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"We could learn a lot from crayons; some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, while others bright, some have weird names, but they have all learned to live together in the same box!"

Saturday 29 March 2014

Right to dignity

Did you know our (South African) constitution states that we all have a:

Right to dignity???

Just been thinking about how to implement that in day to day life.

Thinking about the beggar at the side of the road. his position in life is quite undignified. how can I bring him dignity (even if it is something small???). For me I thought I need to make sure that I do eye contact and polite no thank you shakes of my head. (Hard to remember at the end of the day in traffic!)

Or what about my domestic worker? First thing is that she calls me by my name, not madam, maam etc... And something I grapple with a lot is treating her as an employee not a servant. This is a mixed up one in SA where there can be so much white guilt attached to this interaction (or is that just me?)

Or clients I see... even the ones that are really slow/ annoying/ strange/ funny... being respectful of their story. For me it is about hearing them out, not laughing at them behind their back, not checking my watch.

Would love to hear about areas where you would like to see dignity in peoples lives.

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