South Africa: Tuning Out The Noise and Showing Gratitude for Graduation

Russell Simmons meditating with CIDA students

On July 2nd, CIDA City Campus, a beneficiary of support from the Diamond Empowerment Fund, celebrated its 10th anniversary and the 7th graduating class as Africa’s first virtually free college. These kids are very special, sweet, and focused on getting their business degrees and helping build their communities. I will never forget my first visit to CIDA nearly four years ago where I had a group meditation with the students ­ a thousand young Africans and me, all experiencing stillness and quiet time together. That helped me center myself as I was taking in so many new experiences on my first trip to South Africa, and I saw how it helped the students recharge and refocus to do well in academics and in service.

I’ve been a meditator for many years and I am dedicated to spreading this practice that brings many benefits when offered in a school environment. Where quiet time is a central part of the education experience at schools like Dr. George Rutherford’s Ideal Academy in one of the roughest areas of Washington, DC, health issues plummet, grades and graduation rates skyrocket, distraction in the classroom returns to focus, and violence in the schoolyard is replaced by play. The clinical research on the benefits of Transcendental Meditation (TM) when offered as quiet time at the beginning and the end of each school day shows this technique works. Where just about every other form of intervention, counseling or punishment fails to address the stress our kids are under, quiet time and connection to one’s inner voice is so simple and so effective. To be clear, TM is not a religion, philosophy or way of life. It’s a simple mental practice that any child can learn and benefit from. I’ve seen the impact meditation has on Ming Lee and Aoki Lee, and I wish the same stillness and peace for every child busy absorbing knowledge at warp speed.

Meditation is not currently part of the CIDA curriculum, but I hope that one day it will be reintroduced, maybe with the help of the David Lynch Foundation, who are true leaders in the field. They understand the science of quiet time, and they understand the basic need for love that we all have, especially children deserving of unconditional love and so often deprived of it on every level.

I wanted to share with you my remarks to the CIDA’s graduates, which were read at the graduation ceremony by activist and long-distance runner Suzanne “Africa” Engo, a strong advocate for the Diamond Empowerment Fund who spent a week with CIDA students in Johannesburg. The daily practice of meditation helped Suzanne in her commitment to a 1,500 mile run on three continents to raise awareness for the issues of AIDS prevention/treatment and empowerment through education for Africa. She spent time living on campus getting to know the students and ran from a student¹s home to the CIDA dorms to show the importance of campus housing for the students to succeed. DEF¹s support for CIDA has been specifically to fund a dorm that houses 300 students, a fundamental need to keep students in school.

While the world¹s watching the finals of FIFA World Cup in South Africa this weekend, let’s take a minute to think about this being a special time for CIDA where the graduating class has scored the winning goal.

CONGRATULATIONS MESSAGE TO CIDA CITY CAMPUS GRADUATES FROM RUSSELL SIMMONS

GREETINGS, CIDA GRADUATES 2010, FACULTY, SUPPORTERS FAMILY AND FRIENDS. I WISH I WAS WITH YOU AT THIS MOMENT MARKING YOUR ENDURANCE, YOUR FOCUS, YOUR SERVICE, AND YOUR SUCCESS. ONE OF MY MOST TREASURED MEMORIES WAS FIRST VISITING CIDA IN 2006 AND HAVING QUIET TIME MEDITATING WITH YOU.

YOU MADE IT! YOU ARE GRADUATING TODAY FROM COLLEGE AND NO MATTER WHERE YOU GO FROM HERE IT WILL ALWAYS BE AS A GRADUATE OF CIDA CITY CAMPUS. THAT MAKES YOU AMONG THE RICHEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD, AND A PRIDE OF SOUTH AFRICA. AS YOU KNOW, HIGHER EDUCATION IS NOT SOMETHING THAT EVERYONE ACHIEVES, IN FACT STATISTICALLY VERY FEW DO, SO NEVER FORGET YOU HAVE ALL THE OPPORTUNITIES BEFORE YOU THAT THE WORLD CAN OFFER. WITH THESE OPPORTUNITIES ARE RESPONSIBILITIES – TO YOURSELF, TO YOUR FAMILY, AND TO YOUR COMMUNITY. BE IN THE GAME EVERY DAY, ENJOY THE PROCESS OF HARD WORK, OF SERVICE, OF SHARING ALL THAT YOU HAVE. REMEMBER, THERE IS NOTHING IN THIS WORLD THAT YOU NEED THAT YOU DON’T HAVE RIGHT AT THIS MOMENT.

SO IN THIS TIME OF CELEBRATION AND ACHIEVEMENT, SMILE AND BE HAPPY. LOOK INSIDE AND HONOR ALL THAT YOU HAVE WORKED SO HARD FOR, BE GRATEFUL TO EVERY PERSON ALONG THE WAY WHO HAS BEEN PART OF YOUR PROCESS OF GETTING TO WHERE YOU ARE TODAY. BE GRATEFUL FOR YOUR TEACHERS, YOUR FRIENDS, YOUR FAMILY, AND FOR YOUR OWN UNIQUE AND POWERFUL INNER SELF, WHICH HAS GUIDED YOU TO THIS IMPORTANT DAY. LOOK FOR THE STILLNESS WITHIN AND LET IT GUIDE YOU TO GREATNESS WHEREVER YOU CHOOSE TO GO FROM HERE.

WITH GREAT LOVE ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE,
RUSSELL SIMMONS
AND
YOUR FRIENDS AT THE DIAMOND EMPOWERMENT FUND

CHECK OUT SOME NEW VIDEOS FROM SUZANNE “AFRICA” ENGO IN AFRICA DURING HER STAY!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 14th, 2010 at 11:35 am and is filed under DEF Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can trackback from your own site.

videos

• Privacy Policy
• mGive Disclaimer
• Contact Us

© 2010 Diamond Empowerment Fund.   All Rights Reserved.

The Diamond Empowerment Fund is supported by and works exclusively with jewelers that adhere to the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme and System of Warranties.