Everyone deserves love, a home and a hugg.

As part of my Public Relations course this year we had to choose a non-profit organisation that we would work with as our client. I worked in a group of two and we chose the Hugg Homes project in Port Elizabeth as our client. The Hugg Homes concept is one that recognizes the need that exists to house profoundly disabled people who are over the age of 18 and do not have someone who is able to look after them.

The Hugg Homes Project is the main initiative of the Perpetual Care Trust (PCT), a non-profit organistion registered with the South African Federation for Mental Health. The project strives to provide life care for profoundly disabled South Africans of 18 years and older in shared homes in the community.
The Perpetual Care Trust (PCT) for the Profoundly Handicapped* was founded in 1998 by Pieter and Leona Labuschagne and friends, with a view to addressing the issue and the one question that haunts all parents of the disabled: What is to become of our disabled child when we die, or when we get too old to take care of him/her?

My group member and I worked with Leona for the year to raise money and awareness for the Hugg Homes project. We managed to organize a Benefit Breakfast for this special organisation. Although we did not make as much money as we had intended to, we definatly raised awareness about the project. It is a wonderful feeling to help someone who needs it and we seem to have benefited from helping Hugg Homes as much as we hope that they benefited from our help. Personally I have become a lot more sensitive to the issues that surround the disabled in South Africa and I would encourage everybody to find out more about what they can do for the various disability institutions in South Africa.

To find out more about what is being done for the disabled in South Africa visit;
http://www.apd.org.za/

Everyday violence, just another reality.

The recent surge in violence in Port Elizabeth over the past two weeks has made me feel a bit nervous about living here. The stint by Steven Romer, where he shot three people and killed one, was a despicable crime that has left people feeling scared. The realisation of the surge in crime really became a reality to me when I was walking on Pollock beach this weekend. I was walking on the beach with my friend when we both noticed a man standing next to someone who was lying down. As we got closer we noticed that the man on the ground was not moving and that the man standing next to him was a policeman. The man lying on the ground was dead. It took me a while to realise what I had just witnessed. We both turned around and walked the other way in shock. That was the first time I had ever seen a dead body.
I bought the newspaper over the weekend and tried to see if I could find the story about the dead man that was lying on the beach but there was nothing. At first I thought that they would maybe publish something this week, but once again I found nothing about it.
This made me realise what I think I have known for a while. Our society is used to violence, death and murder. This is a sad fact, but with these things being around us all of the time we hace become desensitised towards them.

Electricity, the source of all life?

The blackouts and load shedding of electricity that have occurred in P.E. over the last few days have been a huge set-back for many. Businesses have lost money; motorists have been involved in accidents because the traffic lights don’t work etc. The reason for this load shedding in P.E. is because of the increased demand for electricity in the cold weather.

From a more personal point of view, the blackouts were frustrating because they came at a time when I had semester tests to study for and design work that needed to be done on my computer. Everything that I needed to do relied on electricity. It is scary how much the modern world relies on electricity. I found myself twiddling my thumbs for about 20 minutes trying to figure out what to do with myself without electricity!
Some friends of mine who were writing important semester tests were unable to write because the allocated test venues were in darkness!

Eskoms pleas to save electricity, simply put, are not working. A huge change in behaviour is needed, and then only will people consider trying to save electricity.

Perhaps I would not have been so frustrated by the power cuts if I had have been warned. DA Minerals and Energy spokesman Hendrik Schmidt said “Eskom has informed the public too late about load shedding and has caused massive disruption.”
Hopefully a more sustainable from of energy will be available soon; otherwise we are heading for a serious crisis if another cold spell decided to come along.

Junior Surfing Champs, from my bedroom window.

The vantage point that I have from my flat in Summerstrand allows me to have a perfect view of the pipe surfing spot at Pollock beach. From the 26-30th of September I had the privilege of watching the O’Neill Junior surfing championships from my bedroom window. I don’t know much about surfing, but I do know that the waves were generally pretty good and the contestants were eager to showcase their talent.
The turnout for the surfing competition was good, considering that the sun did not shine and it was a bit chilly.
Seen as though this competition took place right outside my window, so to speak, I decided to do some research on it. From some of the research that I did about this surfing competition I found out that the event was first held in 1996 and is the most important contest for junior surfers in South Africa. It not only determines National Champions in the Under 18, Under 16, Under 14 and Under 12 boys and girls age divisions but also determines the winning provincial team each year.
P.E. was privileged enough to host this year’s event, and it proved to be a successful host. The Pollock beach parking lot was packed with cars and combi’s from all over the country and, true to the surfing lifestyle, all of the vehicles were equipped with roof racks.
It was amazing to see such young kids with so much talent. In a society where it is so easy for kids to stay indoors and amuse themselves with video games and pc’s it was great to see that the outdoors is still an option for kids to have fun in.
Surfing is an excellent way to get kids outdoors to enjoy nature, the surf and the sand. Surfing is a great physical activity that teaches kids about the value of our precious ocean and how important it is to respect it.

To find out more about surfing, go to

http://www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za/

twenty20, all that cricket and a bag of chips!

So the rugby world cup doesn’t provide enough action for you! No need to worry, just switch channels and watch the first twenty20 world cup! This dynamic form of cricket seems to be the direction that the future of cricket is heading towards. In a nutshell, pro 20 cricket is a 20 over cricket match that provides a whole lot of 4’s and 6’s. This form of cricket doesn’t take as much of your precious time as traditional cricket and it provides more than enough action!!
South Africa is hosting this world cup and doing a good job of it. There is a lot of action at every game and something for everybody, dancers, a DJ and an atmosphere of excitement and fun. The games are all being held in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg. They seemed to bypass P.E. for some unknown reason. I would have loved to go to a game and experience this twenty20 world cup; it is a moment in cricketing history and we get skipped, anyway, I’ll still support the Proteas!
As for our South African team…we seem to be doing relatively well, but our performance needs a bit of a boost. I really hope that we make it to the final that is being held at the Wanderers stadium in Johannesburg on Monday the 24th of September. The final promises to be action packed and the fact that it is being held on a public holiday(Heritage day) means that the stadium will be packed with keen supporters and winning the cup will mean even more to all South Africans.

Its Rugby World cup time in France!! Bring out the beers, light up the braai and start chomping on tasty biltong. This is what watching rugby means to South Africans.
Being a woman during rugby world cup times often means that you will be left out if you don’t keep up with the game. I speak form experience. My boyfriend is a rugby fanatic and fundi. He can recall bad tackles that were made in a game between Portugal and Argentina in a game that took place in 2003 at this stadium and at this time etc, etc. You get my point. If I had no interest in the sport I would take a back seat during this crucial world cup period. Luckily I do enjoy watching the odd game of rugby, especially if our bokke are playing. I feel proud to be backing such a strong team, who are under a lot of pressure to win the William Web Ellis trophy (the World cup trophy for those of you who have not been drilled about the game of rugby and everything that is encompasses). This mammoth task really will prove that 15 people have the power of a nation. Winning a world cup means more than just bringing back a trophy. It is a passage to a kind of nation building that unifies everyone, even if you are not a rugby fan. Winning the 1995 world cup proved this statement.
Tonight England plays South Africa and I am preparing myself for a game that could possibly make of break our chances in the world cup. Even if we don’t make it to the final it is wonderful to see that so many people are behind the bokke and they understand how important it is for South Africa to do well at this spectacular event.

For more information about the Rugby world cup visit:
http://www.peugotrugby2007.com
http://www.shaunoakes.com/rugby-world-cup-2007.htm

Reduce, Re-use, Recycle.

The inspiration behind this blog is from an assignment that I recently had to do for my PR course at varsity. The assignment outlined that we had to come up with a recycling campaign for a small town. We had to increase the awareness about how important recycling is. The research that I did for the assignment made me think about my personal feelings toward recycling.
I like to think that I try to preserve the environment as much as possible, for instance, I turn the tap off whilst brushing my teeth and I don’t throw used chocolate wrappers out of my car window. I know that these are small things and I know that recycling paper and glass is important, yet I don’t take things a step further by consciously separating my trash. Maybe I don’t take this extra step because South Africa is generally not one of the leaders in providing more facilities for recycling. The country needs major improvement in the recycling department and some kind of campaign needs to be launched that focuses on the benefits of recycling. I truly believe that people would recycle more if they knew more about it and had the proper facilities.
Natural resources are precious, not enough people know that it is a real possibility that these resources could run out if we don’t take more care of the environment. There are some great websites out there that will help people to make the right choices about recycling and that provide useful tips about recycling.
Some of the sites are:

http://www.recycling.co.za/

http://www.paperpickup.co.za/

http://www.capegateway.gov.za/

http://www.harmoniousliving.co.za/

Lastly, I would like to leave you with a message from one of my favourite muso’s, Jack Johnson. In his 3 R’s song from the Curious George music sound track he creates a motto that today’s world should live by, that being; Reduce, Re-use, Recycle.