one great fear in my heart, that one day when they are turned to loving they will find we are turned to hating." And so it has come to pass. There is now more racial tension in this country than I have ever known.

But it is not just about black-on-white crime. It is about general lawlessness. Black people suffer more than the whites. They do not have access to private security firms, and there are no police stations near them in the townships and rural areas. They are the victims of most of the hijackings, rapes and murders. They cannot run away like the whites, who are streaming out of this country in their thousands.

President Mandela has referred to us who leave as "cowards" and says the country can do without us. So be it. But it takes a great deal of courage to uproot and start again. We are leaving because crime is rampaging through the land. The evils that beset this country now are blamed on the legacy of apartheid. One of the worst legacies of that time is that of the Bantu Education Act, which deliberately gave black people an inferior education.

The situation is exacerbated by the fact that criminals know that their chances of being caught are negligible; and if they are caught they will be free almost at once. So what is the answer? The government needs to get its priorities right. We need a powerful, well-trained and well-equipped police force.

Recently there was a robbery at a shopping centre in the afternoon. A call to the police station elicited the reply: "We have no transport." "Just walk then," said the caller; the police station is about a two-minute sprint from the shop in question. "We have no transport," came the reply again. Nobody arrived.

There is a quote from my husband's book: "Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that is the inheritor of our fear. Let him not love the earth too deeply. Let him not laugh too gladly when the water runs through his fingers, nor stand too silent when the setting sun makes red the veld with fire. Let him not be too moved when the birds of his land are singing, nor give too much of his heart to a mountain or a valley. For fear will rob him of all if he gives too much."

What has changed in half a century? A lot of people who were convinced that everything would be all right are disillusioned, though they don't want to admit it.

The government has many excellent schemes for improving the lot of the black man, who has been disadvantaged for so long. A great deal of money is spent in this direction. However, nothing can succeed while people live in such fear. Last week, about 10km from my home, an old couple were taken out and murdered in the garden. The wife had only one leg and was in a wheelchair. Yet they were stabbed and strangled - for very little money. They were the second old couple to be killed last week. It goes on and on, all the time; we have become a killing society.

As I prepare to return to England, a young man asked me the other day, in all innocence, if things were more peaceful there. "You see," he said, "I know of no other way of life than this. I cannot imagine anything different." What a tragic statement on the beloved country today. "Because the white man has power, we too want power," says Msimangu.

"But when a black man gets power, when he gets money, he is a great man if he is not corrupted. I have seen it often. He seeks power and money to put right what is wrong, and when he gets them, why, he enjoys the power and the money.
Now he can gratify his lusts, now he can arrange ways to get white man's liquor. I see only one hope for our country, and that is when white men and black men, desiring neither power nor money, but desiring only the good of their country, come together to work for it.

I have one great fear in my heart, that one day when they are turned to loving, they will find we are turned to hating."

Koolstof handel- Afrika se antwoord?

Koolstof handel is gebaseer daarop dat alle mense gelyk is, ewe veel koolstof mag produseer en ewe veel verantwoordelikheid moet dra vir wat hulle produseer. Deur koolstof emissie per capita te beperk ontstaan n mark in virtuele kapitaal wat gelyk staan aan geld maar deur almal besit word.

Wat gebeur tans?

Die grootste probleem met groenhuis gasse is dat alle lande nie ewe veel verantwoordelikheid dra vir die petjie waarin moeder aarde haarself bevind nie. Daar is n merkwaardige verskil tussen industriele lande en ontwikkelende lande. Die deursnit amerikaner is verantwoordelik vir 20 ton per jaar, brit vir 10 ton en indier of afrikaner n skamele 0.8 ton! (Die deursnit Suid-Afrikaner trek al by ongeveer 8 ton!)Waar industriele lande dan ook die reserwes het om hulle mense teen klimaat verandering te beskerm met invoer produkte en subsidies, bly ontwikkelende lande agter. So, die lande met die minste skuld, dra weereens die grootste las. Maar die wereld is reeds besig om die oplossing in werking te stel.

Wat is Kyoto?

Die Kyoto Protokol is n ooreenkoms onder die UNFCCC- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change- tussen die lande wat hulle daaraan bind om hulle koolstof emissie vlakke stabiel te hou onder n sekere vlak (gewoonlik die land se koolstof emissie vlak in 1990), of andersins om met die koolstof krediet wat hulle opbou handel te dryf. Cap and trade. Meer as 160 lande het dit onderteken. Die ooreenkoms loop in 2012 uit en daar is reeds in Mei 2007 aan n opvolg ooreenkoms begin werk.

Lande soos amerika en Australie wat weier om aan die Kyoto samesprekings deel te neem se posisie is nie regtig verdedigbaar nie. Dis als goed en wel om te se hulle sal eers sny as China begin saamspeel, maar China se per kapita vrystellings trek maar by 3 ton. Vir die deursnit Chinees om skielik beperk te word tot 1.5 ton as die deursnit amerikaner onder dieselfde wet teen 10 ton mag voortbeur is duidelik onregverdig. Ontwikkelende lande word tans vrygestel van enige cap of sny aksie. Die geval van China en Indie se uitmuntende groei en ontwikkeling is een van die kwessies wat in 2012 hersien sal word. Die Kyoto protokol is nie onder n hoender uitgebroei nie en Amerika skiet homself en die wereld aanhoudend in die voet deur daarvan te probeer weg wriemel.

Die enigste manier hoe konsensus bereik sal word is deur n wereldwye gelyke perk, ingestel op n vasgestelde datum. Dan, as die "cap" eers in plek is, kan mense, organisasies en lande met hulle reserwes begin handel dryf. Dus "cap and trade".

Regverdige Handel

Poetry in motion, sou my wiskunde onnie se, want ewe skielik is almal op gelyke voet. Rykes wat hulle weelderyke lewensstyl wil voort leef sal by armes kan handel dryf daarvoor, maatskappye sal besigheidstrategiee moet heroorweeg om die omgewing in ag te neem en arm lande sal uit eindelik nie meer uitgebuit word nie.

Afrika is bekend vir haar natuurlike bronne van rykdom. Ook bekend is die feit dat meeste van hierdie natuurlike bronne letterlik gesteel is tot voordeel van industriele lande in die Noorde. Onder huidige handelswette duur hierdie ongelyke gebruike voort. Die IMF en WTO draai n blinde oog en Afrika word al armer en warmer.
Onder n koolstof handel stelsel wat wereldwyd gestandardiseer is sal industriele lande nie meer toegelaat word om te boelie nie en sal ontwikkelende lande hulle mense beter kan voorberei op die verandering wat reeds in die klimaat plaasvind.

Hoe vorder ons?

Koolstof handel bestaan reeds. CCX is die Chicago Climate Exchange; Europa het n cap and trade stelsel; heelwat indiese NGO's neem reeds aan die handel deel. Suid Afrika is ongelukkig ver agter! Dat die eerste windplaas in Darling hierdie jaar eers aan boord gekom het is n skande as mens onthou dat SA die eerste hart oorgeplant het, dat Sasol een van die eerste maatskappye was om kool in petrol om te sit en dat ons die flippen grootste diamante in die wereld uit ons grond uit grou. Genugtig, wat het gebeur? Juis hieroor was ek skoon verlig toe ek op die World Bank website se nuutste projekte afdeling gesien het dat hulle wraggies van Julie af in Johannesburg sit om Suid Afrika op hoogte te kry met reels en regulasies om koolstof en groen elektrisiteit handel te bevorder. Kyk, n groter investment tip sal daar hierdie jaar nie wees nie.

Hoe sal dit werk?

So, koolstof handel sal soos geld werk. Elke ou kry elke jaar n sekere koolstof krediet. As jy brandstof ingooi, n vlug betaal of jou elektrisiteit rekening vereffen, word die regte bedrag krediet afgetrek. As jou krediet opraak, bestaan die moontlikheid om by iemand anders te koop, of op jou fiets te klim. Ewe skielik sal die slimmes en rykes nie die ouens met die groot karre en huise wees nie. n vervrissende kulturele- en gedragsverandering sal plaasvind. Klem sal verskuif vanaf blinde verbruiker- en ekonomiese groei na kwaliteit van lewe, herverbruik en bewaring. Tegnologiese ontwikkeling sal kreatiewe oplossings help vind en nie bloot op wins gefokus bly nie.

Kyk, niemand verwag n sewende hemel nie. Lewe sal voortgaan met al sy stres, sorge en vreugde. Maar dis juis die punt. As daar nie drasties aksie geneem word nie, sal die lewe binnekort grotendeels nie meer bestaan nie.

Rusland het laas week deur middel van n duikboot n vlag op die seevloer van die noord pool gaan plant. Dis waar die grootste ongetapde rou olie reserwe le. Amerika voel hulle vlag staan reeds jare bo-op die ys. As die wereld aan hou verwarm teen die huidige koers is daardie ys teen 2050 gesmelt en gaan n magtige stryd vir die olie ontstaan. Anders gesien, as daardie ys teen 2050 gesmelt is, is die mensdom teen 2100 ongeveer uitgeroei. Hectic!

Baie van hierdie inligting kom van Mark Lynas se boek 6 Degrees, en sy blog. Ook die webtuiste van die WTO en World Bank en die kaarte van www.worldmapper.org. Maar as jy na net een interessante blad wil gaan kyk: poodwaddle.com se horlosie.

klimaat verandering - 8 maniere om ons klimaat vroegtydig te stabiliseer en groot marakkas te voorkom!

Klimaat verandering- die nuwe naam waaronder "global warming" deesdae skuil steek al meer sy ongewensde kop uit. n Paar jaar gelede was dit net hippies en groentjies wat n hel omgegee het, maar noudat hel ons begin bekruip sit almal regop en gee aandag. Veral in die 1ste wereld lande word daar bietjie meer as gewoonlik geskarrel. Hoekom? Ons begin die pyn voel...Engeland kan dit dalk nog ignoreer as Wallis weer vloed, maar Oxford? En erger as ooit tevore? Australie se droogte begin regtig knyp, die monsoon het hierdie jaar nog rekords gebreek en ons moenie te vinnig vergeet van die groot gemors wat steeds New Orleand is nie. Ag, hel, dit sneeu in Johannesburg en vloed op die Cape Flats! Mens kan net soveel ignoreer.

Ok, Heuston we have a problem. Nou wat? Die ouens wat weet se dis tog nie so eenvoudig soos wat ons gehoop het nie. Dis nie jy alleenlik jy nie, dis meer almal tesame wat hierdie probeem gaan oplos. Nou kan ons ook se: sure, ons kinders sal slim genoeg wees om oor so 50 jaar gougou iets uit te figure. Dope. Dis dan te laat. Ons het tot 2015 om die wereld se klimaat te stabiliseer. Dis al.

Huh? Laat ek verduidelik. Die IPCC se konsensus is dat die wereld se temperatuur by 2' celcius warmer as nou moet stabiliseer om te verhoed dat natuur se eie afwaartse spiraal van verwarming inskop (wat sal veroorsaak dat die amazon woud, die pole se ys en die wereld se permafrost teen die einde van die eeu verdwyn). Gaan leer Mark Lynas se blog (in my skakels) vir die wetenskaplike weergawe hiervan.

So, vir ons om by 2' verwarmening te stop moet ons koolstof vlakke teen 2015 nie net stabiliseer nie, maar begin verminder. O s***.

China het laas maand vir amerika verbygesteek as die grootste skoorsteen op aarde en beide is redelik enorm. Europa se policies vorder nie vinnig genoeg nie en Australie se Howard volg amerika so slaafs na dat daar ook nie veel hoop is nie. Maar dorpe, stede, gemeenskappe, organisasies en besighede het begin om van onder af op te werk sodat teen die tyd dat regerings wakker skrik daar hopelik al n mate van infrastruktuur beskikbaar sal wees. Goed, waarmee hou hierdie groepe hulleself besig? 7 Mmaniere wat almal saam ons koolstof emissions(wat's n goeie afrikaanse woord?) gaan laat daal. Hier's hulle:

En onthou, dis nie die een of die ander nie- dis die hele spul saam, anders faal ons:

1. Halveer die afstand wat elke motor jaarliks afle
2. Halveer motors se brandstofverbruik
3. Bou 2 Miljoen 1 MW Windpompe wereldwyd
4. 2 Miljoen hektaar sonpanele wereldwyd
5. Stop die verwoesting van tropiese reenwoude en begin met grootskaalse woud aanplanting wereldwyd.
6. Dramatiese verhoging aan elektriese effektiwiteit van alle geboue, huise en fabrieke.
7. Biljoene tonne koolstof gaan in ou mynskagte ingepomp moet word.

Nie biofuels of nuclear energy is regtig noemenswaardig nie want beide het te veel newe effekte. Google hulle en sien self!

8. n "Cap and trade" stelsel vir koolstof en ander greenhouse gasses vir die toekoms. Al sewe die eerste oplossings gaan ons uitlatings(?) stabiliseer maar die slegs die 8ste een wat dit gaan verminder en daarsonder is ons net eenvoudig verlore.

Nou, min mense verstaan wat dit beteken, so more sal ek verder skryf oor wat presies dit vir ons sal beteken om n heel nuwe krediet stelsel op aarde te begin, en glo my, dis ver van slegte nuus!

Tot dan, nou moet ek eers bietjie gaan werk..

1000 mense in SA sterf vandag! Onvoorkombaar...

Vandag is n vent dag. Hierdie vent is 2 jaar "in the thinking" en dateer uit my gemeenskapsdiens jaar in Bethlehem,dit gee 6 fundamentele redes hoekom SA se pogings om HIV die see in te dryf so misrabel misluk. Die post is in engels geskryf want ek het dit op helium gepubliseer en hulle spellcheck aanvaar nog nie afrikaans nie. Geniet dit.

Talking about the effect of AIDS on Africa is like talking about the effect of global warming on the arctic ice cap. The full force of the situation only hits you when you're in the thick of it and realise that, probably, the tipping point has already been reached and the cascade is unstoppable.

When you stand in front of a giant glacier and watch it crash in to the sea, the inevitable catastrophe sends shivers down your spine. Walk into any government hospital in South Africa today and you get the exact same effect. Chilling. Walk by the myriad of fresh graves in any graveyard in South Africa and you would be excused for thinking the country is at war. Maybe it is.

The effect of AIDS crosses all boundaries. It is redefining culture, economics, religion, political stability, education, health and healthcare.

1. Not only are Africans faced with the dilemma of having to face up to the fact that their traditions are no longer protecting them against evil but their very definition of intimate relationships is also being redefined. A woman is getting AIDS from her husband, he got it from a far off city where prostitutes and shebeens have been a way of life for a long time. Women are giving it to their children. Who else is supposed to nurture and care for their children? Who else can take on that role. No-one, nature has us up against the wall.

2. Inevitably the economics of any country ravished by AIDS will suffer. The very workforce, the drive of the economy is dying, and with it competition, consumerism and all efficiency. South Africa's saving grace thus far has been the large amount of "reserves" not partaking in the economy at all. A country with an unemployment rate of 25% and no doll has a few willing hands to spare. Not for long, though. In certain areas the shortfall is already being experienced.

3. The education sector is badly understaffed with most schools not running at full capacity. 20% of teachers are HIV positive. This has a direct effect on the quality of the country's future workforce and thus on it's competitiveness in the global arena. An individual's education is the only thing that gives him/her the power to choose a different way of life than the well-known road of poverty, child prostitution and crime.

4. Not only is the healthcare system being stretched to the limit by the influx of new patients, many healthcare workers themselves are infected, on treatment, dead or dying. 1000 People die of AIDS in South Africa daily. The recruitment cannot keep up with losses because few of the unemployed masses have the right qualifications to work in healthcare. Many basic nursing duties in primary level clinics are already being carried out by volunteers with no training receiving no payment. This, of course increases their chance for infection too. The devastating effect of TB in conjunction with AIDS falls beyond the scope of this article.

5. Religion and traditional beliefs also have to be redefined. Many know of the furor caused by the spread of the superstitious belief that raping a virgin will cure you from AIDS. Many of South Africa's girls lose their virginity through rape, not some. The deputy prime minister's stint in court when he proclaimed that having a shower will protect him from any infection didn't improve the world's view on SA's arrogance and ignorance. Women need to prove fertility before being offered marriage, how can condoms then be a viable option for them? Many people still go to the local sangoma or church for miracle cures before going to the hospital, inevitably arriving "at death's door" due to procrastination, leading to the widespread belief that hospitals are the cause of death.

6. Many government policies directly oppose HIV prevention strategies. An impoverished woman cannot get a state subsidy for herself, only for her children. Her children only get grants up to the age of 14. Now, how in their right minds are these young girls going to abstain from trying to reproduce? Furthermore, the state pays a subsidy for AIDS but not for HIV infection. It also pays a subsidy for active TB which stops once treatment stops. Now, it is understandable that the government needs to draw the line somewhere because there is only so much money available in the national treasure chest. But to the man om the street it is pretty obvious that he is being paid to be sick.

Government is going about the management and prevention of AIDS the wrong way, it started much too late and is dragging it's feet unneccesarily. Government had to be taken to court by the TAC to be forced to start antiretroviral therapy for pregnant women, prisoners and finally the general populace. It does seem like an easy equation to let the people who are the biggest burden on government subsidies and healthcare and invariably then the country's economic stability rather just die. On the other hand, it also sounds alot like genocide if the health minister backs up her decisions by maintaining the disease simply doesn't exist.

The future for AIDS in South Africa looks rosy. The future for the people of South Africa? The Chinese have a saying- may you live in interesting times. It's up to you to figure out if it's a blessing or a curse. The battle against AIDS happens on a one by one basis. You make your decisions. You choose. You choose who you sleep with, you choose who to trust with your health, you choose to take the medication offered to you, you choose which charity to support, you choose to pay your taxes, you choose for whom you vote. Remember, you choose.

Oor en uit

Is jy ook 'n expat wat met Bok van Blerk identifiseer?

Wat is n cosmo boer?

(Ek het op die term se ouer sussie afgekom in 'n boek "The Pope's Children" deur David McWilliams. Dis n briljante boek. Ierland se ontwikkeling het baie in gemeen met SA s'n. Ek het baie van myself geleer deur dit te lees.)

Dis n kombinasie van twee goed- everything cosmopolitan- dit wat maak dat ons transvaal, vrystaat, kaap en natal boertjies ewe skielik met vlot engelse bekkies ons weg deur die wereld navigate. Ons weet van dinge, ons werk en speel in die wereld en op die internet. Ons sien (ongelukkig) bietjie neer op mense met ingegrynde idees oor hulle nie bereid is om die sprong te vat en die wereld te sien nie. Ons sien die wereld, en ken die wereld. Londen se underground is nie meer snaaks nie, Ierse busse is al n slagspreuk vir alles wat laat en onbetroubaar is, Perth is soos n tweede tuiste ons het so baie familie daar, Nieu Seeland se hospitale teem van ons. Chicago, New York, been there, done that. Ons weet hoe om goed gedoen te kry, om die goedkoopste kaartjies huistoe te kry oor kersfees, om in touch te bly met skype en blog en facebook. Ons staan ons man in die werkarena en hulle hou van ons. Hulle dink ons aksent is sexy (veral nadat Leonardo diCaprio so hard probeer het in Black Diamond) en hulle dink ons is slim en betroubaar. Ons het nie tyd vir rassisme en blaam nie. En ons weet ons kan n goeie lewe he hier in die koue en renerige ander lande.

Maar hier is die ander deel- boer. Dammit, dis nou maar net eenvoudig in jou en daar sal dit bly! Ons droom van donderweer en weerlig, rooi grond en blou lug en warm son en n see met golwe. Ons begin eers gemaklik praat as ons Afrikaans praat (selfs mense soos ek wat in engels skoolgegaan het!) Braaivleis proe net nie reg sonder chaka kole nie en tee is rooibostee. Maar dit moet meer wees as dit. n Mens leef tog nie net van kos en landskap nie. En ook nie net die taal nie. Maar daar is ook die kerk, vooraf se beskuit en koffie om die kombuistafel en dan Sondagmiddagete saam met familie en gaan stap om die blok met die hond, en middagslapies in die skaduwee, en carte blanche en die 8uur movie. Dis n hele samevatting van wat ons onthou wat die heel lekkerste was en hoe dit ons gevorm het en hoe al daai goed aanmekaar gebind is deur die mense met wie ons dit deel. Ons wil he ons kinders moet dit eendag beleef. En ons doen ons bes om dit te onthou. Ons vlieg elke Desember terug want "Desember is my familie reunie.."Karen Zoid

Ons is cosmo boere omdat ons huil as ons De La Rey se liedjie hoor, Karen Zoid se Afrikaners is plesierig, Stef Bos se Witsand. Maar ons weier om in n land te woon waar jou kans om of vermoor of verkrag te word, of vigs te kry, so hoog is dat jy later soveel daaroor stres dat jy vergeet wie of wat jy is. Ek moes in Ierland kom sit om te besef hoe ek regtig voel want hier het ek ruimte om te dink. Finansiele-, politieke- en Sekuriteitsvryheid as'tware. Party gaan sit op Rosendal, daarvoor is ek nog te jonk...maar ek droom daarvan. Ons, wie se voete nog jeuk, werk nou maar hier oor die see, spaar en contemplate ons toekoms. En hopelik wanneer ons rustig geword het en dinge uitgefigure het, sal ons kan teruggaan en ons wit velletjies weer n ordentlike sokkie- en kortmou tan gee!

So hierdie blog is tweeledig...dit wat boer is en dit wat cosmopolitan is, nes ek en baie van ons. Dit sal gaan oor die goed wat na aan my hart le. Dis nie n dagboek nie, meer n ideeboek. Voel vry om jou eie idees oor ons nuwe kulturele ontwaking hier te skryf. Voel ook vry om my spelling en taal te korrigeer ;-) Ek het nie verniet vir my ma gevra om bietjie n tweetalige woordeboek oor te pos nie!

Oor en uit.