#Im Staying – taking South Africa and the world by storm!
If you have not heard about the movement #Im Staying, where have you been? This public group was published on Facebook on 7 September 2019, and has exploded to 455 255 in just 26 days (at the time of writing this article)!
And why you may ask? Well the answer is easy. Founder Jarred Petzer, never expected the page to grow so quickly that it has become an avalanche of South African’s voicing their love for our country and their reasons why they are choosing to stay and face the new struggles and challenges that face our beautiful country.
He chose to create a platform to voice the positive things about our country. In doing so, he has connected a legion of voices, across all racial groups, age groups and religious affiliations. These are the people who are proud of being South African, and who are determined to stay, meet and overcome the many challenges that currently face our country and the wonderful people in it.
The platform is unashamedly positive. It focuses on good news stories and shares the many beautiful times where the people within our country have loved and helped each other in dark and devastating times. It celebrates little moments where only we as South African’s can understand the context of the story. It laughs and enjoys our differences… but most of all, it celebrates the one thing we all have in common… we are South African… and we are proud of it.
The rules in the forum are strict. No negativity, no racism, no gender bias, no advertising. Share your good story or reset your ‘viewpoint’ by reading and reminding yourself why we choose to live here and why we love our country and the rainbow people it in.
Post any vitriol, and you will be blocked!
If you are sick and tired of the constant negative bombardment about South Africa on the news and social media; on the social media platforms that ‘encourage’ racial devision and deep seated hatred; on the corruption and self-servicing political agenda’s; and if you wonder who will fix this country and restore it’s human dignity, visit this platform. It is here that you will find a grass roots movement of people who are tired of the negativity and who are going to make the positive changes our beloved country so dearly needs.
To Founder Jarred Petzer, thank-you for creating this wonderful platform where we can all go to reset our skewed news/social media views and re-connect with the most important resource we have in this country, our beautiful, caring, and positive people. The zen of this movement is summed up succinctly in the beautiful quote by Paul Coelho:
The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion!
Let us all become the positive examples as displayed in the many uplifting stories showcased on this platform! If you have not yet visited #Im Staying … I highly recommend you do.
#Im Staying… too!
Article: Sandy Loppnow