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Name: Chantel van der Merwe
Birthday: 25/10/1986
Star sign: Skerpioen
Occupation: Skoonheidstegnoloog, Model Onderwyseres
When I look into the mirror every morning I think: God het my
perfek en mooi gemaak.
My favourite people in the world are: My Man, My Seuntjie, my
Ouers en my broer.
My favourite quote is: If you don't have confidence fake it!
My Baba seuntjie wanneer hy sommer net laf is makes me laugh.
The greatest lesson life has taught me so far is: Behandel mense
soos jy graag behandel wil word.
I'll do almost anything for: My Kind, my Man en my Ouers.
When I get stressed I am most likely to throw NIKS out a window.
I want my tombstone to read: Finominale MA, Vrou, Dogter, Suster
en Vriendin.
I wouldn't mind being stuck in an elevator with: : My Moeder,
ons kan ure gesels sommer oor enige ding.
In three words I am: Betroubaar, Eerlik, Opreg.
If I had a million rand to spare I would: Belê in eiendom.
I live in Klerksdorp because: Pragtige dorp en Fantasiese Mense.
The first thing I would save from a house fire is: My Baba
seuntjie en Foto albums.
My nickname is: Tawwe Tellie (my Man noem my dit)
I love my job because:Ek maak 'n verskil in mense se lewens.
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LIFE AND TIMES WITH COLLIN
Peace in our time
Anyone who was around in 1938, and can still remember, will
recall the newspaper headline: Peace in our time. It goes back
to 1938 when Neville Chamberlain [English Prime Minister]
returned from Germany brandishing a piece of paper saying
somewhat proudly, that he had secured peace for England. He,
Hitler, Mussolini and Daladier of France had hammered out an
agreement, known as The Munich Agreement which promised that
Germany and England would never go to war again. In this
Chamberlain was sorely mistaken Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia in
March 1939, ignoring the Munich Agreement. Mussolini, not to be
outdone, sent his Fascist army into Albania.
The dark clouds of war over Europe, had blackened even further.
The path to war was now firmly cemented, with Hitler, its chief
architect.
This misjudging of Hitler's intentions was to cost Chamberlain
the premiership and to catapult Churchill to the forefront of
British politics. How could Chamberlain have been so wrong?
After all, the drumbeat of war was reverberating all over
Europe. And what of his intelligence network? The information
being fed him must have indicated that something was amiss.
Germany was busy arming herself to the teeth. And no one
noticed?
Possibly the receding tide of war after the Treaty of Versailles
had lulled not only Chamberlain, but others as well, into
believing that it would never happen again. That belle-epoch
period that pervaded society after the Victorian Era and briefly
interrupted by the First World War, had taken hold again, and
all was well, once again. It is when we are at our most
complacent, that we are most vulnerable.
Still, Chamberlain could be forgiven for wanting to believe that
peace was possible. The human pendulum, will from time to time,
be swung to its extremes. But it will always endeavour to centre
itself at a state of rest a place of peace.
What got me thinking about Chamberlain and peace was a recent
Rotary article titled: 'Is peace possible?'. It was a very
informative article to which I will return to again later. In
part, it's this that I like about Rotary. There is so much good
that Rotary does in the world our world. Yet I find a lot of
misperception about Rotary. Mostly this misperception is based
on ignorance and apathy. Sadly, at times, this leads to anathema
and feelings of hostility towards Rotarians and the Rotary
Organization. I have even heard that we are into vodooism. For
the record, and I have mentioned this before, we are a
non-religious, non-political organization. It is precisely
because of this that our reach is so wide. It is an organization
of ordinary people endeavouring to achieve the extraordinary in
an ever-wanting world. Unfettered by the chains of religion and
politics, our members are able to bring healing to the sick;
literacy to the unread; comfort to those in distress; and yes,
peace in hostile regions. And in return, yes there is a return a
certain knowledge that we have made society a better place to
live in. Is this not the common tenet of most of the major
religions? We also have some fun along the way. Hopefully
through membership we are able to produce better citizens. You
are also encouraged to think beyond yourself.
But we are not cocooned in some ideal environment where
everything is ship-shape and ready to go at a moment's notice.
We are dealing with a resource that is vibrant. I am talking
about humankind, that species that is as fickle as the weather
around us. Replete as well, with fault lines.
The following incident will hopefully serve to illustrate what I
am talking about. A short while ago I was fly-fishing with some
friends. Included in the party was a missionary. I got chatting
to him about the work we do in Rotary. Specifically I told him
about a wheelchair project that we were involved in and that
should he identify a worthy recipient, to let me know. Yes there
was someone. Time passed I forgot about the discussion until I
met with him [the missionary] recently. I reminded him of the
wheelchair. Somewhat hesitantly he told me that person did not
want a wheelchair from Rotary because he had had a fallout with
a Rotarian at some time previously.
I don't know the background to what had happened but here was a
person, obviously in need, yet because of pride (wounded or
otherwise), as best as I could discern, did not want assistance.
And nothing was going to change his (or her) stance.
This is not just about Rotary. This is about our parochial
nature. We all have fallouts with our neighbours, our relatives,
our friend and colleagues. Sometimes we come to blows, most
times not. But we always let our feelings be known. We never
speak to that person again. And like a cancer, it eats away at
us. We are never at peace. Yet we yearn for peace all of us.
It's these microcosyms that provide the building blocks for the
grand conflagrations that befall us. In the 20th century, about
150 million people lost their lives to war and genocide violence
perpetrated by human beings on human beings. While the reasons
range from the selfish to the trivial, the underlying recurring
theme is simply lack of communication.
What I find strange is that in this, the bloodiest of all
centuries, we achieved our highest level of human intelligence.
Yet it served also to reveal our most depraved nature.
My interpretation is that a yawning gap developed between the
'haves' and 'have-nots'. And as long as you have this situation,
this dichotomy of inequality, the seeds of discontent will be
sown and harvested with seasonal regularity. Key to overcoming
this impasse are the fundamental issues of education, health and
poverty. A people that is free of disease and is educated, is
less susceptible to conflict and far more amenable to progress.
Organizations such as UNESCO and Rotary are in the frontlines in
the fight against these malignant impediments.
It has been said that the Age Of Discovery is giving way to the
Age Of Survival. I would like to suggest that, instead, we
should be ushering in an Age Of Human Awareness - a time where
God's greatest creation is allowed to flourish in a setting free
of hatred.
You may think this impossible. Yet all it takes to start the
ball rolling is for you (and I) to reach out to your neighbour
in peace.
Surely a lasting peace is greater than the individuals who broke
it in the first place. |
