The other day I was in Diepsloot, the sun was setting as I arrived to meet Justice, in my trying to figure my world, I had a few items that I could share with him, and as we unloaded my car, me thanking him for making himself available for this drop off I turned to get into my car only to see the most majestic colours in the sky… the sun was setting in a way I had not seen it in a while… the sun was perfectly round and huuuuge… and the colours… I turned to look at Justice and pointed back at the sunset and he looked back at me and said yes, its getting late, I said no.. look at the colours!! look at the sunset!! … he smiled and said yes with an accommodating smile, I in that moment took a step back to see outside of this sunset.
The sun was setting over houses that are on top of each other, some of the houses are shacks (corrugated iron), some built with normal building materials and humans coming from work and and and,
I had never driven into Diepsloot before, i’d often driven past it.
In a mixture of embarrassment and sadness, I said my goodbyes and headed out, as I drove, the wonder of if the best things in life really are free and the privileged position that stance is.
The best things are free when you have food at home to eat before you go to school and when you come back, the best things being free is having shelter for the nights that follow each day, the best thing is having your parents be available and accessible and maybe, just maybe, have them be present amongst the other parents to watch your sports matches... for the best things to be free, it requires for your hierarchy of needs to be met.
So the expectation that everyone could be in awe of this sunset, or care for the ocean and pollution when, or single use plastic when.. is rich.
As I stood in my privilege I wondered how collectively, we could meet the needs of communities living in harder spaces, what dignity looks like and at the end of it, if sunsets and care for the environment could be something that we could then introduce… where these most magnificent things from the mother were accessible to all and their awe could be witnessed by all, and if that was even possible… would that require for us to end the worlds problems and then maybe?
I've always known we can’t look to government for everything, there is a requirement for us too, as mere humans to look to bridge the gap.
The question being, how do we save each other continuously… how do we care enough to financially empower the communities that live around us too… and maybe then, when we look to get petitions signed, 'they' could begin to care for ‘our’ causes that becomes 'their' cause too because we are a community instead of movements that have always felt like a niche. Ridding the world of calls to the community by soup kitchening for signatures, but to truly care.
This is how we bring change, connected communities, past income differentials, the care.. and in this care, we finally begin to make government, servants to its people.
A thought.
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Last week we had an incredibly fiery woman join us talking ocean conservation, representation, community and the need for locals to take the lead in conserving their lands and oceans, meet Veta Wade. Listen here
@vetawade is a thought leader in the Ocean arena and I can’t wait to engage! Read more about her ⬇️
Veta is the founder of Fish ' N Fins Inc. ( Finalist in 2020 Global Ocean Awards ) a non-profit founded on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, that teaches children to swim, snorkel and get involved in marine science.
Veta also founded the AQUA Caribbean Blue Economy Conference in 2020, a gathering space for resources, information and action steps to support a blue economy that put ordinary native people of the region as the main drivers and beneficiaries, and provides a pathway for international organizations to work more collaboratively with them.
Her work focuses on innovations that are restorative, and put diversity, equity, and inclusion are at their core.
Listen here
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