"There are two strong feelings which human beings share - anger against
injustice and hope for a better world"
I heard these words this weekend on Al Jazeera in an interview by David
Frost with legendary retired British Labour MP, Tony Benn.
I had been thinking about what I might say to you all before the end of 2008
and how I might frame my own experiences this year.
2008 was a very full year for the Institute. There were a number of
highlights It was the year we opened our office in KwaZulu Natal coordinated
by Mpendulo Nyembe and assisted by Thuthukani Shazi and later by Naomi
Anthony from Melbourne. We published the report on our 2007 conference:
Reflecting on the Journey to healing and wholeness: Toolkit for Facilitators
which has been very well received.
My own personal blog has recently been added on the Institutes's website.
It was also a year of shame for South Africans when attacks took place
against foreigners.living in our midst. Already working with refugees we
have sought to contribute practically to the fight against xenophobia. One
group of wounded victims attacked another group of wounded victims. A sign
that our own past still infects the present.
Motivated by revenge, our venerable liberation movement fired the president,
just a few months before his term ended, and dented our international
reputation. Now we have the birth of a new political formation called the
Congress of the People. As I travel the world I have been asked countless
times to explain the current situation in South Africa - I recalled how
during the negotiating period in the early 90's, we used to say that if you
were not confused you had understood nothing.
Many South Africans no longer look to politics as a source of hope
Together with my colleague, Thulani Xaba, I was in the US for six weeks
including the time of the Presidential election. It was an exciting time to
be there. Barrack Obama's election has brought renewed hope and joy to
millions of Americans and countless others across the world.
The US had become the pole cat of the world; a place occupied by the
apartheid state for many years. People of goodwill across the globe are
hoping and praying that the Obama presidency will begin a new chapter of
building a multilateral world committed to negotiations rather than war.
Time will tell
We are inching our way towards opening a new office in New York and
developing old and new partnerships across the US including work with abused
women and war veterans.
Australia made world headlines, when their Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd made
an unequivocal apology to indigenous Australians - an example the US and
others would do well to emulate...
After the US, I was privileged for the second time to listen to the often
painful stories of the Sami (the reindeer people) in the northern part of
Sweden. After a stopover with the St Ethelburgas Centre for Reconciliation
in London, I spent several memorable days in Luxembourg with ACAT -
Christian Action Against Torture as part of the celebrations of the 60th
Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Last week I spent 3 days in Harare - with all the signs of a disintegrating
failed state. Like all unjust situations of great suffering and oppression,
there is a class of beneficiaries. Horrible situations bring out the worst
and the best in human beings. Spreading cholera and frustrated soldiers
rioting are ominous signs of what may still happen in Zimbabwe.
Hopefully the day will soon dawn when Zimbabweans can begin to rebuild their
country. A key element must include addressing their layers of woundedness,
lest the cycles of hatred and violence continue across the generations: "the
elders have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge"
May 2009 also bring the people of Fiji a step closer to the return to
democracy.
Many years of unfettered greed in the financial markets is having its "come
uppance" with great suffering for many millions of people across the globe.
The financial collapse together with the consequences of climate change, has
brought into stark relief our interdependence as a human family
All the great faith traditions encourage us to value ourselves and have
compassion to others.
In 2009 we are planning a youth conference focussing on leadership and
preparing young people to live in an inclusive society. All going well 2009
will see the Institute not only doing work in South Africa but also in
Namibia, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, Australia, Uganda, Canada and
the US.
On behalf of all of us at the Institute for Healing of Memories we thank you
for the opportunity to journey together yesterday, today and tomorrow.
May this time of celebration be a time of renewal for each of us.
Let our anger against injustice inspire us to act and may we all
increasingly become signs of hope for a better world .
15 December 2008
Institute for Healing of Memories
Director: Fr. Michael Lapsley SSM
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