Imtiaz Sooliman – News 24 Live

			Music. Morton, author of imtia
Suleiman, and gift of the givers
		

			is Joining me in studio now he's
going to introduce us to his book.
		

			Welcome. Thank you, Jennifer,
thank you for sitting down with me
		

			now. This book documents the work
the gift of the givers has done
		

			directly from the beginning. Why
don't you introduce me to how it
		

			came about? Why did you sit down
and write this story? Well, the
		

			reason I sat down and write it was
because I was asked to write it. I
		

			got a reason, a very good reason.
Yes, in fact, I got a telephone
		

			call from the publisher, Louis
Grantham from bookstores
		

			publications, at the end of last
year, and she said, you know,
		

			we're going to be doing a book on
gift of the givers. And she put Dr
		

			Suleiman on the line. Now, I've
known Dr Suleiman for more than 20
		

			years, and he said, Shafik, we are
going to be doing this book, and
		

			I'm requesting, can you write the
book now, Dr Suleiman has got two
		

			tones of voice. One is pass me the
salt, which means you don't really
		

			have to and the other one is pass
me the salt, which means you
		

			better do it. You better do it.
Yes, so I got the message. But on
		

			a more serious note, it was
actually, it was a bolt from the
		

			blue, but it was actually
something very exciting, because
		

			give to the givers is Africa's
biggest aid organization,
		

			homegrown South African aid
organization. It's done 41
		

			missions in overseas countries to
the tune of 1.2 billion rand, and
		

			runs 21 local projects. That's
just the tip of the iceberg. So
		

			for me, it was something big. It's
a big organization, and it was a
		

			big opportunity. Now, we often
hear about gifted givers working
		

			overseas, but in fact, they do a
lot of work here in South Africa,
		

			and that's documented in the book.
Can you tell me about the story
		

			that sticks up most for you that
you wrote in here about a mission
		

			that was done right here in South
Africa? Well, in fact, there's so
		

			many things. I mean, there's so
many projects. There's the
		

			Adelaide Tambo special school. It
was a dying wish of Adelaide Tambo
		

			that this school stay and be
maintained and give to the givers.
		

			Took upon her dying wish and to
this very day, give to the givers.
		

			Is one of the main donors to the
Adelaide Tambo special school in
		

			Soweto. That's just one example.
There's also the sibusisu project,
		

			which is a special nutritional
food that is manufactured in
		

			Malawi using African products for
Africans, which is a revolutionary
		

			product, and people can take it
and it gives you nutrition. It
		

			stops starvation. They call it a
wonder food. It is a wonder food.
		

			And this is just something else
that sticks in my mind now, for
		

			everyone watching this video, what
do you hope they take away from
		

			this book? Well, what they must
take away from the book? Number
		

			one, this is a South African
story. It's a good South African
		

			story. It's a story of optimism,
and it's a story of what can be
		

			done, as opposed to what can't be
done. Shafiq, thank you so much
		

			for introducing us to the book and
sitting down with me. You can get
		

			MTS, sillyman and gift of the
givers at all good bookstores you.