Africans needed to believe in themselves and their continent, said Gift of the Givers founder Dr Imtiaz Sooliman.
Delivering the graduation address at one of six graduation ceremonies at Rhodes University this week, Sooliman said Africans tended to look north for solutions.
“Believe in yourselves. You will see what you can do if you have the right attitude. If we have the right spirit, standing together we can move the earth.”
He pointed out that Gift of the Givers – the largest disaster response non-governmental organisation on the African continent – had developed the first containerised mobile hospital in the world in response to the humanitarian crisis sparked by the civil war in Bosnia.
“We, in South Africa, built the first containerised mobile hospital and took it to Europe.”
He said it had been South Africans who had stood together and reinvigorated a devastated hospital in Pakistan in the midst of the terrible earthquake of 2005. “If we can do that in another country why can’t we do it here?”
He urged Rhodes graduates to be ethical in all that they do in the future.
“Strive hard, work hard. Have respect for the dignity of others and serve with passion.”
Speaking at the first of several graduation ceremonies this week, Rhodes vice-chancellor Dr Sizwe Mabizela urged graduates to step up and rescue South Africa from an uncertain future.
Mabizela said the country was at a worrying crossroads and that young leaders needed to become “a voice of reason, truth, justice and hope” to try and solve growing public discontent.
“The recent worrying and disturbing events and developments in our country must force us to reflect critically on where we have been, where we are and where we should be heading as a nation,” he told a packed Guy Butler auditorium at the 1820 Settlers National Monument.
He warned there was a growing and palpable impatience, disillusionment and disenchantment with the social, economic and political state of our nation.
Mabizela said although the foundational principles of South Africa’s constitutional democracy were under assault, society must not lose hope that things would improve.
The Constitutional Court judgment in the Nkandla matter had gone a long way to restore confidence in the constitutional project, he added.
He urged this year’s 2250 graduates to become leaders with “integrity, honesty, humility and empathy”.
More than half of the 2016 graduates – 1235 – are undergraduate Bachelor’s degrees while 1015 are postgraduate degrees and diplomas with 230 receiving Master’s degrees. This year 67 graduated with PhD degrees with a record 19 PhD degrees from the Faculty of Humanities.
Of the 2250 graduates, 58% are women; and 19% are international students.
Rhodes graduates told to believe in themselves
Delivering the graduation address at one of six graduation ceremonies at Rhodes University this week, Sooliman said Africans tended to look north for solutions.
“Believe in yourselves. You will see what you can do if you have the right attitude. If we have the right spirit, standing together we can move the earth.”
He pointed out that Gift of the Givers – the largest disaster response non-governmental organisation on the African continent – had developed the first containerised mobile hospital in the world in response to the humanitarian crisis sparked by the civil war in Bosnia.
“We, in South Africa, built the first containerised mobile hospital and took it to Europe.”
He said it had been South Africans who had stood together and reinvigorated a devastated hospital in Pakistan in the midst of the terrible earthquake of 2005. “If we can do that in another country why can’t we do it here?”
He urged Rhodes graduates to be ethical in all that they do in the future.
“Strive hard, work hard. Have respect for the dignity of others and serve with passion.”
Speaking at the first of several graduation ceremonies this week, Rhodes vice-chancellor Dr Sizwe Mabizela urged graduates to step up and rescue South Africa from an uncertain future.
Mabizela said the country was at a worrying crossroads and that young leaders needed to become “a voice of reason, truth, justice and hope” to try and solve growing public discontent.
“The recent worrying and disturbing events and developments in our country must force us to reflect critically on where we have been, where we are and where we should be heading as a nation,” he told a packed Guy Butler auditorium at the 1820 Settlers National Monument.
He warned there was a growing and palpable impatience, disillusionment and disenchantment with the social, economic and political state of our nation.
Mabizela said although the foundational principles of South Africa’s constitutional democracy were under assault, society must not lose hope that things would improve.
The Constitutional Court judgment in the Nkandla matter had gone a long way to restore confidence in the constitutional project, he added.
He urged this year’s 2250 graduates to become leaders with “integrity, honesty, humility and empathy”.
More than half of the 2016 graduates – 1235 – are undergraduate Bachelor’s degrees while 1015 are postgraduate degrees and diplomas with 230 receiving Master’s degrees. This year 67 graduated with PhD degrees with a record 19 PhD degrees from the Faculty of Humanities.
Of the 2250 graduates, 58% are women; and 19% are international students.
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