Month: January 2026

The Little Book of Mindful Social Change

It’s been nearly four years since I wrote my last book. Given I’m not a professional writer who makes a living from the art, that’s fine. But last week a book idea came to me out of nowhere, and in the spirit of not resting on my laurels I got to work on it straight away.

The universe delivered and I published it yesterday. The Little Book of Mindful Social Change is the first time I’ve written down my philosophy to social change – ideas and strategies and behaviours learnt over many years in many places.

If you care deeply, think carefully and wonder if helping might just add to the noise, this book is for you. It’s for people who believe deep down that change should be thoughtful, humane and grounded. Not rushed, performative or driven by ego.

Drawing on years of real-world experience with kiwanja.net and FrontlineSMS, the book looks at what actually makes a difference. And it’s not grand strategies or shiny tools but quiet adaptations, humility, deep listening and trust in local knowledge. The most meaningful impact often comes from letting go. Letting go of control, of certainty and of the need to be right.

Running through this short collection of observations is a gentle exploration of mindfulness, Buddhism and inner work, offering a steady counterbalance to the urgency and intensity that so often surround social change. The book speaks honestly about the risks of good intentions, the harm that can come from moving too fast, and the importance of acting with care, respect, love and humility.

In the spirit of collaboration, friendship and inclusivity, the book is available as a free PDF here. It is also available on Amazon Kindle here, and will soon be available in paperback and hardback.

This is fine

“Terrible things are happening outside. Poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes or off the street. Families are torn apart. Men, women and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared”.

This quote is taken from Anne Frank’s diary in an entry dated January 13th, 1943. Yet any Palestinian could have said it any time over the last 60 years, or any American any time over the last 12 months.

At some point in their lives roughly one in every five Palestinian men in Gaza and the West Bank have been arrested – or abducted – and detained without charge. Just stop and think about that for a moment. Several thousand Palestinians are still held in Israeli detention centres or prisons. Indefinitely. Without charge.

Hundreds of those are children.

In the USA, ICE agents arrested a mind-blowing 328,000 people during 2025. Out of those, 327,000 were deported. Four people were killed during attempts to arrest them. Protestors aren’t safe, either. Just remember what happened last week.

And in the UK last summer, thousands of elderly protesters – including an 83-year-old Anglican priest, a 79-year-old Holocaust survivor’s daughter and an 89-year-old retired psychotherapist – were arrested for demanding an end to genocide in Gaza.

These are all acts of democratically elected governments.

If you thought this could never happen in the ‘civilised West’, think again. The rules-based order we’ve all come to depend on is being pulled apart right in front of our eyes. Laws are being applied selectively, power overriding accountability and norms once taken for granted are being openly ignored.

We might not know how to put an end to these horrors, but let’s not pretend they’re not happening.

One day they might come for you.