Still Trying To Get The Balance Right

Dr Imtiaz Sooliman turned 60 in March this year, his humanitarian organisation, the Gift of the Givers Foundation, turns 30 in August, and his wife, Zohra, just graduated with a master’s degree in counselling psychology – but he will not be celebrating any of this.

“We do not ever celebrate. The problem is always who to invite and who to leave out. I cannot just invite the rich donors. What about the ordinary people who do not have the means but still support us? I don’t want to create a class system. Everybody is important, whether they are rich or poor.”

Instead, he says, he will probably have a small get-together with his staff when his foundation turns 30. “It just so happens that on that day it is my wife’s old school’s 40^thanniversary reunion, so we are going to that.”

His reluctance to celebrate is inspired by the spiritual teachers who instructed him to form the foundation more than 30 years ago. “They said whatever you do, is done through you and not by you.”

Sooliman says he is intelligent enough to know that the things he has done for 30 years are not humanly possible. “The kinds of things that I do, how things are put in place, people come to me. (My spiritual teacher) told me people will find me, I meet the right person at the right place, at the right time. I land up in the right place, at the start of a disaster. It is not humanly possible to know that; it just happens. It is a spiritual thing that is guided.”

People from all religions support the foundation. “Our bank account is growing because more people identify with what we are doing. People who are reluctant to give their money to government say they would rather give it to us.

“That kind of support is not built in 24 hours, it is built on a consistent track record over 30 years. We need to be seen as fair, and work for everybody.”

He makes the example of the Afrikaners in Sutherland, who did not believe that the Gift of the Givers would drill boreholes in their area without wanting anything in return. “They said nobody does anything for nothing. There must be a catch. After nine months, they realised there was no catch.”

Always switched on

Sooliman says he struggles to find balance in his life. “My phone is on 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. A disaster could happen at any time day or night, and when there is a disaster, you have to respond quickly.

“I do not switch off, but I function like that. I am an energetic guy and cannot sit still. I don’t like holidays, but even when I am on holiday, I get involved with some kind of disaster. Every holiday, without fail – this has happened for years now. There has never been a disaster-free holiday.”

He relaxes by watching high action movies. “I do not like comedies, I do not like romance, I like high action movies and a complicated cop story, where there is an investigation and they are trying to figure out who the criminal is.”

He says he has been trying unsuccessfully to exercise for 30 years. “Every time I decide to do training, something comes in my way, I cannot be consistent. I travel too much and move around. I need it urgently; I used to be so fit in my early days, but I have not exercised since my medical school days in 1982.”

Sooliman says he would not change anything about his life because he has always only wanted to make a difference in people’s lives.

“The only thing I would do differently, if it was possible, is to give my family more time. I still cannot get the balance right after 30 years. That is the most difficult part. My family is sacrificed. I work long hours, 20 to 21 hours a day, Monday to Sunday. I am fortunate I have an understanding family. When I get a chance, I take them out and appreciate and honour them the best way I can. But there is no comparison between the amount of minutes that I give them, compared to the number of minutes that I steal from them.”