Let us not forget the last colony in Africa… the people of Western Sahara still illegally occupied by another African country: Morocco.” – Catherine Constantinides
Today is Africa Day and while I’m proud to be African and we have much to celebrate I would like to call attention once again to the illegal occupation of the Western Sahara by Morocco (can you imagine fleeing from war to what you thought would be a temporary refugee camp only to still be there 45 YEARS LATER?) the United Nations recognizes the Western Sahara as a country separate from Morocco but the referendum the UN promised in 1991 is yet to take place and why because Morocco has powerful allies at the UN. Let us all use all the platforms we have to raise awareness about Western Sahara today and every day
Image of Catherine on a hill top in the Saharawi Refugee CampSuperhero teaching kids to always look up
All the above images were captured by Heinrich Knoetze in the Saharawi Refugee Camps
Catherine lending a helping hand – my Superhero got muscles [image credit: Nelson Mandela Foundation]
“It does not matter how small the contribution, make it anyway, it makes a difference. Don’t ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive. Then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who come alive.” – Catherine Constantinides
Recently the Nelson Mandela Foundation invited My Superhero Catherine Constantinides to join them on an #Each1Feed1 food distribution in Orange Farm and I watched with pride and awe as my Superhero Catherine Constantinides continued to live her words “Everybody can do something.”
Team work – Catherine Constantinides and Kaizer Motaung Jr The look on mama’s face is everything [image credit: Nelson Mandela Foundation]The look on mama’s face is everything [image credit: Nelson Mandela Foundation]
Havdala and Catherine Constantinides find a tree near the Sahharawi Refugee Camps [Photographer Heinrich Knoetze]
“Today is the first day of AFRICA Month. And so as the month unfolds I will use my platforms to continue sharing not only my journey with My Saharawi People but the truths surrounding a conflict of occupation and colonization that spans 45 years. An illegal invasion of their country by Morocco. We continue to tell a truth because justice must and will prevail!” – Catherine Constantinides
The month of May is Africa Month and while I’m proud to be African and we have much to celebrate I would like to call attention once again to the illegal occupation of the Western Sahara by Morocco (can you imagine fleeing from war to what you thought would be a temporary refugee camp only to still be there 45 YEARS LATER?) the United Nations recognizes the Western Sahara as a country separate from Morocco but the referendum the UN promised in 1991 is yet to take place and why because Morocco has powerful allies at the UN.
The Story of Havdala [told through the eyes of Photographer Heinrich Knoetze]
Yesterday My Superhero, Humanitarian and International Climate Activist Catherine Constantinides, spoke to the SABC about the tensions between Western Sahara and Morocco and the lack of political will to ensure that Morocco ends its decades-long illegal occupation of Western Sahara. Watch Peter Ndoro’s interview with Catherine Constantinides on SA Today below:
With both the family I was born into and the family I choose #Happiness
“There are some things that you can fulfil with money, but
at the end of the day these are not the things that make you happy. It is the
small things that make life good.” – Sebastian Vettel
The last weekend of 2019 was the absolute best firstly my cousin got married and secondly in between all the wedding festivities I even managed to sneak in a breakfast with my Superhero Catherine Constantinides and almost all the Constantinides’s it was 4 days after Christmas but I felt like it was Christmas all over again – there’s something about that family they are love, loyalty and kindness and whenever I’m with them I feel like I fit effortlessly.
I doubt many things in life but i have NO DOUBT my Superhero truly loves meSpending time with my Superhero’s greatest achievement – such an extraordinary little human with great talent and an incredible imagination. I want to be like him when i grow up. Of all the people I met in 2019 he is my absolute favorite
Catherine Constentinides with Saharawi children in the refugee camps.
To my Refugee Children in the Sahara Desert. You will know that the United Nations is currently spearheading the first Global Impact Summit on Refugees under the leadership of the UNHCR. You will know that they have invited representatives from all refugee groups, nations and even minority refugee groups from all corners of the world. What they have not shared with the world is that the Saharawi refugees are the only refugees that were not invited and thus not present as such a global forum and platform. You will also know that when this was questioned it has been said that there are too many ‘Political Sensitivities’. I could write an entire thesis on why and how this is absolutely unacceptable, financially motivated and how this continues to perpetuate the unfathomable injustice being carried out my am elite few who continue to benefit from the status quo remaining as is. That is that an entire nation of people known as the people of Western Sahara continue to be sidelined by the opressive colonial power that is Morocco. They continue to pull the strings with their allies while the Saharawi people divided physically by the Wall of shame and kept apart: those living in occupied Western Sahara and those living as refugees forgotten in 1975 living in what was a temporary refugee camp and yet heading towards 45 years, there they still remain. How is it that you can go to bed at night as leaders when you pretend that #EveryoneCounts but deliberatly exclude the Saharawi due to political pressures. How then does the United Nations claim to be an organisation for all, when in fact it’s agenda is dictated by those who have access and resources to decide who gets invited and who gets forgotten.
Saharawi Refugee Camps in Algeria where the Saharawi People of Western Sahara have been living since 1975
To My Saharawi Children who live as refugees, to my children that know nothing outside of a refugee camp, I pride you I will keep fighting and I will keep pushing, because in my life time you will return home. I will not allow them to get away with this. You are my people and this is unforgivable!!!
Friends of KFC #AddHope (Image Credit: Twitter/@BrentLindeque)
“Volunteers
do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart.”~Elizabeth Andrew
As a part of International Volunteers Day and KFC South Africa’s #AddHope my Superhero Catherine Constantinides and her friends got to visit Sizanani in Soweto to interact with the youngsters who receive warm meals thanks to the R2 that you so selflessly donate every time you visit a KFC here in South Africa.
Superhero Catherine Constantinides Superheroing [Image credit: Twitter/@ChangeAgentSA] Kids + Superhero = MAGIC [Image credit: Twitter/@ChangeAgentSA]Superheroing is hard work people [Image credit: Twitter/@ChangeAgentSA]
“Let us use our platforms to daily ensure that the Saharawi cause is on top of the agenda.” – Catherine Constantinides at 44th Annual Eucoco Conference, The European conference for solidarity with people Western Sahara hosted in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
Yesterday Human Rights Defender and My Superhero Catherine Constantinides gave a powerful speech at the closing ceremony of the 44th Annual Eucoco Conference, The European conference for solidarity with people Western Sahara hosted in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. Please watch:
“Stand
for something or you’ll fall for everything.” – Unknown
Today I would like to share a powerful statement by Catherine Constantinides about Morocco’s plunder of Western Sahara’s natural resources – Western Sahara has been illegally occupied by Morocco since 1975 due to the fact that Western Sahara is rich in natural resources.
“The sea is emotion
incarnate. It loves, hates, and weeps. It defies all attempts to capture it
with words and rejects all shackles. No matter what you say about it, there is
always that which you can’t.” ― Christopher Paolini
Today is World Oceans Day and in celebration of that the La Mer team and volunteers cleaned up Muizenburg Beach as part of the LaMerBlueHeart campaign. Each year, the La Mer team members (and volunteers) around the world lead an effort to clean their local shores and beaches. In the journey to protect the living connection we all have to the ocean, we know that even small acts of participation can make a huge impact. Thank you La Mer for taking care of more than just our skin – I LOVE brands that care. To find out more about La Mer’s passion for ocean conservation visit https://www.cremedelamer.com/blue-heart
The look on mama’s face is everything [image credit: Nelson Mandela Foundation]
