Please, get your copy of my Amazon Kindle edition titled:Alejandra! Or Morning Dews!

For her, who in April 2010, successfully fought so bravely hard to stay on the realm of life in heaven's amazing grace ...


 

GYCA RFPs and staff met to discuss RFP's work, challenges and goals.

We discussed how to help the RFPs create new policies to ensure greater accountability, communicativeness, ownership and responsiveness. RFPs who take leadership and contribute on a regular basis are often rewarded with free opportunities to represent GYCA at international events such as this conference. RFPs and NFPs who fall out of contact and shirk their responsibilities will be asked to leave and will be replaced.

The GYCA member’s meeting is tomorrow (Wednesday) from 6-8pm in the Bild hostel.


In attendance:
Reshma Pattni (GYCA Program Director),
Sydney (Program Officer- South Secretariat), Lindsay Menard-Freeman (Program Officer- North Secretariat),
Emily Carson (RFP North America),
Mawethu Zita (RFP Southern Africa),
Ajay Uprety (RFP South Asia),
Veronica Ugwu (RFP West Africa),
Myself (GYCA Advisory Council Member & Co-Founder).


Missing from the meeting were:
Ahmad Tammam (RFP Middle East/North Africa),
Muge Cevik (RFP Western Europe).

GYCA RFPs and staff met to discuss RFP's work, challenges and goals.

We discussed how to help the RFPs create new policies to ensure greater accountability, communicativeness, ownership and responsiveness. RFPs who take leadership and contribute on a regular basis are often rewarded with free opportunities to represent GYCA at international events such as this conference. RFPs and NFPs who fall out of contact and shirk their responsibilities will be asked to leave and will be replaced.

The GYCA member’s meeting is tomorrow (Wednesday) from 6-8pm in the Bild hostel.


In attendance:
Reshma Pattni (GYCA Program Director),
Sydney (Program Officer- South Secretariat), Lindsay Menard-Freeman (Program Officer- North Secretariat),
Emily Carson (RFP North America),
Mawethu Zita (RFP Southern Africa),
Ajay Uprety (RFP South Asia),
Veronica Ugwu (RFP West Africa),
Myself (GYCA Advisory Council Member & Co-Founder).


Missing from the meeting were:
Ahmad Tammam (RFP Middle East/North Africa),
Muge Cevik (RFP Western Europe).

GYCA RFPs and staff met to discuss RFP's work, challenges and goals.

We discussed how to help the RFPs create new policies to ensure greater accountability, communicativeness, ownership and responsiveness. RFPs who take leadership and contribute on a regular basis are often rewarded with free opportunities to represent GYCA at international events such as this conference. RFPs and NFPs who fall out of contact and shirk their responsibilities will be asked to leave and will be replaced.

The GYCA member’s meeting is tomorrow (Wednesday) from 6-8pm in the Bild hostel.


In attendance:
Reshma Pattni (GYCA Program Director),
Sydney (Program Officer- South Secretariat), Lindsay Menard-Freeman (Program Officer- North Secretariat),
Emily Carson (RFP North America),
Mawethu Zita (RFP Southern Africa),
Ajay Uprety (RFP South Asia),
Veronica Ugwu (RFP West Africa),
Myself (GYCA Advisory Council Member & Co-Founder).


Missing from the meeting were:
Ahmad Tammam (RFP Middle East/North Africa),
Muge Cevik (RFP Western Europe).

Queridos amigos & amigas,


Me puso muy triste recibir las noticias hoy que nuestro compañero Walter Trochez de Honduras fue asesinado por parte del gobierno de Micheletti. Walter fue un activísta muy especial, difundiendo los derechos humanos de todos/as, especialmente las personas que viven con VIH y LGBTQ personas.

Conocí a Walter en México durante el proyecto Agentes de Cambio con MTV para la Conferencia Internacional de SIDA en México en 2008. Era un placer trabajar con un gran activísta como Walter. Ojalá que hubiera un día cuando ningun/a compañero/a de nosotros tiene que morir por sus creencias.

Durante los últimos meses recibí un testimonio de sus esfuerzas extraordinario a través de sus escritos & emails sobre las violaciónes de los derechos humanos y politicales en Honduras después de la deposición de Manuel Zelaya en un coup militario.

Walter murió asegurando esos derechos y yo estoy de acuerdo que tenemos que buscar justícia para él y su familia. El silencio = La complacencia. ¡En solidaridad con los y las Hondureños/as luchando por la paz y la democracía!


Que descanse en paz.

Please, below are excerpts from the Introduction of my up-coming new book: American Galaxy - Celebrating the People and the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave / A Loving Higher Purpose for the People.

Also, a detailed preview and description of American Galaxy can be read on my creative communications and global strategies hub: http://uwachuku.googlepages.com/americangalaxy and in the Red Room: http://www.redroom.com/blog/ugonna/american-galaxy

But as I mentioned above, I lovingly invite you to read and comment on excerpts from the book's Introduction below:

INTRODUCTION

"We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness..."

This mind ennobling statement which is part of the American Declaration of Independence is utterly acceptable to me. In the soul searching dimension my thought flow, I have nothing to hide within willing clouds of my heart concerning this hopeful and meaningful Declaration. It is brilliantly humane and acceptable to the pattern of peaceful heavenly truth and encompassing renewal in ideals, freedom, faith and abiding action with caring purpose.

I believe in my known creative awakening in relation to the betterment and merciful survival of all human beings and our earthly home. I believe that Richard Henry Lee’s, George Washington's, John Adams’, Thomas Jefferson's, Abraham Lincoln’s, Clara Barton’s, John F. Kennedy’s, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s and Barack Obama’s dream plus that of their cherished compatriots must be kept alive and real for all Americans and the rest of humanity. I believe in the liberty and dignity of humankind, the elevation of the human soul into realms of valuable civility, purposeful servant leadership living and fulfilling progress enveloped within heaven's graceful eternity for you and for little me.

And if I may add, perhaps, in so many calculated, stirring ways, it is enthusiastic, `expansionist', rough riding, strenuous, progressive and inspiring President Theodore Roosevelt who, in a way, captured the spirit of my book's American and global message with the following words:

"I preach the gospel of hope... I have always been fond of a West African proverb `speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far' ... We enjoy exceptional advantages and we are menaced by exceptional dangers ... All signs indicate that we shall either fail greatly or succeed greatly."

Subsequently, President William Jefferson Clinton stood on the grand stage of this hope and brought rewarding change and peaceful progress to Americans in a period of economic recession and voter disillusionment. On 20 January, 1997, during his second inaugural address, President Clinton movingly spoke of "new promise", and in a deep-felt conviction upheld that soul enriching American Dream with the following imperishable words:

"And in this land of new promise, we will have reformed our politics so that the voice of the people will always speak louder than the din of narrow interests, regaining the participation and deserving the trust of all Americans.

Fellow citizens, let us build that America, a nation ever moving forward toward realizing the full potential of all its citizens. Prosperity and power, yes, they are important, and we must maintain them. But let us never forget: The greatest progress we have made, and the greatest progress we have yet to make, is in the human heart. In the end, the entire world's wealth and a thousand armies are no match for the strength and decency of the human spirit.

Thirty four years ago, the man whose life we celebrate today spoke to us down there, at the other end of this Mall, in words that moved the conscience of a nation. Like a prophet of old, he told of his dream that one day, America would rise up and treat all its citizens as equals before the law and in the heart. Martin Luther King's dream was the American Dream. His quest is our quest: the ceaseless striving to live out our true creed. Our history has been built on such dreams and labors. And by our dreams and labors, we will redeem the promise of America in the 21st century..."

Notably, on redeeming the promise of America in the 21st century, it is to the Union’s deeply inspiring, amazing and abiding credit that on 4 November, 2008, citizens of America elected Barack Obama the 44th President of the United States of America. As the first African-American plus bi-racial person to be elected President of America in the Union’s history, this unbelievable turning point has surely made it clear that the American Dream is still real, livable, hopeful, meaningful and soulfully enriching in so many fruitful ways ...

PROLOGUE  

 

"Even though we face the

difficulties of today and

tomorrow, I still have a

dream. I have a dream that

my four little children will

one day live in a nation where

they will not be judged by the

color of their skin but by the

content of their character." 

~ Martin Luther King, Jr.   

__
 

In 1964, Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life in

prison. Seven years later, I was born. As soon as

I was old enough to understand, my mum and dad,

both historians, had taken me through pages in

history.


Outside the bloody, sad tale of the fight of my Igbo

people for survival and fulfillment within Nigeria,

that of the Jews, African Americans, native American

Indians, Koori (Australian Aborigines), Tibetans,

Palestinians; including Mexican Indians, and others

across the world of then and today, the story of

the blatant oppression of native, aboriginal South

African black people by a white minority struck me in a

moving manner.


By reading and observation, I followed the struggle

against apartheid. In humane spirit, I was drawn to

the humble, but unequivocal yearning of this South

African leader who had been condemned to spend

the rest of his powerfully advocative life in prison.


Mandela became an enigma to me. Far from me and even

farther from the world around him, Mandela, symbolic

of the courageous spirit of the South African people,

became a spirit of the deep ancestral Africa which I

resolved to uphold, embrace and celebrate after the

dawn of freedom I longed for.


Above all, I came to realize that I had fallen in

love with a people and their struggle for a peaceful

recognition of the worth and dignity inherent in their

human essence. This love stems from my family's

unwavering involvement in the South African struggle -

a high level involvement that date back to the time

my uncle, Jaja Anucha Wachuku:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaja_Wachuku , was Nigeria's

Foreign Affairs and Commonwealth Relations Minister.


Notably, a 1964 telegram from the United States Embassy

in South Africa to the Department of State read thus:

"Cape Town, April 22, 1964, 11 a.m

/1/Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL

29 S AFR. Confidential; priority, repeated to London,

 

USUN, Pretoria, and Lagos.
...

...

/3/In the "Rivonia" trial, nine African Nationalist

leaders, including Nelson Mandela, were charged with

planning and carrying out sabotage. The Rivonia trial

was so called because of the arrest of a number of the

defendants on a farm in Rivonia, Transvaal.

I read the following statement to FonSec Jooste"

of South Africa "yesterday afternoon:

`Nigerian Foreign Minister Wachuku has expressed to

our Ambassador' - USA - `in Lagos his view that if

death penalty should be imposed and carried out on

Mandela and other defendants in Rivonia sabotage

trial it would Place moderate African leaders like

himself and Government of Nigeria, who are attempting

to follow a reasonable course on the South African

problem, in an impossible situation.'

Jooste took careful notes. His reaction to Wachuku's

statement was calm.

Satterthwaite"


Later, in the early 80s, as Senate Foreign Affairs

Committee Chairman, my uncle, Jaja Wachuku, against the

Nigerian government policy of isolating the South African

government because of apartheid, in a very dangerous

mission, secretly went to South Africa to put pressure

on President P.W. Botha, for the unconditional release

of Nelson Mandela and others; including the dismantling

of the obnoxious apartheid system in every humane sense

and truthful reality. Jaja Wachuku's meeting with President

Botha was a rewarding but acrimonious one. My uncle took

this clear risk for the love of his fellow brothers and

sisters in South Africa. Unflinchingly, he truly loved

all humanity; and cared so much for people's well-being,

fulfillment and peaceful joy.


For example, after the sorrowful Nigerian - Biafran war,

there were so many orphans amongst our Igbo people

in Nigeria. Jaja took some of these orphans into the

Wachuku family and wholly trained and cared for them till

adulthood. Today, these orphans of yesterday are happy and

responsibly fulfilled members of our big, interesting

Wachuku family and the Nigerian society at large. Today,

they are my cousins, brothers and sisters in that uniquely

African manner of caring and overwhelmingly inspiring

family tradition. Throughout his distinguished 78 years,

(1918-1996), on this earth, Jaja Wachuku deeply believed

that a wrong-doer cannot be corrected by isolation; but by

compassionate and lovingly understanding dialogue coupled

with constant interaction in order to bring that person

to the same level of love and compassionate awareness

of the fact that we all are worthy and dignified human

beings created in the image of God Almighty.


That was why, for Jaja Wachuku, his unpopular interaction

and dialogue with the apartheid regime had to be kept

going; not just to free the blatantly oppressed and

brutalized blacks and other groups, but also to free

our beloved brothers and sisters - whites - from their

heavily overbearing circle of hatred and destructive

feelings entwined with fatal actions of hopeful

superiority upheld by glaringly unjust laws and

government policies which had no human face.

Crucially, please, kindly hear Frederik W. de Klerk in his

autobiography titled: The Last Trek - A New Beginning:
 

"It is not only black, coloured

and Indian South Africans who have

been liberated. After generations,

whites have been freed from the

defensive Laager (the circled ox-

wagons which served as a kind of

fortress within which they could

protect their women and children

and cattle) in which they had for

centuries been confined."


As I take you on this soulfully moving journey

through The Great Place, let me say a little bit

more about my uncle's eventful life of servant

leadership - in terms of the meaningful responsibilities

of service he had. Jaja Anucha Wachuku was first African

laureate in oratory of the Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.

Later on, as first Speaker of the Nigerian parliament or

House of Representatives, he received Nigeria's instrument

of independence also known as freedom charter - on 1 October,

1960 - from Princess Alexandra of Kent who represented

the Queen of England at ceremonies marking Nigeria's

independence. On a 1960 United States of America tour as

House Speaker, Jaja Wachuku was honoured and presented

with the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Blue Seal and key

to the city of Atlanta, Georgia. Afterwards, he served as

Nigeria's first Ambassador to the United Nations. And on

7 October, 1960, he hoisted the flag of Nigeria as the 99th

member of the United Nations. At the world organization, he

was elected first African Chairman of a United Nations

Conciliation Commission. That was the Conciliation Commission

to the Congo. Subsequently, Jaja Wachuku served as first Nigerian

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Commonwealth Relations, later

called Minister of External Affairs. During Nigeria's Second

Republic, 1979 to 1983, he was elected Senator representing

Aba zone of Africa's most populous federation and country.


Also, I must let you know that everyone of us who

belong to the Wachuku family is humbly proud to be

part of the bunch. Ours is an inspiringly outstanding

family which date back, in known history, four hundred

and eighty years. This means that presently, the Wachuku

family of the area that is today known as Nigeria is

in its twelfth generation because biblically, a generation

is forty years. Indeed, over the years, my love for the beautiful

South African people and all of humanity has continued to

grow in unfathomable dimensions:


Then, when on 11 February, 1990, six years before

my distinguished uncle, Jaja Anucha Wachuku, went

the way of all mankind, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela

walked out of Victor Vester prison, a free and

healthy man, unconditionally, I held my breath

with tears and hopeful unbelief. In the deepest

corners of my soul and being, I knew that Albert

John Lutuli's visionary South Africa was here:

Accepting the 1960 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway

on 11 December, 1961, Lutuli said:
 

"Our vision has always

been that of a non-racial,

democratic South Africa

which upholds the rights

of all who live in our

country to remain there

as full citizens with

equal rights and

responsibilities with

others. For the consummation

of this ideal, we have

laboured unflinchingly. 

We shall continue to

labour unflinchingly."


Today, as I write The Great Place - in celebration

of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela and all the beautiful and

humanely brave people of South Africa - these "rainbow

people of God", I feel so fulfilled knowing that an

enigmatic reality outside of me has finally found creative

expression and explanation within the inspirational depths

of my being.


Accordingly, afterwards, concerning the South African

experience, I was calmly moved by the following words

from John Pilger in his paradoxical British Broadcasting

Corporation (BBC) aired documentary film entitled

Apartheid did not die:
 

"Coming back to South Africa,

I have been surprised to discover

a generosity of spirit that

survived the atrocities of

apartheid. It is a humanism

expressed in the distinctly

African notion that people are

people through other people.

This sense of community and

sharing is not without the

usual frailties. But the

evidence of its resilience

is everywhere in this country.

And this film has been a tribute

to that vibrant quality.

But tributes are not enough!

It was the ordinary people

of South Africa who set the

pace of change. It was their

humanity and their courage   

that triumphed here;

proving that fundamental

change is possible. It

will be a tragedy for all

of us if their continuing

struggle goes unrewarded;

for its inspiration and

lessons are universal."
 

Therefore, I am exceedingly glad that humanity has,

through FIFA, chosen these beautiful and inspiring South

African people to host the 2010 World Cup. Step out with

me then - as I take you on an unforgettable journey of life

into that soul enriching heart of The Great Place to be.


From the enchanting, peaceful gardens and green country-

sides of poetic Geneva through the humbling confluence of

Nigeria's inspiring rivers Niger and Benue to the welcoming

and bravely kind Kraals of South Africa through to the ends

of our breathtakingly beautiful blue earth unbound, let

us acknowledge and uphold our love and cherishment for

one another. We must move with God's loving spirit in us.

Humanity must be willing enough to learn from the healing

South African experience or else, we are lost forever!


Indeed, may God Almighty gracefully grant us the mustard

seed faith to find our spirit of the healing deep in South

Africa's inspiring and powerful yearning for peace, harmony

and fulfillment founded on love, oneness and respect for the

divine worth and dignity of all humankind. These are the

subtle, soul stirring words I leave with you this day and

always. 

Ugonna Wachuku  

http://www.amazon.com/Great-Place-Soulful-Celebration-Beautiful/dp/1413740081     

http://www.kalahari.net/books/The-Great-Place/632/27947785.aspx     

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Great-Place/Ugonna-Wachuku/e/9781413740080

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