Imtiaz Sooliman – Haiti Tribute Cape Town Gift of the Givers Foundation
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the history and culture of South Africa, including black people from South Africa and the rainbow nation of God. They talk about the success of South African and South African teams in bringing together people from different cultures and their unique ways of understanding and appreciating each other. They thank God for bringing them together and appreciate each other for their respective ways of life.
AI: Summary ©
What a great morning.
What a great experience
in the spirituality of the St George's cathedral among great
religious leaders and people from diverse faiths in this church
today, in this cathedral,
I know God Almighty is smiling today
because he said,
we created man from a pair of a male and a female,
and made you into nations and tribes that you may know each
other,
not that you may despise each other.
Verily, the most honored of you in the sight of God Almighty, is he
who is the most righteous of you. And it doesn't matter from which
religion you come.
Religious leaders have shown maturity. Followers have shown
maturity that we could unite together for the memory of those
who have suffered in another part of the world, but actually,
Haiti has done more for us than we have done for Haiti. I'm
going to tell you a story.
A few years ago, I was at an airport in Blantyre,
and I met a malavian diplomat, and he said to me, my friend, you
know, in Africa, we are always behind and we are always battling,
but I want to tell you a story. He said, many years ago, I was in a
conference in Europe, and
they were discussing a lot of issues about the world, and this
conference took three days. He said, at the end of three days, I
realized that the only word not mentioned in the conference was
the word Africa. And
I'm wondering why they spoke about Australia, New Zealand, America,
and all other countries in the Middle East and Europe and Asia,
but not one mention of the word Africa. So
he said there were not many diplomats in this conference, and
we felt a little shy because we are always begging and we don't
have faith in ourselves.
And after the third day, I mustered a little bit of courage
to go and speak to the convener of the conference, after supper,
after the big farewell dinner,
and I said, my friend,
we've come from Africa. We've been studying for three days in this
conference. How come? How come? Nobody mentioned the word Africa,
even once,
he said, Do you know what he said to me?
He said to me that Africa is not relevant.
Well, brothers and sisters and members of the faith, on the 19th
of January, 2010
in the late afternoon,
Ahmed bam, JC and the team from the north west made South Africa
relevant, and they made Africa relevant when they pulled out 64
year old nrzizi, in full view of the international media, they made
humanity relevant, and they showed ya in South Africa and Africa, we
can be counted among the Best in the world because they took out
Anna's easy, 64 year old lady from the Cathedral Church.
Not only did we become relevant when Anna came out, she said, I
love you and I love God from several 1000 kilometers away, we
rekindle the feet of God Almighty in the individual line for seven
days in the rubble. If we can do that, then it means God Almighty
is smiling on us. A few days later, big Africana guy like this
and his team went and they got on the floor and they washed the
walls of the cathedral to prepare al mekhis hospital, to do the
amputations and to do things service for the poor people of
Haiti. Haiti is Africa. It is us. It is our people. We are the
slaves that came from Africa, and we went to the rescue of our
brothers and sisters, not looking at color, not looking at religion,
not looking at class or politics or geography, we went as a common
humanity. And when the mixed team came, and I tell you about the
mixed team, anywhere in the world you go, when you see Chinese, they
look the same. When you see Japanese, they look the same. When
you see them from India, they look the same. Because when you see
them from Europe, they look the same. But when you see them from
South Africa, they look confusing. I and they asked, What is this?
One big white Afrikaner, one other white guy speaks English accent,
an Indian guy, a Hindu guy, a black guy. What a different
African language. What is this? This is the rainbow nation of God
Almighty from this country. I.
The rainbow nation that we sometimes are destroying, what
petty fights and conflicts and negativity we are all brothers in
faith, brothers in humanity. I'm going to send a mixed team across
who were taught Africa, and a Christian and an Indian Muslim
would go together with black people from South Africa to help
people in the other part of the world, but God smiled on our
country. He brought peace and harmony and understanding and
rationality. So when they went across, and when the medical teams
followed, what happened? When the Americans saw them and the friends
saw them sitting there, they said, there is no equipment, no X ray
machine, no MRI scan. We don't know how to operate on these
people. And the South Africans went there and said, This is a
breeze for us. We can do anything. And they got down to work while
everybody from the first world stood back. South Africans got
into the middle of it at the Seven Day Adventist Hospital. So much so
give them due to the Americans and the French, they acknowledged.
They said, if you want service, come to the Dream Team. The Dream
Team is from South Africa.
We made South Africa and Africa relevant because we went together,
not on ego, not for favors. We went as human beings, as a common
humanity, to our brothers and sisters on the other part of the
world, they were tired. Ahmed and JC and his team, they got there
late in the morning. Came for 44 hours and longer to get there, and
the first night within few hours of sleeping, gun shots outside the
compound, bullets hitting the gates. But that did not deter them
from doing their service, to their country, to their people, to their
continent, and for the people of Haiti, these are examples for all
of us to follow, brothers and sisters, the religious leaders
have set the trend. It is time we understand and appreciate each
other for the common cause of this country, this continent and the
world over. South Africans have made us proud. Little children in
schools took their 50 cents and one Rand the day's money, pocket
money. And they're not rich. They come from poor homes where there's
not enough food, and every day they collected in a poor school
and raised 9700
Rand from that money they stayed without things on the taksha for
the whole week, Catholic schools, ellicotts, churches, mosque,
temples, all of South Africa has got together so much so that we
managed to send in more than 12 million bands of aid. As we speak
now, 27 containers of aid are on the ship on the way to Haiti,
because of your efforts, because of your love, because of your
prayer. Let us stand together enjoy this unity in diversity, and
don't enjoy the unity in the different religious ways, because
the parts of God to the paths to God are many. Is not one. God is
diverse. His creation is diverse. His humanity is diverse. So the
paths to him are diverse. It is not a means of conflict. It's a
means of understanding, of appreciating, of enjoying and
coming together. My special thanks to the Saint George's cathedral,
to Archbishop Mahoba, Reverend brotherwood, and all the religious
people are here, people from my organization, the marshals on the
road, the police, the premier, the Premier's representative, and
everybody who's made this a success. And finally, thanks to
God Almighty for bringing us together as human beings. Thank
you very much. Thank.