Monday, July 19, 2010

67 minutes.

i went through to mcgregor this weekend.
well more just saturday night but that's completely besides the point that i actually want to make.

on route to said destination; we passed the "Bike ride for Nelson Mandela Day" crew on their merry way to cape town.

to be honest, i didn't know anything about this ride and of course, after seeing big black cars with bright blue lights i immediately made the assumption that they were escorting some unimportant government official who had decided to go on holiday with his family. god, is this what the anc is doing to my mind-set?

in any case; it was only after my mom pointed out who they were that i became somewhat enlightened and semi-excited that i had seen morgan freeman for about ten seconds.

or perhaps it was just another biker dressed in the usual biker attire that i thought might of been freeman.

i have since read up on the whole project and it's really great what they are doing.
it wasn't to make morgan freeman, or any of the other celebrities, look like do-gooders to better their public image and it definatley wasn't to show the world how fun biking can really be.

no, it was done to raise awareness about Mandela Day, the cause and encourage south africans to give 67 minutes of service. be it playing with the children in an orphanage or washing dogs at the SPCA.

and even if this project's sole purpose wasn't to get international attention; they have definately gone above and beyond with grabing the attention of our fellow countries and continents. the eyes of the world are once again on south africa.

it just makes me smile really.
knowing that this country is moving up in the world so quickly.

and just to gloat a bit more about nelson mandela: the fact that one man can exist in the hearts of so many people around the world and amaze billions still is one of the greatest things about south africa.

to be honest, i cannot boast about how i made use of my 67 minutes. i didn't do anything. which is quite possibly severely hindering my duty to my country and people.

but it get's me thinking: why must we wait for people to tell us when to use our time to unselfishly help others?

what is stopping us from volunteering at the nearest animal shelter or collecting clothing for hiv positive children who don't have anthing.

the truth is, nothing is really stopping us. it is almost like we stop ourselves from breaching the barrier. and yes, there are those few that take it in their stride to help out where possible but in truth; even though a lot of us think about doing some sort of service to our country, we rarely carry out our good intentions.

south africans, who are we if not fools for remaining oblivious to so many things.

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