Ashley Mwanza

As the year comes to an end, it’s time to really stop and reflect on the past 12 months. Did I get everything done that I wanted? What am I grateful for in my life? What did I want to do, but really never did accomplish?

As I think about these questions, I also think about my goals for the new year. Am I going to call them my New Year’s Resolutions? Nope. See, to me it seems most people make New Year’s Resolutions at midnight on 31 December. Then probably go full force with them for say 2 weeks. Then they start to slip away from our minds. Oscar Wilde once said: “Good resolutions simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account.”

Mine are solid goals. Why? What makes them different? I am starting now. As I said, I am reflecting on 2010 and seeing what I loved, liked and yes disliked throughout the year. I am seeing what I want now, which many call dreams, but I call them my goals. I am not only writing them down, I am making a plan of action to achieve them. I am starting today (actually, I already started) so that they are not my New Year’s Resolution, but they are what I will accomplish in 2011. And, I’m just getting a little bit of a head start on them.

Yes, the clock is ticking so fast that before I know it, I have turned a year older. Year 2010, like the last few years, had its fair share of ups and downs. As I make my entry into another age of wisdom and maturity in 2011, there are many things that I have to learn to LET GO.

The final days of 2010 have a bittersweet feel about them -- just as the look to the future gives us much optimism. It's hard to believe that the year has come and is almost gone. It seems like only yesterday that we were talking about the dawning of 2010, it's always a good opportunity to take stock of the past year.

As this year draws to a close, we can look back with pride and enumerate our accomplishments. We are well poised to make significant strides in the year ahead as the preeminent assessors and ‘managers’ of risk for a better world.

Again, we are only at the beginning; those with the right skills, the right temperaments and the right opportunities will offer a glimpse of the promise and potential our world has to offer for many years to come.

Let everyone be reborn on the 1st day of January 2011 AD. Start with a fresh slate. Take up the challenge, risks will be necessary to achieve greatness; on the 1st of January gird yourself, with your face to the front, and take no interest in the things that were and are past. Don't let 2010 keep you down. Learn from it and reach for 2011. MOVE ON. START AFRESH. MAY EVERY BLESSING BE YOURS IN 2011.

Ashley Mwanza

“Never, never give up because I can always see the coast and it brings me courage all the time.” This is what the girl who swam across the English Channel successfully answered when the reporter asked what had made her reached her goal. She said that she chose a very sunny day to make sure that she can see her hope and just went for it. To be able to see the goal helps us a lot when we feel frustrated somewhere and even almost lose our confidence. In the long term to success, hope is our belief and it can make us be very strong when we face great difficulties and even want to quit. Some people failed simply because they lost their sight of their “coast” although they are very qualified and capable.

Glendalough, County Wicklow, Ireland.

I'm getting pretty tired of trying to make the best out of what, for all intents and purposes isn't good news. I think this is what I've been trying to do, not always successfully. Continuous exertion may sound very exhausting and thus, it is understandable even if some people suggest it should be better to give up sometimes. It is true at some points because the human race is not an almighty creature. However I would say it is not about giving up, but just changing a goal. Recognizing life events as a sequence, I think even when giving up something, it is just adjusting the goal to more reachable levels and processes for previous goals always play a role in reaching the next goal.

From what I have mentioned above, there is no doubt about favourable influences of continuous exertion. Whether you agree or disagree with the intellections in this ‘write-up’, people keep trying by nature and it does make us alive. When I have no energy left trying, I simply keep it on my mind so as not to miss any possibilities. In other words, it is possible to keep trying even when feeling like giving up. Thus, I strongly believe that we should never give up.

We may fail sometimes but that absolutely does not mean that we will fail every time. Thomas Edison, one of the most famous inventors in the 20^thcentury, tried more than one thousand times before he found out that tungsten was the right material for the electric bulb, and so as most of the great scientists in many fields. When you face failures never give up and always tell yourself to stick to what you are doing. You are not likely to achieve a great success by the first try. The real success is always based on a great deal of failure. It is good for me to write on this blog and share these tough times with people an offer some kind of hope. It’s funny, I don't actually feel like I'm writing for an audience, but somehow feel more connected through this form of communication.

All I can say is; keep trying no matter how hard it seems.

Ashley Mwanza

TODAY (1 December 2010) marks the twenty-second anniversary of World AIDS Day. Though we should be working to bring attention to the global AIDS epidemic more than one day per year, I do encourage you to take some time today to educate yourself and those around you about AIDS in today's world.

As we mark World Aids Day once again, it's worth us each stopping to consider the scale of this tragic disease - and to consider what we as individuals might be able to do to alleviate the problem. But when the headlines reflect such a massive worldwide problem, it's easy to feel overwhelmed; it's easy to raise our hands in despair and say, "What can I possibly do to alleviate a problem that's become so huge?" This is one of the big challenges of our time and history will judge our generation.

A new UNAIDS report claims the world has finally “turned the corner” on the AIDS epidemic, citing a downward trend in new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths over the past decade and stabilization of the number of people living with HIV globally. But Brian Pazvakavambwa of the World Health Organisation said, “a lot of work still needs to be done, we need to continue expanding and linking all parts of the response; if we can link our programmes better we can do better in terms of all health outcomes.”

The theme for World AIDS Day 2010 is 'Universal Access and Human Rights'. Global leaders have pledged to work towards universal access to HIV and AIDS treatment, prevention and care, recognising these as fundamental human rights. Valuable progress has been made in increasing access to HIV and AIDS services, yet greater commitment is needed around the world if the goal of universal access is to be achieved. Millions of people continue to be infected with HIV every year. In low- and middle-income countries, less than half of those in need of antiretroviral (ARV) therapy are receiving it, and too many do not have access to adequate care services.

The protection of human rights is fundamental to combating the global HIV and AIDS epidemic. Violations against human rights fuel the spread of HIV, putting marginalised groups, at a higher risk of HIV infection. By promoting individual human rights, new infections can be prevented and people who have HIV can live free from discrimination. World AIDS Day provides an opportunity for all of us - individuals, communities and political leaders - to take action and ensure that human rights are protected and global targets for HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care are met.

The stark reality is that when AIDS first started, no one could have predicted how the epidemic would spread across the world and how many millions of lives it would change. There was no real idea what caused it and consequently no real idea how to protect against it. Now we know from bitter experience that the HIV virus is the cause of AIDS and that it can devastate families, communities and whole continents. We have seen the epidemic knock decades off countries’ national development, widen the gulf between rich and poor nations and push already stigmatized groups closer to the margins of society. We are living in an 'international' society, and HIV has become the first truly 'international' epidemic, easily crossing oceans and borders. Orphans and other children from households affected by the AIDS epidemic frequently experience negative consequences. Many encounter stigma and discrimination. One of the most tragic consequences of the epidemic for the children is the way it deprives them of their childhood and of their right to happiness. Child after child watches helplessly as AIDS snatches both of these away. It transforms many amongst them into adults before their time - juvenile adults who must care for the sick, generate income, head households, and assume responsibilities beyond their years.

In 1990, the World Summit for Children proclaimed that childhood should be a time of 'joy and peace, of playing, learning and growing’. But for millions of children, the reality of childhood is altogether different because of the way the AIDS epidemic deprives them of their right to rest and play. It deprives them of their right to happiness. When children enjoy that right again, then we will know that we have conquered AIDS.

When the sound of healthy, happy, laughing children fills homes, schools and villages, then we can be certain that we are entering a world without AIDS. That is their right. We still have a long way to go. Much has been achieved but the momentum must be maintained or the hard-won achievements of the past two decades risk being reversed. Let us be involved.

Written By Tafadzwa G. Gidi

Our people need to understand that diversity is great for Zimbabwe. I am not just talking about accepting Whites or Asians or Chinese who in many cases have roots in our nation going back for generations. For these people, Zimbabwean is all they have ever known.

(Pictured: Arnold Schwarzenegger – An Austrian immigrant who became a US citizen and went on to become a famous Hollywood action film icon. He later joined politics and is serving as governor of California. Schwarzenegger’s story is one of the best examples of how a progressive immigration policy can be beneficial to a country.)

It is their home! If we manage to look past the wounds of the past, we can all acknowledge that the fabric of our great nation will be lesser without them. More importantly, I think we should embrace the diversity that comes with further immigration into our country now and in future years.

For many years, admittedly when the nation was still prosperous, Zimbabwe benefited from the influx of Malawian and Mozambican immigrants who came and did the jobs that most of us wouldn’t do for a day.

They tendered our gardens, herded our cattle, held menial farm jobs and spent countless hours in the dark shafts or our gold mines and our nation reaped the benefits of their sweat. In turn, our nation gave them excellent schools for their children, better healthcare and an opportunity to send money back home to help their families survive. Funny how the irony of history reminds us of how good we used to have it, but that’s a topic for another day.

National discourse
Our national discourse on this matter has been limited to sound bites that stereotype foreigners as bad and all white people as white farmers who stole our land. This not only ignores the facts but poisons our minds against a very crucial factor that will define how successful we will become as a nation in the 21st century.

United we stand ... fun scenes at a Human Rights concert in Harare 20 years ago.

Photograph: Neal Preston/Corbis

Earlier in the year I was having a conversation with a friend. He is a British born white man (born in Dunstable, England) who chose to become a citizen of post-independence Zimbabwe. Having studied to become a librarian back in England, he worked for the University of Zimbabwe for many years and now runs his own media company.

An honest immigrant who deserves every success he has achieved. And yet, the colour of his skin proves a barrier to him moving up the ladder even after almost 30 years of being a Zimbabwean. An asset to the nation he chose and loves being hindered by superficial differences to all our detriment. That cannot be right!

A certain Mrs Keys was my English Language teacher. An expat and missionary from America who had fallen in love with the continent of Africa, spent years teaching in different African countries and eventually arrived at my high school. She was also the teacher in charge of scripture union in the school.

In the years that she taught me, she not only excelled as a teacher but more times than not was willing to sacrifice her own personal resources to make sure we had the best education possible. Thanks to her, I fell in love with the art of writing and reading comes as second nature to me which is weird for someone whose whole education focussed on sciences and business related subjects.

As you can see here, thanks to her, I turned out to be a pretty decent writer. Should the colour of her skin or the country of her birth negate the enormous contribution this remarkable woman has made to so many generations of children in Africa?

Learning curve

Our nation is only in its infancy in terms of development. Europe, Asia and most of the Americas are way more advanced than us in every sense. They have been through what we are going through now already. The industrial revolution, rebuilding collapsed economies, managing national resources (like the Marange diamond fields) for the good of the nation and most recently the internet and other technological revolutions.

There is no doubt that our nation will benefit from engineers from Germany, IT and internet experts from the United States to cite a couple of examples. With their contribution, re-inventing the wheel becomes unnecessary. If we can tap experts from these more advanced economies, our nation can avoid the pitfalls of a learning curve and the painful process of learning from our mistakes.

Who among us can stand here and say Lubumbashi stars living and performing in Zimbabwe did not enhance our culture? You may disagree with their politics, but who is in any doubt that Senator David Coltart and Dr Faye Chung have added some value to the education of our children?

How can people like the British doctor I met at the Edinburgh Festival last week who spent five years working in our country be perceived as a bad thing for Zimbabweans on the streets of our capital? Surely, the contribution made by Mohammed Musa, the groceries wholesaler, is demonstration enough of how our nation benefits from this diversity.

The contribution of veteran journalist and former nightly news anchor Noreen Welch must mean something to us as a nation I reckon. Tell me, who will dare challenge the enormous contribution of the hardworking immigrants from Malawi and Mozambique in the 80s and 90s?

Poaching minds
America is the richest and most powerful nation on earth partly because they have embraced the strength of diversity. The United States has poached people of exceptional abilities from across the globe over the years including many of our exceptional countrymen.

Russian nuclear scientists, German engineers, British economists, Chinese whiz kids etc. Our very own deputy prime minister, Dr Arthur Mutambara, worked for NASSA for years.

Hollywood is the movie capital of the world today because they embraced an attitude of accepting great actors no matter where they come from, the colour of their skin or the language they speak.

America is a country were a foreigner can become a citizen, a world renowned action hero, a businessman and eventually governor of the largest state in the country, all in one lifetime; not necessarily in that order of course. They are a perfect example of how to attract the best to help your country become better for generations to come.

While I can certainly understand why people fear what is different, all evidence points us to conclude that if we get past our anxieties our fears normally turn out to be wrong. To anyone with an open mind, the benefits of common sense immigration policies, diversity, inclusion and tolerance far outweigh the perceived draw backs.

If immigration is managed wisely, we will be richer as a nation because of it! If our nation draws on all the talents at our disposal from Zimbabweans of different races, religions, languages and political persuasions we will reap the greater benefits off it. Most importantly, if we become a more tolerant nation, we will handover to our children a nation more prosperous than what we inherited from our fathers.

Article originally published in The Zimbabwean and also on Taff's Viewpoint.

Compiled by Ashley Mwanza

Billy Wilkerson wrote that Generation Y is definitely living up to its name. Why, why, why, everything is ‘why’ these days. It appears that the good old days of say it and obey it are over and behind us. Blind faith leadership is becoming a thing of the past. After all, as Colin Powell said, “if you have a yes man working for you, one of you is redundant.” Yes men, and women, add no value to problem solving. This is not to be confused with the need for command structure on an emerging emergency scene. But, when there is time, “WHY” has its place.

Today’s challenges are more complex than ever before. With twitter, facebook, linkedin, google, iPhone, etc., technology is changing the way we interact with the world, and Generation Y is changing the way we once blindly accepted the status quo. This generation will redefine problem solving. By not being afraid to ask why, they will learn instinctually how to solve problems at the root cause level. They force the previous generations to intelligently support their methods of doing business with facts. And when they can’t, this forces them to change. Without even realizing it, Generation Y is leading us into the future, thereby demonstrating their true ability to lead.

Generation Y have grown up in a very different world, therefore inevitably their values and conditioning is different.

This true story illustrates how easy it is for conflict to arise between the generations. A young high-flier in an ad agency emailed the CEO to tell him that he disagreed with a decision that he had taken. The CEO responded immediately saying “I have run this company for X years and I think I know what I am doing”. The young graduate replied by saying “I realise this is an uncomfortable conversation but I am not the only one who thinks this” And he went on to give reasons and rationale as to why he disagreed with the decision. The CEO, although he had always said he welcomed feedback, ‘open-door’ policy and all that, was indignant at receiving this email from this young upstart.

I firmly believe that there are many assumptions and practices in the world that need challenging. And much of what Generation Y is challenging needs to be challenged.

The young man in this story didn’t want to stay silent when he thought a mistake was being made. It did not occur to him that he may annoy his boss and their bosses by going over their heads and emailing the CEO direct. He did not know that the hierarchy and your status in it was such a big deal. He couldn’t understand why he received such a terse reply from the CEO. The problem is that the CEO grew up in a very different time when you did not challenge the boss. By emailing in this way he had spoken to the person not the position. Long ago people were conditioned into speaking to the ‘position’ not the ‘person’.

This was a clear case of each person judging the other on their behaviour not on their intentions. And of not understanding the rules of the other’s game. Barack Obama in his inauguration speech said, “What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply.” Later on in the same speech he said “For the world has changed, and we must change with it.” We need to move with the times and stay on course, whole generations will need to be engaged to think and act in a way that matches the scale of the challenge/s we face today. This is an exhilarating time to be alive as society is challenged to re-design and re-think many of its assumptions about progress, development and the finite capacity of the Earth to provide the resources necessary to sustain the human enterprise.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy said, “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.”

One day in the not so distant future, men and women of all ages and races will come to realise that change we can believe in, change we can achieve, and that change waits for no one because “WE are the ones we've been waiting for!”

Ashley Mwanza

It takes very little observation to conclude that suffering is a universal phenomenon, whether it is seen from the individual, society’s viewpoint. People from every walk of life suffer in different ways, for neither sickness, tragedy nor death are respecters of persons. They visit the high and mighty as readily as the hovels of the shanty towns of the world. They come uninvited and unwanted by all. They are not impressed by a person’s station in life: they cannot be bought or sold, manipulated or controlled, although political leaders like to give the impression that they can control everything.

Whole nations languish in the grip of injustice, war, famine and disease, which even worldwide relief agencies seem powerless to control. The problem only seems to get bigger.

On the individual level suffering comes in many varied ways, even if we are lucky enough to have plenty to eat, are in sound health, and living in a country with a reasonably sound economy.

Suffering is meted out at the hands of others, either intentionally or otherwise. There is the almost inexplicable mystery of man’s inhumanity to man, seen at all levels of society and in all works of life. In the rush to make “our first million” we may walk over many others along the way, discard those people that are not “useful”, buy the friendship of the “great” while manipulating or controlling the weak ones.

Our first thoughts of oppression towards mankind usually suggest the more extreme types. We are more inclined to think of slavery or severe forms of authoritarian physical abuse rather than the more civil and disguised forms of oppression. In this drama of everyday life we may find ourselves either the oppressors of others or the oppressed.

Every organization has a purpose, a reason for being, described in its mission statement. It is becoming increasingly important for organizations to also have a code of ethics - a set of rules that define what behaviours are acceptable and those that are unacceptable - since shareholders, clients, and employees prefer dealing with establishments that uphold high levels of ethical and moral standards of practice. Firms that wish to succeed in the long run had better take a long hard look at their ethics. So it goes for us all, if we want to succeed let us not hurt others along the way. Let us try to do good all the way.

A simple rule of ethics (for business, organisations and the individual) can also be derived from the sage Hillel’s philosophy (Babylonian Talmud, Avot 1:14): “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I only care for myself, what am I?” An organization must achieve its goals (e.g., profit) but must also care for others. I must achieve my goals but not trample on others as I pursue those goals.

The many sufferings that beings in the world today experience are caused by people’s ignorance, lack of concern, no sense of awareness, that the suffering they inflict on others would also hurt them. They are unaware because they have not put themselves in the situation of their victims. As a result of this, people in the world keep on inflicting great suffering on one another.

Our actions have consequences. Most of the time, we are unaware of any except perhaps the most immediate of these consequences. We are like a person who has dropped a pebble into a pond and can only see, at best, one ripple the pebble made in the water. We know from our experience that the pebble actually causes many ripples, perhaps an infinite number, that extend all the way from the spot where it was dropped in the water to the edge of the pond.

Our actions are the results of causes and conditions from others, and the actions of others are the results of causes and conditions from us. If we can change our actions, we can create a chain of events that will change the karma of many beings.

None of us can live a life in which every action creates only positive consequences. At best, the consequences of each action we take will be mixed. All we can do is to live as mindfully as possible and to expand our horizons so that we start seeing more and more of the ripples in the pond when we drop that pebble.

We are defined only in relation to each other. Only together are we whole, completing the most sacred circuit the universe has ever known, a circuit through which life continues to proliferate.

Ashley Mwanza

THE head of the monastery and his disciple had finished looking after the sick, so they left the village and headed home. After a 45 minute trek in the woods, they came to the most difficult part of their journey, a wide, raging stream that had to be crossed. But today was different, for standing close by was a lovely maiden that also wanted to cross so that she could visit her uncle who lived on the other side.

Sensing her distress, the head of the monastery approached the young lady and said, “If you can place your trust in me, I will carry you across the stream.” She agreed and thanked him. He scooped her in his arms and entered the stream, followed by his disciple. Although the ten-minute trip across was arduous, they arrived safely. The elderly monk put her down, said farewell, and he and his disciple continued on their way to the distant monastery.

An hour and a half later, they had finally reached the gateway to the monastery. But instead of being relieved, the disciple appeared agitated. When he was asked what was wrong, the disciple replied, “Master, as monks we have taken vows to never touch women. Yet, you carried the maiden in your arms.” “Yes, I did,” answered the master, “but I put her down ten minutes later. It is YOU who are still carrying her.”

Like the disciple, many of us refuse to put down what is troubling us. We carry resentment, anger, hostility, mistrust, suspicion, grudges, fear, anxiety, worries, and other burdens. How can we travel very far if we are weighed down by so many concerns? When will we learn to drop our cares, release our worries, and let go of whatever is troubling us? The above story holds a very potent lesson.

Letting go means surrendering our ego and will. It means trusting that what is aligned to our highest good and what will bring us the greatest joy will be provided for us. It means not holding onto every detail of our lives with the intention to control them. It is the process of releasing people, situations, thoughts, habits and patterns that no longer serve us.

“We can never turn back the pages of time, though we may wish to relive a happy moment, or say goodbye just one last time, we never can, because the sands of time continue to fall, and we can’t turn the hourglass over.”

But if you sincerely desire to reinvent yourself, to be the you that hasn’t emerged but you know you can be, let go. Say thank you for the old days, and purge them.

Before creating your new YOU, you need to let go of your old YOU. Physically taking care of your environment by cleaning and de-cluttering can stimulate letting go of your mental clutter that has been holding you in the old pattern.

Yossi Ghinsberg says it is scary to let go; fear strikes. But fear is the best guide. It shows you the way, always towards it, never away from it. If you run from it, it will chase you forever. Letting go is the essence of life. One cannot hold onto anything, for nothing can be held; everything is in a constant state of flux. Letting go is the art of understanding the most basic principle of life. If you let go of your false position as conductor and assume your role as a part of the symphony, your music will be unique, flowing from all that you are, from your natural and most serene state of being.

Once you give up your need to be the conductor. Wow, what a sense of relief, what a load you were carrying, trying to control the uncontrollable. Your lungs fill with air now, you can breathe, and the strain on your shoulders, that constant pain you had become accustomed to, fades away. The music within you is miraculous.

As Barack Obama took up his presidency he uttered words that talk to all of us, he said, “If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress. We have to acknowledge the progress we made, but understand that we still have a long way to go. That things are better, but still not good enough.” That is so true, if you’re willing to keep walking, you’ll make progress, if you do not walk you remain in the same spot. And so to progress you have to let go and move on. You still have you.

Start your life all over again. It begins and ends with you. Letting go and moving on starts with you. Move on in life, carrying only the sweet memories of the past and hope for the future. Remember, only when you let go, you gain something. Stand up and walk out of your history. When you accept that the past is behind you, and that it never comes back, you can move forward. Letting go today frees you for tomorrow.

There is the old adage that says, “when the horse dies…dismount” I need not expatiate. Attachment is like holding on tightly to something that is always slipping through your fingers, it just gives you rope burn. But letting go, nonattachment, relieves the constant, painful irritation. Letting go is the practice, and the art, of being. We must let go of the past and start living for today!

Something we need to let go of is the idea that we need to be perfect. As well the fact that perfection is an impossible goal, the only thing you need to do to be happy is to be yourself, imperfections and all.

Letting go does not mean giving up, becoming passive, or accepting the status quo. It just means loosening your grip on life, accepting that many things are beyond your control, and trusting that whatever happens in your life, there will be wonderful opportunities for learning, growth, choice, freedom and happiness. Let go and let life happen.

For me letting go is a stepping stone on the path to total and complete self love. It is what allows us to remove the unnecessary worry and stress and see the peacefulness and joy that lies in surrendering to the flow of life.

Whatever begins, also ends. The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be the beginning. Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending when all is accomplished, we all want a perfect ending, so let us work at it. For that matter the beginning is always today, so let us get started, let go, and work our way to the end, and hence get to the beginning of great things.

A philosophy professor stood before his class with some items on the table in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, about 2 inches in diameter.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

He then asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “Yes.”

“Now,” said the professor, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things - God, your family, your spouse, your children, your friends, your health, – things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter – like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else. The small stuff.”

“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued “there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, etc. Take care of the rocks first – the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

Compiled by Ashley D. Mwanza

Society as we know it today doesn’t tend to work in cohesion with morality, but instead views itself as being a separate entity altogether. We are often told we are moving with the times. Indeed sadly we are moving with the callous times.

Sickness transmits easily, not health. Germs and bacteria multiply in congenial conditions. Like infectious diseases social ills also spread quickly. Young people generally lack maturity and are vulnerable to the social ills if they are overwhelming. A human being is neither angel, nor devil. In man there is the dual nature of evil and piety. In a healthy society piety is encouraged and evil suppressed. Piety needs nourishment and proper environment, not only for growth but also for survival. Throughout human history schools and institutions had been established to create good human beings. No school was ever established to train rapists, paedophiles, gang fighters, drug users and people of evil nature. They grow and multiply when a society loses its anchor, morals.

We have lost focus and this has created many of the problems our society faces today, and indeed has always faced. Comprehension of this can at times lead to a rather bleak outlook on life, and maybe even cause a descent into bitterness. Clearly such negativity is something to avoid then. That is something which can be difficult however. When reality inevitably collides with morality the end result shall be the devastation of that which should be. It is our hope that this reality will vanish and morality comes back to claim its domain. The ills of our society certainly do not promote good health for our world. The term ill denotes that which is not healthy, normal, and is unsound, resulting in suffering and distress. It refers also to that which is not up to recognized standards of excellence or conduct.

There are forces within who are attempting to destroy all that is good and moral. We can utilize the words of Isaiah, who under the direction of God cried out, “Woe to them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to them that are prudent in their own sight! Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!” Their conduct did not go unheeded for Isaiah said, therefore as the fire devours the stubble, and the flame consumes the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness: because they have cast away the law of the Lord, and despised the word of the Holy One (Isaiah 5:20-24).

The ills of our society are continuing to blossom forth with resistance seemingly being brushed aside. Laws and rulings are now being set forth that at one time would never have been considered. Has the values of our world ruptured to the point that it is affecting our day to day lives? We are living in a time when the ills of our society can have a harmful influence on the life of the youth, if they fall into the category of acceptability of what is being promoted today. Society, has opened itself to examination because of its acceptance of the previously unacceptable.

In our world we face: Bullying in school, workplace and whole nations; bullying serves to destroy self-image of the victim and leaves a long-term scar on him/her. Both the bully and the victim lack self-esteem and some might have undergone abuse in their life and then it becomes a chain reaction, thus a bully compensates it through bullying, but the victims most often fail to put up with it, some remain stuck in a rut. Nations are fighting, nations are threatening each other, generations are been divided and/or killed, but why?

Racism has continued to scar the world it has become endemic world over, but, racism is an historical disease. Nations were wiped out in the past because of their perceived racial inferiority, some nations have crumbled because of it. The ethnic cleansing in some parts of the world horrified the world and continues to horrify us to this day. In day to day life, racism creates fear, distrust and disturbing environments.

As secularism and materialism have taken a dominant role, religions have become irrelevant or just rituals to most people in the West. As a result, non-Christians or even minority denominations within Christianity do undergo visible religious discrimination. Islam, because of its uncompromising allegiance to divine command, suffers most in terms of its image and treatment.

With increasing teen-age pregnancy in many countries, we are living in an era of social deconstruction with the danger of leading us to a disastrous future. What is the root cause of this? Materialism has given rise to individualism, which is making it hard for people to live under the same roof. Marriage is losing its importance as the source of permanent relationship between man and woman, divorce is increasing at an alarming rate and living together is becoming the norm. The TV, computer and other gadgets are keeping us away from other people, loneliness has become perpetual friend of many.

The drug issue is frightening in many parts of the world. Drug, sex and violence are intertwined. The danger of drugs has pushed aside the devastating physical and social effect of alcoholism. The detrimental physical effect of smoking is also ignored. Many adolescents drink and smoke in imitation or defiance of their elders. As a result, the health, economy and social life is ruined. Peer pressure in the schools works as catalysts for adolescents to enter into the world of addiction. Parents need to be conscious about who is their child hanging around. Parents have been a serious let down. Is it because of the laws that work against them and give more authority to the child?

Sex is now a determining factor in modern western life. The media world is awash with this subject. It has become the world's hottest commodity and its commercialisation has become globalised. It is disgraceful that the ‘sex industry’ has become a source of national income in some countries. Sexual promiscuity is giving rise to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) especially among young people. Public Health is experiencing a traumatic rise in these and the so-called 'safe sex' message is leading to nowhere.

Every country has its share in crime. Paedophilia is the inhuman crime of the pervert man who destroys the innocence of a child. In civilised societies the law and order agencies rely on the civic responsibility of the people and work in tandem with them. Young people are vulnerable. Like plants they need nurturing, not misuse and abuse. A civilised society cannot tolerate paedophiles.

The challenge of fighting the social ills is enormous, but an attempt to eradicate these ills should include the wider society. But for this to come to pass, we need to widen the struggle and forge close links with the moral majority in the societies we live in. A small island in a sea of social ills can easily be washed away in time. An epidemic cannot be fought out by running away from it or through selfish attempt of individual protection. This is neither effective nor morally sound.

Can we then take a pledge on this occasion? A pledge not to change the world, but to change ourselves first, a pledge not to move mountains but to shift pebbles, a pledge not to ride the waves but to create ripples, since it is only by changing ourselves that we can change the world, it is only by shifting pebbles that we can conquer mountains and it is only by creating ripples that we can ride the waves. But where do we start?