From Sweden With Love

This is a post by Hans-Evert Renérius one of the adopted parents of my 132 children in Sweden.

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– Translated from the author’s native Swedish

Hans-Evert Renérius

Sundsgården (‘sun’s garden’) High School at Helsingborg Sweden is beautifully situated at the strait. When I look up, I see unhindered Denmark approaching. I must wonder why there is no bridge here, to connect our Nordic togetherness.

Now at Sundsgården I listen to Arun Gandhi, whose grandfather was the great non-violence advocate Mahatma Gandhi. He was able with his peace march to bring the British Empire to its capitulation. The Gandhi Indian resistance grew from below and the immense India got its independence.  For this he was put to death by a “lone assassin”.

Arun Gandhis My 132 GrandchildrenBut his spirit – Great Spirit = Mahatma – is lived by his grandson, Arun, whose words are now flowing towards me.  However, this is not the first time that I have met Arun.  I first got in contact with Arun and his wife Sunanda in 1978 when we sought to adopt our daughter.  Sunanda and Arun had contacts with small orphanages in rural India areas thirty to forty miles from Bombay.

Traveling along squalid Indian “roads” was an adventure. Out there were namely the children, especially girls, who have been abandoned by their mothers. They were left at the village water source, where they were discovered and brought to the orphanages.

For those children who come into the world in degrading poverty there is no decent future. Therefore, Sunanda and Arun gave them new hope. [Read more…]

Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital
… a legacy of hope for the children of Africa

Graca Machel with Nelson Mandela Childrens Hospital

Nelson Mandela and Graca Machel

Today marks the 95th birthday of South Africa president Nelson Mandela.  Among his many achievements, Mandela showed the world the power of forgiveness and compassion, taking Mohandas K. Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolence up another notch.  His desire to make this world a better and more peaceful place for future generations must inspire all of us to do whatever we can to make this dream a reality.  

On his 95th birthday today let us pledge to ensure that 450 million children of Africa can be ensured healthcare when they need it.  Africa needs a caring, compassionate world.  Can we step up to the challenge?

I have been honored by an invitation from former South Africa First Lady Mrs. Graca Machel to lend my support to Nelson Mandela’s final and perhaps most desired legacy, better health and medical care for the children of Africa: Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital, Johannesburg South Africa.

Please lend a hand and help us spread this message of hope. Be sure to use the #LegacyofHope hash-tag in your tweets and Facebook posts today!

Media and fundraising organized in part by Ms. Jennifer Trubenbach’s Orange County California-based Operation of Hope, the renowned traveling voluntary child surgical mission, and Eric Gast’s FM World Charities, the Legacy of Hope initiative will hold concert fundraisers on two continents to support the construction of the Nelson Mandela Childrens Hospital, honoring Mr. Nelson Mandela’s lifelong commitment to children.  

Sibongile Mkhabela, CEO, Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital Trust said,  “With 450 million children in Africa and only three dedicated children’s hospitals, the need for this specialized facility in southern Africa is paramount. We are excited that FM World Charities and Operation of Hope are sharing in our efforts to make this hospital a reality. Music and children are always a perfect fit.

The launch of the “Legacy of Hope” in North America will be at a private event on July 18, 2013 at New York’s Gotham Hall marks the 95th birthday of Mr. Mandela as well as the start of Legacy of Hope’s journey towards global concerts on two continents on December 7, 2013.

proposed Nelson Mandela Childrens Hospital

In Mandela’s words, the hospital will be a “… credible demonstration of the commitment of African leaders to place the rights of children at the forefront.” No child will be turned away due to inability to pay.

[Read more…]

Inspiring students with lessons on peace and nonviolence

Source: phillyburbs.com

Sylvia Baldwin will carry the stories with her.

 

The New Hope-Solebury High School teen was one of five area students who sat enraptured and inspired, as Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, shared tales from his life as an advocate for peace and nonviolence Saturday at a private breakfast at Cross Culture Indian restaurant in Doylestown. The breakfast was sponsored by the Peace Center in Langhorne, where the 79-year-old social activist is an honorary member, and was one of three events he attended this weekend.

As the students plied him with questions on topics as varied as education, bullying, war and the importance of family, Gandhi shared stories from the years he spent living with his grandfather, from age 12 to 14. In one, he threw away the still-usable butt of a pencil on his way home from school, thinking the elder Gandhi would simply supply a new one. Instead, he was told to find the pencil he’d discarded. The lesson? Even a simple pencil uses the world’s natural resources and to waste one, as he had, was an act of violence against nature. It also was an act of violence against humanity, depriving those living in poverty of access to such resources due to over consumption. [Read more…]