Ruth's Real Life

Respond while you have breath to prevent a catastrophe Ruth Everson Africa has potential – South Africa can move to self-sufficiency in a single generation. This startling claim was made by Professor O’ Connell, Vice Chancellor of the University of the Western Cape, at a Captains of Industry event held by Symphonia for Africa at St Stithians College recently. Symphonia’s purpose was clear, to shock and then to galvanise business leaders into becoming part of the solution to the education crisis in South Africa. Professor O’ Connell, who grew up in District 6, is passionate about education: ‘Respond while you have breath to prevent a catastrophe.’ This was the challenge that he laid down to the businessmen and women at the meeting. This is the challenge that he lays at the heart of every South African. If we are to thrive as a nation, we dare not ignore his voice or the voices of others who are calling for action. How do we do the impossible? O’ Connell painted a vi

I Want to Restart the Beat of my Heart What are we waiting for? We stand with our toes in the ocean of our own inspiration but are afraid of the pull of the currents of our hearts. The moments that move my heart seem to happen at the most ordinary times. What my poet’s heart has taught me is to be alive to the possibility of finding the ‘extra’ in the ordinary. On an early morning walk along the Durban beachfront, I came across Bongani and his sand woman. Bongani is a sand sculptor, and amidst the dolphins, a soccer ball and the fearsomely fanged cat that he was working on, stretched a Rubenesque sculpture of a woman. I doubt that Bongani has ever heard of Rubens but like the Master, (famous for his painting of voluptuous women), he had captured in his naïve work a sensuality and grace that ensnared my heart. I want to re-start the beat of my heart The figure was of a bountiful woman, clad only in a thong, lying face down in the sand. Initially, what caught my