“Leaders don’t just get listed in history books they live amongst us. The world awaits our great contribution.” – Catherine Constantinides
Today is one of my favorite days of the year because it’s my Superhero Catherine Constantinides’s birthday I’ve never been the kind to get awestruck by people but whenever I’m around My Superhero or am talking to her on the phone I turn into a child excited by Christmas morning and I allow myself to be that way only around her and for her – she deserves to know every day that she is adored by me. Happy Birthday Superhero I LOVE YOU to the moon and more than the stars.
In the video below I talk about the values I love most in My Superhero Catherine Constantinides
“The power of human empathy, leading to collective action, saves lives, and frees prisoners. Ordinary people, whose personal well-being and security are assured, join together in huge numbers to save people they do not know, and will never meet….Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experienced. They can think themselves into other people’s places….We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.”– J.K. Rowling,
On this World Humanitarian Day I wish to thank some of the people who’ve supported me repeatedly on my ten-year-long humanitarian journey who are my family, my late physiotherapist [who died a year ago today], David Boutin, Beverly Bernhardt, Sharon K. D’Agostino, Barbra Royce, Gaynor Young and many more. From wells and smiles to diaper drives we’ve done most things……..THANK YOU
“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.”― Nelson Mandela
On August 19, 2019, my physiotherapist of 16 years, Gerda Bence, tragically died in a car accident at the age of 51 and so to celebrate 51 years of her beautiful life and to mark the first anniversary of her death I’m aiming to raise R51 000 for the Restore Trust’s Breath of Life house.
What is Breath of Life and what makes it unique? Breath of Life, an initiative of the Restore Trust, is a place of safety for vulnerable babies in East London, South Africa. The place of safety has the capacity to take care of up to 6 babies simultaneously.
What’s unique about Breath of Life is that the babies live with House Mom, Michelle, House Dad, Andrew and House Siblings, Jazmyn, Lily-Anne and Alex-Rose (along with carers who are there to help the family take care of the babies) ensuring the babies have stability and love until they are adopted or reunited with suitable blood relatives.
Why am I raising money for Breath of Life? I am raising money for Breath of Life because I believe every baby deserves to start life on a level playing field and Breath of Life provides that by ensuring every baby is loved and cared for until the Department of Social Development can find them a permanent home.
Make a donation to my campaign and in so doing help Breath of Life continue to positively impact the lives of women in crisis and babies still waiting for their forever families. https://www.backabuddy.co.za/in-loving-memory-of-gerda
The journey to success is atypical – that’s the truth.
Recently I started watching Atypical on Netflix – a show about Sam Gardner’s journey with Autism – I LOVE how the show beautifully and accurately captures the social difficulties and family dynamic of a differently-abled person.
“We need to live a life where we can look back and say we took people with us.” – Catherine Constantinides
Recently Entrepreneur Allegro Dinkwanyane chatted to Humanitarian and MY SUPERHERO Catherine Constantinides I learned so much from their conversation that I just had to share it.
Different is COOL – that’s my message to the world
Recently I watched the video of Alan Silva’s AMAZING acrobatic performance – I LOVE that Dwarfism hasn’t stopped Alan from flying high (literally). Watch “ Alan Silva: Emotional Acrobat Is Out To Prove To His BULLIES That Size Does NOT Matter! “ below:
the action or practice of inflicting severe pain on someone as a punishment or in order to force them to do or say something.
Today on the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture my Superhero Catherine Constantinides paid a moving and heartbreaking tribute to the Saharawis of the Western Sahara who have been are currently are being tortured by the Moroccan Regime. The video touched me so much I HAD TO SHARE It – in honour of all those who have been tortured or are being tortured currently in occupied Western Sahara and elsewhere
“As a brand, we can elevate the conversation around physical disabilities by including them into our fashion doll line further to showcase a multi-dimensional view of beauty and fashion,” Mattel said in a statement.
Today I was delighted to find out that Mattel has introduced a range of differently-abled Barbies. THANK YOU MATTEL for creating a Barbie that represents me it’s so nice to see myself in a Barbie.
World Refugee Day falls each year on June 20th and is dedicated to refugees around the globe. World Refugee Day was held globally for the first time on June 20, 2001, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. It was originally known as Africa Refugee Day, before the United Nations General Assembly officially designated it as an international day in December 2000. Each year, World Refugee Day is marked by a variety of events in many countries around the globe in support of refugees.
The people of Western Sahara continue to be the forgotten people of Africa and the world. Little is written about when it comes to the Saharawi refugee crisis, yet this situation is one of the most protracted conflicts in the world, the Saharawi refugee communities endure their 45th year of displacement.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) report of March 2018, titled “Saharawi Refugees in Tindouf, Algeria: the total In-camp population”, which is the number of Saharawi refugees displaced as a result of Mauritania and Morocco’s invasion of the country in 1975 sits at 173 600 according to the last report. The refugees have been accommodated in five camps namely: Awserd (36 400); Boujdour (16 500) Dakla (19 500); Laayonne (50 500) and Smara (50 700) in the neighboring state of Algeria.
Last year, the African Union had declared the year 2019 as the year of ‘Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons: Toward Durable Solutions to Forced Displacement in Africa’. This according to the A.U. report was in recognition of the 6.3 million refugees and 14.5 million Internally Displaced People (IDP’s) across the continent.” The African continent is also home to 509 900 asylum seekers and 712 999 stateless persons according to the African Union.
According to information provided by the Sahrawi Red Crescent; an Aid Agency founded on the 26 November 1975 to help refugees and provide assistance to disaster victims, ‘Sahrawi refugees have become more vulnerable over the years due to a considerable number of factors like the extreme weather conditions in the territory, the prolonged period of time the refugees have been displaced with no clear solution being sought for the humanitarian crisis, and the dwindling aid being provided by international organizations to cushion the appalling conditions the refugees find themselves in’.
Western Sahara, a desert territory on the West Coast of Northern Africa experiences extremely hot summers with temperatures that reach above 50 Degrees Celsius while during winter the temperatures fall to below 0 Degrees Celsius for prolonged periods of time.
Periodic sandstorms also pose a constant hazard to the more than 173 600 Sahrawi refugees who have been denied their homeland by the cruel Moroccan regime; which still refuses to recognize the Sahrawi people’s right to self-determination, as per the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), as established by the Security Council resolution 690 of 29 April 1991.
With the World Food Programme (WFP) financial assistance to Western Sahara dwindling over the years, access to food and nutrition becomes ever more critical to the displaced populations of Africa’s last colony. The most recent UNCHR/WFP nutrition survey indicates that 25% of children under the age of 5 suffer from malnutrition. Additionally, Anemia or iron-deficiency anemia, caused by a low level of iron in the body as a result of an insufficient diet is diagnosed within 53% of children under the age of 5 years old. The global average is also worrisome, as malnutrition is cited as the cause of death for half the children under the age of 5 years.
The crisis of Western Sahara is a representation of a global crisis that needs to be addressed if the Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG) of ZERO HUNGER worldwide is to be realized.
A Food Security Assessment conducted by the WFP describes 30% of the total Saharawi refugee population as food insecure with a further 58% of that population at risk of food insecurity.
But with virtually no rain for most of the year, Saharawi refugees only have access to an average of 14 litres of drinkable water per person per day; this is six litres below the global benchmark (humanitarian standard) of 20 litres of water per person per day.
Poor infrastructure, a shortage of medicine, and the lack of adequate medical equipment are challenges encountered by medical personnel tasked with managing health centres within the refugee camps which house Western Sahara’s displaced population of refugees, who have been living in this ‘temporary’ refugee setting since 1975.
We need to ensure a constant focussed and deliberate action that ensures the “inalienable right of self-determination” for the people of Western Sahara.
In the middle of the Sahara Desert, there are thousands upon thousands of Saharawi refugees forgotten by the world and forgotten by our own continent of Africa.
This remains a crisis that requires political will and determination to see justice for a people, 45 years later, and still no end in sight. The challenges are insurmountable, and the silence of this issue continues to be of grave concern.
Catherine Constantinides is an international climate and social justice activist and Human Rights defender. She tweets at @ChangeAgentSA.
Vitalio Angula is a socio-political commentator and an independent columnist.
Catherine Constantinides in a classroom in Saharawi Refugee Camp (image captured by Heinrich Knoetze)
Nobody chooses to be a refugee – that’s what I want the world to remember
Tomorrow is World Refugee Day – a day when the world pauses to remember that one percent of humanity is displaced (according to the UN High Commission for Refugees). Today and every day I stand by my statement that Morocco’s 45-year illegal occupation of the Western Sahara is WRONG and CRIMINAL! #FreeWesternSahara . #StandInTheSand with Catherine Constantinides and I as we stand in solidarity with the people of Western Sahara now & always. May we never forget that NOBODY IS A REFUGEE BY CHOICE. Show some compassion. Show your heart.
A view of the Saharawi Refugee Camps (image captured by Heinrich Knoetze) The gift of presence (image captured by Heinrich Knoetze)
