Imtiaz Sooliman – on his book ‘A Mercy To All’
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of gifting and creating a community in South Africa, including their grandfather and father having compassionate behavior during the military. They also share their first humanitarian project in Mozambique and discuss their grandfather's family's goodwill for their children. The speakers emphasize the need for donations to help save children and emphasize the importance of helping businesses and individuals to help those in need. They also mention criticism of Band Aid and a sad story about a gift.
AI: Summary ©
I written a book called MTS sulaman and the gift of the givers
a mercy to all. So how do you survive as a giver, and how do you
get businesses to open their bank accounts when times are so tough?
Well, to discuss, we're now joined by MTS Suleiman. It's great to
have you here. Thanks. So this was so interesting because it's the
first time I've been able to to really understand where you come
from. Obviously, you're in the news a lot, but, but so I see your
family comes from Gujarat. You had this entrepreneurial modeling, but
that you saw there was a generous side as as well. So just tell me a
little bit about the childhood context that that molded you. The
family is a very simple family that came from India. You know,
three to four generations ago, great grandfather came to South
Africa. My grandfather was born here. My father was born here. And
even Indian people, if there's a family business, most of us
continue in the family business. And my father took over and stood
with his father in the shop. And his father was with the
grandfather, and I was with my father that kind of issue. But
what was interesting is we, our customers, were mostly poor
African people and black people in where we were in Project room. You
know, we come from projects room, and it was a system that was not
cash. It was always an account. But we would the compassionate
part would come when a man would come and say, You know what, I
don't have enough money, but I got so much to pay. And my grandfather
and father would say, It's okay, you can take the stuff, and then
the same man will come a little later and say, You know what, I
got a funeral in the family. I owe you for one and number two, but I
had money for the funeral, and they would give for the funeral
also. So it was that kind of compassion that gave us a lot of
customers. And it wasn't business. It was a family. Everybody became
a friend you knew by his nickname. You know how many children he had,
where you came from, what you did. So that's how it started off. And
I guess it's a mini model of what people are saying, on a big level,
that you create goodwill in the community by being a business with
a heart. Well, Goodwill is one of the key things of the
organization. We're getting the goodwill of South Africa and the
goodwill of Africa wherever we go. And you know, you always get a
sentiment. The first thing they would say, we knew South Africa
will not let us down. It's a general statement, because, of
course, this mission that it's going it's about the good rule of
people across race, across religion, across class, and it's
goodness of people that makes these missions work. Okay, so gift
of the givers. You talked about your first humanitarian project in
Mozambique. I think it was explain how it snowballed after that,
because you've covered tsunamis, you've been all over Africa.
You've been everywhere. Basically, I met a religious teacher in 92
but this is a business program. I won't go into the details. He just
said, form the organization is an instruction for you for the rest
of your life. And he told me it will get big. But in 92 when he
told me, I don't really envisage what she was talking about, I
thought maybe one project now and then in between, some work, to the
point that in 94 to close my surgery, I had a choice between my
private, private practice and this. But every time I met him, he
said it will get bigger, and by the time the tsunami came, I
understood what this man was talking about, that this thing is
not only a disaster response agency. We have 21 different
categories of projects. Entrepreneurship is part of them,
bursaries, education, water wells, agriculture, sustainability.
There's a whole range of things that happen. And it's more
spiritual. Let's put it this way, it's more spiritual instruction.
And you feel the spiritual dimensions coming through
everything that you do, the goodwill, the generosity, the
compassion, the service to people, everything comes through that. So
you can do it because it has meaning for you. Just give us a
taste of what you've seen, and it's horrible. But what is the
worst you've seen? Perhaps there's terrible than most of the machines
I've seen. But let's take a case in Somalia, there's people walk
400 kilometers because of famine. On the way people die because
they're too tired or they're too angry. You get to a place it's
completely broken down by war. Remember, it's 21 years of war.
Everybody's leaving the country. We are coming into the country. We
set up broken broken down buildings as a medical center. You
see a parent and you see a child. We as a seven year child, where's
the rest of the family? The seven year old child says we were
walking. My father was very tired. My brother was very tired. They
were thirsty and hungry. We left them underway. They probably did,
and not one story, several stories like this. So when we go in, we
start saving the lives of children in Niger, when you find the
parents come, they only bring the child for treatment. Every adult
doesn't come for treatment. Why? Because five children, they are
dying of starvation in the house, so they only bring the kids for
treatment and nothing else. And when you look at the kid and you
do this, you don't even treat the child. You say, your kid is dying,
leave us alone, because we need to save the other kids that are
dying, and they will give you a big smile and walk
away. Does this still appeal to business right now? We know we're
in this tight economy. You need the donations to come in. You need
doctors, a whole lot of people, to give up their time to come with
you. You need coordination. Stuff. Is that appeal working? Is it
getting harder? We don't appeal. That's the best part of it. All
people, the media travels with us. They know what we do. And South
Africans.
Are very Ubuntu driven. They feel the compassion, you know, they I
mean, they show the compassion, they feel the pain of people in
all in this country and outside the country. And you would find
out each year, the greater the depression and the economic
crisis, the more support we get. It's incredible, you know, every
year the figures get bigger, both in terms of cash and in terms of
kind supplies coming. This is a business show, and I think it's
actually an opportunity to mention any businesses you want to or is
it more individuals? Is it? Is it just from all over? You mean, you
don't mind mentioning the names? I don't mind because I think it's a
good time to say who's being generous right now, Unilever.
Unilever gives us between 15 and 20 million randwert supplies a
year. There's not a day our trucks don't pick up 20 to 25 pallets of
supplies from them. In fact, they flood us to the point we can't
even cope the way the stuff comes in. They've been very generous to
us. You know. I mean, nobody can compare what you need to live. Of
course, Nestle has been supporting us now in coming to the party, and
there are other companies, app size, supported us. You know,
Standard Bank to some extent, but mostly it comes from ordinary
people. And most of our donations are from ordinary people. 550, 100
it's volume, and people feel for it in volume. So South Africans
are South Africans are behind us. It's the whole country is over.
Well, my final question, and it's so interesting we're talking
today, because I don't know if you've seen on Twitter, there's a
lot of criticism about Band Aid. 30. Bob Geldof, the musicians who
are doing something for West Africa. They're not using West
African bands, just a lot of criticism that is patronizing
about Africa. And at least it's something, I guess. And I want to
ask you how, how do ordinary people start? What do you think is
the best way of giving when we're in this world where the needs are
overwhelming, start with those next to you. People always try to
find something further away. Giving is about your own
personality. It's not about somebody faux it's about you. You
have to find that compassion within yourself to say, Okay, I
don't have much, but I have half a loaf of bread. My neighbor next
door got no bread, so let me give him some of my slices. And that's
I give an example again, in Niger, when we gave people food, it ran
out eventually, and when they went out, those who received took from
their share and gave to others who did not get anything. But remember
the context, nine months of famine, no food in the house, no
agriculture, locusts in the crops, no drought, no water. They don't
know who's coming next. In that context, they took and they shared
and they gave the neighbor. Not many left food for their kids by
the next five days, that same context applies to South Africa
and all over the world. You worry, you consider yourself, but you
look at your fellow man immediately. Not five months
later, what a sad but beautiful story to end off with. Thank you
so much. That was in tears. Solomon, the founder and head of
gift of the gift.