Imtiaz Sooliman – Gift of the Givers Foundation turning 26

Uh from Peter Maritzburg in KwaZulu Natal by the gift of the

givers. Founder, Doctor Imtiaz silaman, Dr Suleman, welcome and

thank you so much. Happy birthday.

Thank you very much for the birthday, and thank you for the

for the introduction

26 years of giving back and serving. How has that been? Remind

us of the foundations of gift of the givers.

It's very, very strange. You know? It was not something I envisaged.

I met a spiritual teacher in Istanbul in

1992

and he said to me, my son,

I'm not asking you,

I'm instructing you

to form an organization.

The name will be gift of the givers.

You will serve all people

of all races,

of all religions,

of all colors, all

cultures,

classes, and you will serve them unconditionally. You

will not expect even a thank you. This

is an instruction for you for the rest of your life,

and that's how it started.

Most of us meet people like that in our lives who say, you know,

this is the way you should go. What is it about how this was said

that made you believe in it so much and want to implement it

the setting that I was in, the the spiritual place, the kind the kind

of people that I saw,

they were from all religions,

all countries,

and there was a harmonious love between them.

At that time, it was post Gulf War,

and the world was polarized,

and then to see such harmony between people

of different religions, told

me there was something special about this place.

And My heart fell in love with the teacher instantly. And I

realized this was something I had to do.

Dr Suleman, what was the NGO's first relief mission

Bosnia? I met the teacher in August 92 and

immediately we responded to the civil war in Bosnia

in August. We took in 31 containers of eight.

In November, another eight containers of eight,

and then in 93

we built the world's first

containerized mobile hospital,

a product of African technology,

and took it to Europe.

This hospital has saved 1000s of lives

and 1000s of children were born here

you speak about the project you did in Bosnia and all over the

world, so much so that in your early days, people couldn't

believe that you're actually a South African organization. But

I've done a story with you in Alexandra, where you were building

houses. Tell us about some of the big needs that you found here in

South Africa,

the strange thing is, our involvement in South Africa was

always bigger than this national

but it was not fancy for the media

to cover those stories. It

was not sensationalist, like

the disasters and the wars that we respond to.

But over time, the the media in South Africa has covered a local

studies in a much bigger way

that housing project they destroyed Alexandra

was a response to the repeated floods in the Jack scaraway

where we said, No more help for flood pickups.

We need to do something more permanent and

sustainable, and

that's when we got land from the city council

and designed that housing village.

It's one of its kind of the country

where people have houses that are fire resistant,

not fireproof,

but fire resistant,

which which it's spaced out,

and people can live clearly and comfortably.

It has its own ablution block.

It has its own kitchen.

It has its own garden. It

has a security fence.

It's paved.

It has solar power,

and kids have their own playground. It's

something that can be replicated throughout South Africa. What

you're talking about is so important this morning we wake up

to the news that about 50 Czechs were burnt down in the Kathrada

informal settlements. Why aren't you imparting these these lessons

to government, about, as you say, the structures that you have built

that are fire proof.

We are in communications with the human settles ministry

for quite some time now,

what, Sir, Minister Sulu,

and then now do my Indian for keto,

and they love our concept, and

there's a possibility that soon they

will be asking us to replicate this in many areas in the country,

but specifically in crisis where there's fires and plants.

Doctor Sula, Suleman, it's time to wrap up, which is unfortunate

because there's so much to talk to you about your work with Stephen

McGowan, and how your work is not always about big disasters, but

sometimes about individuals. Just quickly wrap up for us, what are

your challenges now going forward?

What our degree of the organization

and people coming know about us locally and internationally.

The demands are getting greater.

Right now. We have more requests to get involved in hostage

situations,

more requests to have in the country in the draft area

to have an education, health and housing.

So in short, the demands are much greater than our resources can

cater for,

and the time is less compared to the amount of work adjustable.

But we keep trying and plodding on. I

Well, we wish you God's blessings on this day, and we hope there's a

way to celebrate Dr imtia Suleiman talking to us about gift of the

givers turning 26 years of giving and serving.

Let's take a break. You.