Paul Miedema

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  • How Passion Served me in my business
  • Why I don’t Like Tuesday Mornings
  • My Story

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Ubuntu, a person is a person through other people

Paul Miedema is co founder of Calabash Tours, and a NGO, called Calabash Trust. Both are models for social entrepreneurship. In the context of post Apartheid South Africa, it became clear to Paul that ordinary people needed to make a contribution to bring about change. He chose Tourism as the vehicle to inspire change.

Paul used the principals of Responsible Tourism; treading lightly on the earth, making social impact in poor communities, and leveraging economic opportunities for the poor, and combined these ideas with his insight that business need not be about exploitation and greed.

Paul and his team have grappled with many contentious issues as part of their journey. It has become apparent to Paul that in the light of the current economic global collapse, it becomes even more urgent that we shift our entrepreneurial energy away from greed to one of service to others, and to explore the possibility of a more benign form of Capitalism. Included in this innovative approach to business and community development is the thinking that if we are not developing ourselves, how can we assist and develop others?

What has been critical to Paul's success is discovering his life purpose, and beginning to understand the “inner source” from which he operates. To carry these unconventional ideas with him into the business world — particularly the Tourism Industry — was a bold move. Paul acknowledges that this path has proved to be an unfolding journey.

New in the Paul Miedema Column

How Passion Served me in my business

This is a copy of a presentation I gave to students who are in a leadership development course at the Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth. The topic was “How my passion has served me in business.”
This is a somewhat strange topic to be asked to speak on. It reflects a very good understanding of [...]

Why I don’t Like Tuesday Mornings

Every Tuesday, my morning chore is to put the garbage out for collection. The chore itself is not so bad, but it is the people I have to engage with when doing this that make me feel uncomfortable. South Africa has one of the largest gaps between rich and poor, and much of that is [...]

My Story

I lived through a revolution. My world changed profoundly after 1994. We had a transition to democracy admired and studied by the world. We have a new constitution which speaks of equality and justice. I have seen the power of Action, the power of mobilization. I have seen that as individuals standing up, we can take an action and make a difference. We can be agents of change. We have a responsibility to act, to engage to impact.