Nobel Prize Committee's Surprise Choice, Puff Johnson in SA, And 'Umhlangano' with a Difference

* The announcement that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 has been won by US President - Barack Obama. The Nobel Prize committee said it gave the prize to Obama for his efforts in working towards a future peaceful world. In particular, they sighted his work in taking steps to creating a world free of nuclear weapons.
While a few jaws may have dropped at this selection, we welcomed it. Mr Obama has started his presidency on a good and positive note. He may not have achieved his goals as yet, but as the Nobel committee itself stated, he has not only given America hope for a better country, but he has given the world hope, too, for better international relations where problems are solved through dialogue.
And, by winning this huge and influential prize so soon after his history-making victory at the recent US Presidential elections, it is starting to look like this man - Obama - is a child of destiny.


* The news that US 'r & b' singer - Puff Johnson - is planning to release the first single from her upcoming new album from right here in Mzansi.
Ms Johnson has been staying in our country since October last year. She has made SA her second home, we are told. In her own words, "South Africa a beautiful country with beautiful people."

"We are truly honoured Ms Johnson.We love your music too.
Who can forget that ground breaking album of yours-MIRACLE.
In here I particularly loved these two awesome cuts - 'Outside my window' and
'All over your face'.
You can stay here forever my sister, we won't mind."


* An Umhlangano( staff meeting) with a difference here at work this past Wednesday.
On Wednesdays we normally hold full staff meetings between 8 and 9 am. On this particular Wednesday(07/10/09) we were supposed to hold a special type of meeting called Umhlangano. An Umhlangano is held once a month and is basically a platform for voicing grievances by staff . And needless to say, these meetings can be tense and fractious affairs.
But on this Wednesday we decided to throw the rule book out of the window. We
decided to make ourselves feel good instead.
We started off by letting lose on the dance 'floor'. Music - at high volume - was put on, on the branches' hi-fi system. And we all got down and did our thing. Brenda Fassie's old hit - 'Weekend Special' - has never sounded so good.
After this highly invigorating dancing session, our manager read us this awesomely inspiring piece of writing about two ill men painting beautiful pictures in their minds as they lay in their beds in a hospital room.
This meeting was was ended by hugs all around.
We left the meeting highly energised and motivated. We were ready to 'wow' our customers.



THANK YOU UNIVERSE. THANK YOU FOR OUR 'FEEL GOOD MOMENTS'.


=============================


Our FEEL GOOD poem of the week:


A Prize For All Mankind
___________________

It's a prize for all seasons.
A prize for the right reasons.
It's a noble prize.
The Nobel prize.
It's a prize for peace on earth.
A prize for health on earth.
A prize for economies of the world.
It's a noble one.
It's a prize for nobility.
A prize for Bo-Obama.
A prize for Bo-Wole Soyinka.
A prize for Bo-Nadine Gordimer.
It's a prize for a better world.
A prize for future generations.
It's a noble one.
This Nobel Prize.


====================================



SO, SOUTH AFRICA AND THE WORLD OUT THERE, WHAT MADE YOU

FEEL GOOD THIS WEEK?

Let us know at - feelgoodmovement@gmail.com
======================================

FGM Volunteers Project, New Street Lights in my 'Kasi', 2ND FGM Blog Followers

* In the spirit of last week's post entry about the 29-Day-Giving Challenge, we have decided to do our own bit of giving here in the Feel Good Movement. We have started a charity organization called The FGM Volunteers. And R10 of every FGM t-shirt sold will go to this organization.
Through this entity we hope to give back, so to speak. We will give of our time and a bit of money to good and worthy causes.
The reward for our volunteers, we hope, will be the satisfaction in contributing towards making this world a better place. More importantly though, we would like to do this contribution in a fun way. We would like to add a 'feel good' factor to our charitable acts.
In starting this project I have personally been inspired by a few individuals:

a) Mrs Linda Dickson - my supervisor here at work.

b) Ausi Jabu Mabaso - of Mbotane Business Solutions.

c) Mr Nelson Mandela and his Nelson Mandela Foundation - with their
creation of the Mandela Day( 18th July).


* A recent pleasing development in my 'kasi' of Protea North.
I have noted that our streets at night are suddenly brighter. This light fantastic is a result of the faulty street lights being fixed. Where at first there would light in patches because some street lights were working while others were out of order, these days the light is evenly balanced. The street lights are all now working. In the evenings are streets are like broad daylight. And I must say it feels safer to walk in these brightly lit streets.
I would like to say well done to the people responsible. People like our councilor - Ms Jabu Khanyi - and the Joburg City Metro municipality.


* The Feel Good Movement website getting its 2nd official follower. This time it is a lady called 'Mathuso Kao. And, yes, you will find her at the top right hand corner of this page, next to Zak.
All I want to say to her is this:

"We warmly welcome you my sister. We are truly humbled.
We promise to keep doing what we are doing and do it well."



THANK YOU UNIVERSE. THANK YOU FOR OUR 'FEEL GOOD MOMENTS'.


==============================


Our FEEL GOOD poem of the week:


To Give.....
___________

To give is...
To say I am human.
It's to say anothers' suffering is my suffering.
It is to go beyond the self.
To say the whole is more important.
When we give.....
We feel better.
We feel good.
There is no better reward.
By giving.....
We become the best of the human species.
We become a Mother Theresa.
A Nelson Mandela.
A Mahatma Gandhi.
To give is to be great.


======================================


SO, SOUTH AFRICA AND THE WORLD OUT THERE, WHAT MADE YOU

FEEL GOOD THIS WEEK?

Let us know at - feelgoodmovement@gmail.com
======================================

A Break from Taxi Operators, '29 Day Giving Challenge', And Heritage Day Celebrations

* The relative peace and quiet in the taxi industry, notwithstanding the fact that
the BRT transport system is now almost a month in existence.
At the launch of this bus system we had feared for the worst. There were rumours flying of a week-long strike by the taxi operators etc, etc.
In the end this strike never happened. We were spared the disruption and inconvenience.
And credit must go to the taxi operators themselves. They allowed sanity to prevail.
Big 'ups' to our taxi guys.


* Getting to hear about something called THE 29 DAY GIVING CHALLENGE. I read about this challenge in a link I received from Ms Jeanette Maw(www.goodvibecoach.com). Jeanette is a Law of Attraction teacher.
This challenge is about encouraging people to get into the habit of giving. Each participant is urged to give at least one gift per day for 29 consecutive days. And these gifts do not have to be all material things. One can give a friend words of encouragement, for example. Or you can give your time to a charity.
It is hoped that after 29 days one will have fully experienced the joys and rewards of 'giving' and therefore continue with the practice beyond the 29 days.
From a personal experience, I can vouch for the benefits of giving. On some days I would be left short from giving; even be tempted to stop the practice. But I never stopped.
When I look back now at how fortunate I have been in my life in some instances, I cannot help but feel that the Universe blessed me in return.
For more information on the 29 Day Giving Challenge you can visit www.29gifts.org


* A Heritage Celebration at work that was full of pomp, colour and culture.
24th September is a holiday known as Heritage Day here in South Africa. On this day all Mzansi citizens are urged to celebrate their different cultures.
At my workplace we decided to celebrate this day the next working day - Friday 25th September. We all came to work dressed in our traditional attire.
Some of my colleagues looked awesome. To the following few I doff my hat:

a) "Bessie Mnisi - in your Zulu gear - you were pretty and colourful my sister. You looked like a Zulu princess. Which you are."

b) "Sibusiso Cindi - in your Sesotho hat( mokorotlo) and Sesotho blanket - you 'represented' my brother. You reminded me of my 2nd home-Lesotho."

c) "Mahommed Jacobs - in your Islamic all white - you were like the Imam
himself. You looked holy and ready to fly off to heaven there and then."

And to all those that made an effort to dress up but I did not mention,  you guys also looked great.



THANK YOU UNIVERSE. THANK YOU FOR OUR 'FEEL GOOD MOMENTS'.


===============================


Our FEEL GOOD poem of the week:

An Industry We Need
_________________

It's an industry we need.
An industry we want.
It's our industry.
The taxi industry.
It's a cog in our economy.
It ferries the workforce to and fro.
It's a livelyhood for thousands.
It's an industry we need.
An industry we can't do without.
The 'Zola Budds'.
The 'scufftins'.
The 'Nyathis'.
We need them all.
It's an industry we have come to love.
An industry with colourful players.
Without bo-mshayeli.
Bo-queue marshall.
Bo-mnikazi.
This is an industry of industries.
Our taxi industry.


=================================


SO, SOUTH AFRICA AND THE WORLD OUT THERE, WHAT MADE YOU

FEEL GOOD THIS WEEK?

Let us know at - feelgoodmovement@gmail.com
======================================

Presidential Hotlines, 'Off Work' Afternoon, 9 Months of The FGM Blog

* The opening of the much anticipated Presidential Hotline call centre this past Tuesday( 15/09/09).
This is where Mzansi citizens will be able to air their grievances on a myriad of issues directly to President Jacob Zuma. Or at the least the people manning this call centre will pass these complaints to him and he will in turn act on them.
And apparently on its first day of operating the President was there himself taking a few calls.
I think this facility is a nice touch from the President's office.This direct access to government will help to solve a lot of problems on the ground where the people live. It will also help by-pass bureaucracy.
Let us all put this facility to good use, Mzansi people.


* Having an afternoon off at work on Friday. This was part of my birthday celebrations and it came courtesy of our branch manager - Laurinda Hendricks.
It is a tradition here at our branch - FNB The Glen - for a staff member to have an afternoon off on their birthday.
This bit of time on my hands gave me a chance to do this and that.
I must thank branch management for this 'afternoon-off-on-your-birthday' idea because this 'time off' does certainly give a sense of being pampered as it is befitting a birthday boy/girl.


* The Feel Good Movement website having been in existence now for just over 9 months.
Some of the highlights since the last celebration - at 3 months way back in February - being:

1) The FGM blog 1st page being made a landing page in one of my 'kasi' ( Protea North) internet cafes.This means that when a person signs on in any computer in this internet cafe they would first land on our web page before going to the website that they want to visit. Much like the way the Google search engine page is a landing page in most internet cafes.
And this huge exposure was given to us free of charge by Mandla - the manager at this particular internet cafe.
" Thanks Mandla 'my man' "

2) Getting our first official FGM website follower. His name is Zak. You can see him on the top right hand corner of this page.

"Welcome to the FGM, Zak 'my man' "

And we also know, for a fact, that there hundreds of thousands of our followers out there. You are just waiting for the right opportunity and the right time to 'come out'.

3) Finally, the arrival of the FGM t-shirts about 3 weeks ago. And the subsequent wearing of them en masse by some of my colleagues at work on that Casual Day Friday.

The FEEL GOOD Revolution has arrived indeed, ladies and gentlemen.



THANK YOU UNIVERSE. THANK YOU FOR OUR 'FEEL GOOD MOMENTS'.


===================================


Our FEEL GOOD poem of the week:

Now There Is A Line
________________

It's a line to the President.
And it's hot.
What's on you mind Mzansi people?
Service delivery issues?
Now there is a line.
A line to power.
Bo-makhi disturbing the peace?
Now you have a line.
A line to Msholozi.
All the hot issues.
All the burning issues.
Now they have a line.
It's a line on fire.
It's a line to a better life,  for all.


=================================


SO, SOUTH AFRICA AND THE WORLD OUT THERE, WHAT MADE YOU

FEEL GOOD THIS WEEK?

Let us know at - feelgoodmovement@gmail.com
======================================

Caster Wa Rona, The Movie - 'Distrct 9', And Township Slang Phrases

* The continuing outpouring of support from Mzansi citizens for our golden girl - Caster Semenya. Caster is the South African lady sprinter who won gold in the 800m event in the recent World Athletic Championships in Berlin.
The support is in the wake of the leaked gender tests results done on her by the IAAF that say she is intersexed ( i.e.she is neither purely female nor purely male).
We would also like to voice our support  for Caster. She has not done anything wrong.
Her biological make-up is what she was saddled with at birth. She cannot change it.
I would like to say to Caster:

" Be strong my sister. This too shall pass."


* The locally made movie - DISTRICT 9 - that is doing very well in our local movie theatres. It was reported in THE TIMES ( 08/09/09) newspaper this past week that DISTRICT 9 is hogging the NO 1 spot in 'money made' terms for the 2nd week running.
It apparently did exceptionally well also in the US when it was first released there.
This film was made here in Mzansi, in the Soweto township.
It may not be strictly an SA story in that is it science fiction. We do not have a history of this genre in our film making. But we are still incredibly proud of its
achievement, both here and abroad.
Well done to bo-Neill Blomkamp - the director, and bo-Kenneth Nkosi - one of the actors in it.


* Learning a new township slang phrase for the act of selling stuff from person to person. When you do this i.e sell 'smallanyana' items like t-shirts, CDs, DVDs etc to individuals it is said:"O pusha doollas".
I got to learn this from a Spur( The Glen) gentleman employee. I had asked him where a colleague of his was. I was carrying a gym bag as I asked him this. He replied by asking me if I am "pushing doollas." If I was, he was also interested.
He never got to explain to me how this phrase originated. But I suspect 'doollas' comes from 'dollars'. When one is selling stuff, one is trying to make 'dollars', so to to speak.
After this lesson I felt even more 'ghetto' and happening.



THANK YOU UNIVERSE. THANK YOU FOR OUR 'FEEL GOOD MOMENTS'.


================================


Our FEEL GOOD poem of the week:


Cast In Stone
___________

Cast in stone Caster, you are.
Your being, Semenya.
Like your South African-ness.
Is cast in stone.
Your golden performances.
Like our love for you.
Is cast in stone.
The Australian media.
Or even the IAAF.
They can never change these.
These and other facts about you.
They are all cast in stone.
You are still a champ.
You are still pure gold.
And this, is cast in stone too.


======================================


SO, SOUTH AFRICA AND THE WORLD OUT THERE, WHAT MADE YOU

FEEL GOOD THIS WEEK?

Let us know at - feelgoodmovement@gmail.com
=====================================

Successful BRT Launch,Rubza Finding His Wings,FGM T-Shirt Day

* The launch of the Bus Rapid Transport system this past Monday(31/8/9) going well.It was the first commercial run of these new buses.They carried passengers from near Thokoza Park in Rockville and meandered through Soweto,the Johannesburg CBD,until their final stop around the Ellis Park stadium area.
The threatened disruption of this launch by the taxi operators did not materialize as everyone had feared.
And from accounts of a few people who have tried these buses,they are a comfortable and cost-effective way of getting to work or to school.
Personally,I do not think that our taxi operators have anything to fear from the BRT.These buses travel on a fixed route and on fixed time schedules.They meet certain transport needs.They can never cover the needs of all the commuters.There is still nothing to beat the flexibility of a 'Zola Budd' taxi.


* A friend of The FGM-Ruben('Rubza')-having taken the bold step of setting up his own shop.After working in his friend's shop-'Ha Robert'-for some time,Ruben has decided to put up his own operation in the Protea Glen location.It is a little joint called 'SELLO's GENERAL DEALER',next to the BP garage in Glen.
If you do happen to be in the Protea Glen area and are looking for a tasty
'Kota'-the township bunnychow-do pay Sello's General Dealer a visit.
I am really happy for 'my man' Rubza.His long cherished dream has come true at last.


* A few of my colleagues who bought The FGM t-shirts deciding to make Friday's Casual Day an FGM t-shirt day.They came to work clad in their brand new FGM t-shirts.I would like to take this opportunity to say 'ta' to these guys:

To Sarah Bibi Imam-Shaik- a long time supporter of The FGM.

" You looked awesome in your all black attire my sister.And with your 'bhurka' on,you looked like those young and committed Muslim ladies ready to die
for the cause.
Much respect to you Mrs Imam-Shaik."

To Boniswa - the new kid on the block and PA of PA's.

"Loved how you only got you only got your t-shirt on Friday
and never wasted any time.You wore it there and then to show your support.
Ndiya bulela sisi."

To Victor Mahlangu - the ringleader of this group.

"For conceiving the idea of an FGM t-shirt Casual Day and
then marshalling our colleagues to come on board.
Big ups 'my man'."

To Sibusiso Cindi - our smart guy.

"If Victor-above-was the Fidel Castro of this plan,you were
the Che Guevara of it.You won over the hearts of the people with
your charm.
Kea leboha ntate."

Thank you guys, from the bottom of my heart.



THANK YOU UNIVERSE.THANK YOU FOR OUR 'FEEL GOOD MOMENTS'.


=================================


Our FEEL GOOD poem of the week:


BRT Anyone?
___________

'B' is for bus.
A big bus.
A comfortable bus.
Moving on time.
Moving on schedule.
And in tune.
'R' is for rapid.
Moving.Swiftly and safely
Maku sheshwe.
Kuse Goli la.
Moving.Full or not.
'T' is for transport.
A transport for all.
Accessible and cheap.
A 'transi' for all seasons.
Everybody on board.
On board the BRT.


===================================


SO,SOUTH AFRICA AND THE WORLD OUT THERE,WHAT MADE YOU

FEEL GOOD THIS WEEK?

Let us know at - feelgoodmovement@gmail.com
======================================
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Government's Firm Hand, Pep Guardiola's Pep Talk, And the Arrival of The FGM T-shirts

* Our government showing who is in charge in response to the SANDF soldier's recent strike.
The striking soldiers had tried to storm the Union Buildings - President Jacob Zuma's residence in Pretoria - in a protest over their 'low' salaries. But they were repelled by the police with teargas. This firm response by the government was reassuring. Any form of lawlessness has to be nipped in the bud. The soldiers can go on strike if they want to, but the burning of cars etc..was uncalled for.
This same strong show of force was promised by the Premier of Gauteng - Nomvula Mokonyane -  to the taxi owners who were planning to disrupt the launch of the Bus Rapid Transport system this coming week.
We applaud this tough stance on lawlessness by the government. As citizens of Mzansi we need to feel that we are not at a mercy of elements who want to have their way by force.


* Reading about what the Barcelona coach - Pep Guardiola - told his players before the Champion's League final against Manchester United earlier this year. He was quoted in a soccer magazine called CHAMPIONS( August/September issue). In an article entitled 'Veni,Vidi,Vici.' by Paul Simpson, Guardiola was said to have told his players to be daring during the game:

" We wanted to say we played and were not being cowards.
There is nothing more dangerous than not taking risks."

I found this pep talk about taking risks very inspirational indeed. And from the way Barcelona defeated Man U, his players must indeed have heeded the coach's advice. Barcelona not only scored goals( 2 to Man U's 0), but they entertained us also.
How many risks do we take in our own personal lives in order to get ahead?



* The arrival of the Feel Good Movement t-shirts this past Friday. These t's were done for us by a company called MBOTANE BUSINESSS SERVICES that specializes in branded corporate wear and gifts. It is a company owned by a lady called Jabu Mabaso.
Needless to say, we are hugely excited here in The FGM. Our message of spreading the good news in our lives has just received another broadcast channel. The Feel Good Revolution can now spread its wings far and wide.

"Much, much love to you Ausi Jabu."



THANK YOU UNIVERSE. THANK YOU FOR OUR 'FEEL GOOD MOMENTS'.


============================


Our FEEL GOOD poem of the week:


Safe In Your Arms
_______________

When the earth is shaking.
When the ground we walk on trembles.
We want to feel safe.
Safe in your arms Goromente.
When it is cold.
When it is chilly outside.
We need to know that you are there.
That you are there for us Goromente.
When lawlessness, greed and corruption threaten.
When they threaten to overwhelm us.
We need your shield.
We need your protection.
Tell us that the law will take its course
And indeed it must.
So far so good Goromente.
We feel safe.
Safe in your arms.


=====================================


SO, SOUTH AFRICA AND THE WORLD OUT THERE, WHAT MADE YOU

FEEL GOOG THIS WEEK?

Let us know at - feelgoodmovement@gmail.com
======================================