Grandfathers, Jews and the impulse to act

Posted on July 30, 2014 by wordpressgrethe

grandfathers It is one of the myths in our family history: my grandfather ‘saving’ a Jewish girl from a Nazi. It was in the 2nd World War. In villages, children from Jewish families lived as if they were part of the farmers’ family, trying to escape a certain death when the Nazis found out they were Jewish. A 14 or 15 year old ‘secretly’ Jewish girl, described as very beautiful, accidentilly fell in the village street and bumped her head against a stone right in front of the house where one of the Nazis in charge was temporarily located. He came out of the house, saw the beautiful girl and took her into the house to take care of her. All of the village worried, they were talking about it: what is he doing to that beautiful girl and also, most of all: what if he finds out that she is Jewish? They were extremely nervous!
The worries and talks in the village took a great part of the day, then at the end of the day my grandfather returned from work and heard about it. When he was told, he didn’t even think for a minute but just got angry and went to the house of the Nazi. Did he have a plan? I don’t think so. He did not talk, he did not ask questions, as he never did. He just had the impulse to act.
Did he save her? He didn’t I guess, everybody who was in this story agreed that the girl saved herself once the opening was given. As soon as my grandfather appeared at the doorstep, this ‘wounded’ girl stood up from the couch where she lied down, she ran to the door, embraced my grandfather and acted as if he was her father: ‘o dad, dad, please take me home’. The Nazi guy nodded and my grandfather took her ‘home’.

Summer 2014 we are living a period in Europe, and to my great great regret also in Amsterdam, where antisemitism is fully alive. And just like the village in the 2nd World War, everybody is talking about it. Everybody is ‘worrying’, like all of the village did in the War. But how many of us are acting?
What my grandfather did seems easy > he just went to the house. Anybody could have done that… but nobody did. So the real question is: why didn’t they do it? As the girl could save herself just upon the impulsive action of my grandfather.
I wonder about the conclusion of this story. Doing has more value, more effect than talking? Don’t spend time worrying, just act? Maybe that is true, also today…

Lisbon pavements (make the world a better place 2)

Posted on February 28, 2014 by wordpressgrethe

Lisbon pavements.
Wherever you go in Lisbon; beautiful pavements are all around or should I say: all under your feet! It is a joy to walk in this city. They really make the world a better place. Still, many houses are neglected, old and falling apart. But people are working hard, renovating, rebuilding, all that is needed to make the houses – many of them monuments – look as beautiful as the pavements are. Then this city will be one big impressive treasure of different, yet unique styles. Lisbon has class and history, it shows in great refinement of details and in the gentle manners of its citizens. What a pleasure to be here 🙂

Read other blogs in the theme ‘make the world a better place’
Lisbon walking
Warsaw Christmas lights

Lisbon walking (make the world a better place 1)

Posted on February 27, 2014 by wordpressgrethe

Lisbon walking.

Often, the idea to make the world a better place to live in, makes us think of great and revolutionary ideas. What I like about Lisbon is that they make the world a better place just by adding high quality details into daily life.
I don’t know where you live, but I guess the pavement in your city or village is just an ordinary thing; a bunch of stones, maybe low, maybe high quality stone but nevertheless: just stones. It does not really add to the quality of your life.Lisbon is different. The Portuguese understand that quality of life is experienced precisely through daily details like the pavement we walk on. Look at the pictures: aren’t they adorable? It is a joy to walk there! And it is clear that these pavements were made by craftsmen who really enjoyed to deliver a piece of art to the many customers they would have after finishing their job; thousands of passengers feel better just by trotting on the paths they laid. Thanks to all to visionaries to improve daily life!

Read other blogs in the theme ‘make the world a better place’
Lisbon pavements
Warsaw Christmas lights

Never ever give up

Posted on September 3, 2013 by wordpressgrethe

‘Never ever give up’, a special English friend said to me during the first years of my company. I remember that I told him how much initiatives I took to have more customers and that the phone was so silent… He was very empathic with his reaction ‘yes and then you sit down in despair and think nobody is ever going to contact your company again‘ and he surprised me so much there.

He was a selfmade multimillionaire, I was staying in his ‘house’ (I don’t know how to call a place like that) overlooking the Mediterranean and having parties like I never had before and still he was so down-to-earth that he fully understood my problem as a beginning entrepreneur. He had lived it all himself I guess which felt like a consolation and he could only advice me what had been the best recipe for himself: ‘never give up’.

All this came back to me when I watched Diana Nyad who reached Florida beach after three days swimming starting from Cuba: an amazing and most incredible action. She was not just swimming from Cuba to Florida to set a record, she is setting a major message: ‘never, ever give up’ is her motto. Apparently she is a late believer in realising dreams, as she explains in a most interesting Ted presentation after her 4th attempt to cross that sea full of sharks and jelly fishes: on.ted.com/Nyad and before this recent 5th and finally succesfull attempt. Watch that speech, it is amazing!

She was almost 60 years old when she decided to transform the discontent she felt about herself, about the things she did not do or not change, into the realisation of the dream she had had since 30 years. She failed 4 times, she succeeded yesterday and the first wisdom she spread when she could talk again – apparently it is pretty exhausting, to cross a sea swimming 🙂 – was: ‘never, ever give up’.

Also very beautiful: http://a.abcnews.com/images/US/ht_diana_nyad_jef_120820_wg.jpg
For me her age of 64 years adds to the message, as the crossing of a sea while swimming is rather expected (by me at least) from a young strong person than from an elderly person. ‘You are never too old’, Diana Nyad tells us in her speech and she is right. We usually find too many excuses not to fulfill our dreams and to give up… Mankind is blessed with special people that encourage us to follow our dreams and never, ever give up; may they be blessed too!

Lore movie that silences the public

Posted on April 13, 2013 by wordpressgrethe

Lore movie that silences the public

Last night I saw the Australian/German movie Lore in complete silence. I do not remember that the cinema public did not talk or even cough during a movie, but Lore creates that effect.

5 children from SS-parents have to find their way from the southern Schwarzwald to Hamburg in the North of Germany in the days after Hitler died. Their parents are arrested and nobody wants the children or cares for them.

The country is a mess as Hitler fought untill the very end: the desillusion is complete and everybody is just surviving, often at the cost of others. No safety, no love, even no truth: ‘not knowing’ is one of the themes in the movie.

We interprete the circumstances thought the eyes of maybe 16 years old Lore who was educated in a pro-Hitler family with strong values. Not just the story, also the end of the movie is unique: the message, whatever it is, is significant. Everybody, no exception, left the cinema in silence.

For me, the movie gave a perspective on immediate post-war Germany that I never had before. It was touching, confusing and realistic: it could have happened and it may have… Beautiful camera work turns this into an art movie: breathtaking from the begin untill the very end!

Other documentaries you may like:
Dheepan: an outstanding movie about refugees
Loin des hommes

Latvia museum: cultural exchange without words?!

Posted on February 21, 2013 by wordpressgrethe

Latvia Museum

Latvia has particular archeaological beauties but the presentation of them could be better. For example, in the national museum in Riga all signs are in the Latvian language only. How many people in the world speak Latvian – and especially, how many tourists? It’s a bit weird to walk around in a museum with fantastic ancient pieces and no explanation at all. I speak six languages but that was not enough to understand what I was looking at; I deeply regret that because as shown above there are some masterpieces in the museum – just haven’t got a clue what they are…
The entrance of the museum is also intriguing, starting with a mysterious painting above a coffin with a real old skeleton in it:
It attracts immediate attention, but the scenery remains a secret. Is someone mourning or did he just kill someone? The Latvian national museum proves that language is an essential tool in the 21st century. If we want to know and understand each others culture, showing our historic items is not enough. Neither are intuition or imagination – those strongly add to our quality of life, but not to understanding reality. Language, words that can be interpreted are essential in intercultural exchange.
Still, I enjoyed the Latvian ancient objects and recommend a museum visit to everyone!

Another blog about museums: Who tells your history? And other questions
Or this one: Museum of the history of Cypriot coinage
Or this one: Vesunna Museum in Périgueux

Who tells your history? and other questions

Posted on August 26, 2012 by wordpressgrethe

“Who tells your history?”, says another intruiging exhibition in the Stockholm National Historical Museum / Historiska Museet (http://www.historiska.se ). I don’t know what musea are like in your country. My experience is that they are usually knowledgeable on the subject they talk about and also a bit arrogant: they are the experts, the way they present things is right. The Stockholm National Historical Museum is a pleasant surprise, unique in its kind. Here is a museum that questions its own assumptions.
For example the way an archaeologist looks at a prehistoric grave is not just defined by ‘objective’ knowledge but also by his concept of the world he knows. So when he tries to find out whether a prehistoric grave belongs to a man or a woman, he might follow rules like: ‘ah this is a needle, so it was a woman’ and ‘ah this is a weapon, so it was a man’. How can we be sure that this is prehistoric reality and not the archaeologist’s concept of the world, projected on prehistoric times? We can’t, the Stockholm National Historical Museum simply says. This museum does something more courageous than I even saw a museum do: contest its own authority, expertise and knowledge. Isn’t that a great example for the 21st century where certainties have diminished anyway!
It is not just a non-issue that they are talking about, as you can read in a previous blog of my hand, april 2011: https://grethevangeffen.wordpress.com/2011/04/12/gay-caveman-in-czech-republic/
The Stockholm National Historic Museum makes this matter personal (see the photograph above). Many people define their identity by the (national) history; be it viking, be it VOC mentality, be it slavery, be it the Ottoman empire. But as the museum says, it matters who defined that history with what concept. This museum questions the possibility to define your identity through history, as it might be a construct rather than a truth or reality. I loved it – I found it very intriguing. If you prefer questions to answers, don’t forget to pass by this museum when you are in Stockholm. Enjoy!

Another blog about this museum: Vikings, did they really exist?

Another museum that you might like: Heimatmuseum Borkum: variety, wealth, surprise

Vikings: did they really exist?

Posted on August 21, 2012 by wordpressgrethe

“The Vikings is a created identity that everybody uses for its own purposes”, says an intruiging exhibition in the Stockholm National Historical Museum / Historiska Museet (http://www.historiska.se ). They have a complete collection of every possible antique Viking asset, but they also contest the very existence of a Viking identity and I have to say, they do that quite convincingly. It really made me smile.

They explain that in 1864 Germany attacked Denmark and Denmark lost Southern Jutland. So the Nordic countries felt threatened. Their reaction was to create the Viking myth so that others would feel frightened to attack them. Ain’t that a marvellous story!
Apparently the creation of the myth was successful so it became a habit. When universal male voting rights were introduced in 1910, the Vikings served as example: ‘all free men had a vote in the Viking time’. During the second World War, the Germans used Viking dresses and symbols to convince Norvegian men to join them, as if the Vikings were some kind of prehistoric SS-men. Then after the war, everybody was longing for peace so the peaceful side of Vikings as peasants was emphasized.

When Sweden was discussing EU-membership in the years ’80 and ’90, the Viking identity was presented in favour of EU-membership expressing how actively they were trading in many places in Europe. And isn’t the EU about trade most of all!
And now the most funny part comes. Actually gender and diversity have become an important theme in life. So what happens to the Viking identity? In the presentation of Viking history, the prominent place of women in Viking society is shown. And the Vikings have now become people who were very open for other cultures and ideas.

So the Viking identity can serve many goals. Applause for a Historical Museum that is splendid in its normal exhibition of historical artefacts and in the meantime so creative in the reflections about the interpretation of what they exhibit. Very worth a visit!

Another blog about this museum: Who tells your history?

Another blog about Stockholm; Diversity in hotels, it exists in Stockholm!

Maybe you like to read also about this museum: Archaeological museum Haarlem

Diversity in hotels; it exists in Stockholm!

Posted on August 9, 2012 by wordpressgrethe

Diversity in hotels: it exists in Stockholm!

All women who travel frequently for business will recognize what I experienced: most hotels are somehow similar, ‘efficiently’ organized, coloured in white/cream combined with black or brown, in one word: predictable – which is nice -, but boring – which is a poor contribution to the joy of life. The more a hotel is ‘business’, the more urgently Pay TV is brought to the customers attention. I have no specific opinion about men watching Pay TV but I do not want to be confronted with it when I travel for work. Finding a big sign to advertise Pay TV in the middle of my bed when I enter a new hotel is an absolute minus point for me and I never return to that hotel. Why don’t they bother to just find out whether the new customer is going to be man or woman? Is that against the rules of ‘efficiency’ in business hotels?
Stockholm proves how different this can be! The Collector’s Hotels offer a completely different environment. The hotels are full of antiques in all colours, live paintings turn the walls into something special and beautiful and many details are taken care of: from a special gift to the customer arriving until little cards on the breakfast tables with interesting quiz questions about Sweden. I felt at home in this hotel from the very first minute, it is nice and comfortable to travel like this!
The Hotel info says: “we are convinced that our chain of hotels are in step with times” and “Personality and history is scarce in the hotel business; but we feel that there is a lot more that we can do to change that“. They announce they might expand outside of Stockholm and even outside of Sweden. I think their concept would be real added value in Amsterdam. When they start a hotel in my home city, I will be the first to advertise it! It’s great when you see that people in a ‘standard’ business have the vision and the courage to introduce diversity…

Other blogs you might like to read:
Forget about the rules. Be human.
Travels with Herodotus
South Korean wisdom
Japanese looters

President in the warm heart of Africa

Posted on August 6, 2012 by wordpressgrethe

President in the warm heart of Africa

When her Excellency President Banda from Malawi returns to her country after a visit to Nigeria, this doesn’t pass unnoticed. Along the road to the airport, police officers are frequent. At the airport itself, there is a large line of ‘guards of honour’ (no idea how to call them, you see them at the picture in red). Apart from luxury cars, at least seven Hummers are waiting and ten motorpolice officers, as well as a great bunch of army officials.
And then there is the public, dressed in her political colour orange, singing and blowing the vuvuzela and dancing for this President they love. President Banda, once she arrives, only walks on the red carpet, not on the cold and hard airport cement. The ceremony takes maybe 20 minutes, not too long to become boring, not too short as if it were just a necessity.
It must be fun to be welcomed like this after a journey abroad! Malawi is called ‘the warm heart of Africa’ and makes that name true in many aspects 🙂

Other blogs about Malawi you might like:
Aid for orphans in Malawi
Dead aid in Malawi
Malawi Fever Tree
Stage fever is an English invention
When inclusiveness met apartheid

What people in Zimbabwe learned (and will Malawi follow?)

Posted on August 3, 2012 by wordpressgrethe

What people in Zimbabwe learned

One of the Stephanos managers told me this, that in Zimbabwe people have learned something during the last years that people in Malawi haven’t learned yet. The situation in Zimbabwe has been dramatic due to political circumstances. Donors refused to give any more money to the country. The food production was very low. It ended up in a situation where there was nothing to be had for ordinary people. Even the crime rate went down, because it was no use stealing anything from others; because others wouldn’t have anything either so there was nothing to be stolen…And since the donors gave no money, the people felt completely without help. This has brought a major change in their mentality: what people in Zimbabwe learned, was to start helping themselves. If there was any land not being used for agriculture, it would now be developed by ordinary people at their own initiative. Teenagers were looking for possibilities to contribute after school. People have become more independant, more active and proud.
In Malawi, everybody is still relying on donors. People forget about following their own values and ideas and focus on donor satisfaction because the big fear of any Malawian is: what if the donor will stop giving money! This is a general mentality that children also learn at a very young age. Remember: 40% of Malawi’s national budget comes from donors! So the withdrawal of donors would have dramatic effects. However, anybody can predict that such a donor-situation will not last forever. Does Malawi need a crisis like Zimbabwe to create a turning point?
Personally I am surprised to see Malawi this poor, 1 of the 5 poorest countries in the world, I am still puzzled by it. Malawi has strong assets with a beautiful lake, mountain, wild parcs and lots of land that is not being exploited for agriculture yet. And: the customers for agricultural products (think of India, China) are already there, they don’t even need to look for them. There is a lot of unused potential. I have seen countries with ‘less potential’ and better results. Yet it is normal in Malawi to ask white people for money all the time also individually (if you’re white, try a walk on the street and you will notice). What could create the shock effect for Malawians to take their destiny more in one hand (and for donors to let them do it) – preferably without the dramatic situation Zimbabwians have suffered from.

Another blog about this theme: Dead Aid in Malawi

Other blogs about Stephanos and Malawi:
Pigs, kids, and why it works in Malawi
Seba culture and diversity workshops in Malawi

When inclusiveness met apartheid…

Posted on August 1, 2012 by wordpressgrethe

When inclusiveness met apartheid

In our last workshop at Stephanos Foundation today, participants looked for role models in change and innovation. They came up with a list that is different from what European groups would make, except for Mandela: he is always everywhere present in the list of role models participants come up with.
Afterwards one of the managers told me that Malawi did not deal with South Africa in the apartheid period the same way other African countries did. The first president of Malawi Mr. Banda was in favour of dialogue, much in line with the inclusiveness that I experienced in Malawi during the last ten days. While other countries boycotted South Africa, Mr. Banda refused to stop his contacts and met with the president of South Africa. But when he did that, he made a statement. He helt a black child on one hand, a white child on the other hand and like that he showed that all humans are equal and that that would be the way forward also for South Africa. Mr. Banda got political ennemies in several African countries because of his vision, my manager told me, but he had a vision that suited Malawian culture and did not give it up. Later, he might have become more like a dictator, but for this attitude towards South Africa he can be considered as a role model.
I think I learned at least as much as the managers of Stephanos Foundation who followed my workshops. For me, it was like presenting familiar themes and practices in a completely unfamiliar context. Maybe it could have been better if I had known more about the local context – on the other hand, this might have been the key for interaction and participation of the managers, as I asked explicitly for their help at the beginning.
One thing is for sure, themes like culture, diversity, change, innovation and even project planning don’t differ per country: only the context differs – and the language was not an easy step to take. The workshops were highly appreciated and I highly appreciated to be given this opportunity that was really ‘out of the box’ for me. Not easy, but very rewarding!

Other blogs about Malawi culture:
President in the warm heart of Africa
Pigs, kids, and why it works in Malawi
Creative use of waterpipes in Zomba

Grethe van Geffen

culture and diversity

Category Archives: Culture and diversity