Masupatsela

ART OF LIVING
DIRECTED and EDITED by TINA-LOUISE SMITH
TX 28 September 2009

In his final year at high school in 2005, Mandiseli Maseti was falsely accused of raping a girl in his class. He spent seven months in prison before the case was dismissed for lack of evidence.

In 1997 Candi Horgan and some of her friends were on their way to a wedding, when 3 of her friends were killed in a car accident. Her dearest friend Tania, who had been like an older sister to her, was one of those killed and Candi was left feeling lost and alone.

Mandiseli and Candi attended courses at the Art of Living, which they found helped them to work through their pain and gave them each a new lease on life. They learnt many things at the Art of Living, including how to control their breathing in order to control their emotions.

“We are taught many, many things at school, but we haven’t been taught something as fundamental as this – that is how to control our own emotions, our own minds.” CANDI HORGAN

Participants at the Art of Living also learn how to cultivate permaculture gardens, which Candi has done at her home, Mandiseli has done on the premises where Isibane, his drama group, practises, and Zuki has done in Alice in the Eastern Cape. Zuki sings the praises of permaculture as it has shown her that it is possible to re-use what comes out of the soil to feed the soil, which then feeds the crops and saves money.

Today Mandiseli and Candi apply the techniques and values they learnt and developed through the Art of Living to the work they do within their communities.

The Art of Living is a sister organisation to the International Association of Human Values and is run by volunteers.

TO CONTACT OR CONTRIBUTE TO THE ART OF LIVING:
please visit the Art of Living web site or contact Candi Horgan on +27 21 789 2494 / +27 82 561 2879.

TO CONTACT OR CONTRIBUTE TO MANDISELI’S COMMUNITY WORK:
please contact Mandiseli on 072 475 6439.

TO SET UP PROJECTS LIKE MANDISELI AND CANDI DID WHERE YOU LIVE:
- get in touch with the Art of Living in Cape Town on 021 789 2494 or in Johannesburg on 011 781 7687
- learn the breathing techniques and community skills that will enable you to work with your community
- invite interested community members to learn the techniques and skills that you learnt with the Art of Living
- stay in touch with the Art of Living so you have support for your project

SCREEN GRABS FROM THE ART OF LIVING STORY: