Happy birthday, Madiba. May you be blessed with health and strength for the rest of your days. My you be surrounded by  love and kindness every day of your life.

Its been heartening to see the initiatives taken by people all over the world to honour this amazing man on Mandela Day, July 18th. But I’ve been thinking about what we should really be doing to make a meaningful change in other peoples lives. Our first instinct is to rush out and give ‘things’ to the needy, and in our country, there are sadly many, many needy people.

Is this solving the long term problem, or is this just giving a short-lived solution to a deeper, more desperate situation?  Perhaps our 67 minutes would be better spent on thinking deeply, examining our lives and making a pledge to make  a difference in someone else’s life every day, from now onwards.

Teach someone to grow a veggie garden, participate in helping someone learn to read,  mobilise big business to support education in local communities, find out about green living, and preserve our amazing  planet for the new generations.

“Each individual has the power to transform the World, the ability to make an imprint”

“Change has to start somewhere. It can start with you”