Miracles of Hope

Yesterday (Sunday) I spent time at the British Museum - a really worthwhile experience! It was amazing to see the different cultural interpretations on life per se. From the North American Indians to the Egyptions and Assyrians, each culture was indelibly influenced by the environment in which it existed and it seems as if most past civilizations had a far more complex and reverant association with the natural world than we have. I wonder what future archeologists will make of our civilization? A world of technocrats without spiritual anchoring? Or a world where the ultimate goal of technology became the empowerment of the natural world?

My time here in the UK is flying as there is so much to be done. A visit to the Natural History Museum, which was utterly fascinating, confirmed for me yet again the validity of my book - hope others here in London see it too!!

“If we give our very best to all the children of today, and if we pass on our planet in the fullness of her beauty and natural richness, we will be serving the children of the future”.

“In a world beset by conflict and division, peace is one of the cornerstones of the future”.

Nelson Mandela, Madiba and Father of South Africa

“Your future and mine does not lie in fear-ridden division, but in fearless co-existance”

Dr Anton Rupert, global industrialist, philanthropist and visionary

“The great red hills stand desolate, and the earth has torn away like flesh. The lightning flashes over them, and the clouds pour down upon them, the dead streams come to life, full of the red blood of the earth. Down in the valleys women scratch the soil that is left, and the maize hardly reaches the height of a man. They are valleys of old men and old women, of mothers and children. The men are away, the young men and girls are away. The soil cannot keep them anymore.”

Alan Paton, Author of Cry the Beloved Country

“People often ask: what has Africa given the world? There is a simple answer. Africa gave the world humanity, and that is no small thing”.

Phillip Tobias, Professor Emeritus, University of the Witwatersrand

“In the end, we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, we will understand only what we are taught”

Baba Dioum, Senegalese Conservationist

A comment from Tony Millson, Senior Solicitor, London

I believe this book should be compulsory reading for all. Particularly, for those who have been elected to public office.

Part one of the book provides a short introduction to life on earth. In part two, the author relays in a technical but readable fashion the many ways in which human beings have fought against the power of nature. It could be said that the human race has harnessed nature for its own purpose but it seems quite clear that such harnessing has amounted to exploitation of the world’s non-renewable resources.

Part three of the book is headed “exploring future positives”. She also explains where in recent years humans’ thinking has changed which gives her reason to see hope for the future of the planet and its occupants.

I can also see reason for optimism, but perhaps less so than the author. However that is why I think everybody should read this book to give them food both for thought, possibly action, and yet hope.

A comment from Stephen Jacobs, Executive Director, The Natural Step Southern Africa

I have just finished reading your book and I want to congratulate you on an outstanding job. I found the book very readable, well researched and completely relevant. I will definitely recommend it to all my colleagues and clients as a must read.