Development Talk

 Edition 16 shines a spotlight on CSI and CSI works:

  • We explore industry benchmarks in corporate social investment (CSI) spend and how this impacts on national social economic development (SED).
  • We guide you on how best you can increase the sustainability of your CSI programme.
  • We consider the importance of establishing partnerships – a hot topic at the CSI Matters conference.
  • Finally, we share some valuable development lessons from Africa via Dr Pandelani Mathoma, GM of Old Mutual Corporate Affairs guest speaker at the conference.

We hope you enjoy our newsletter and are able to leave with new insights and inspiration. You’re welcome to make contact via email should you have any questions, if you would like to further discuss topics highlighted in our newsletter or require more information on our services!

Read the newsletter by clicking here!

Warm Greetings from our Team!
Creative Consulting & Development Works

 

A new day is dawning in Mozambique.
After nearly many years of civil unrest, the small nation on South Eastern coast of Africa is starting to rebuild. The promise of limitless possibilities beams from the smiles of school children running to new or partially built schools. Unfortunately, these smiles often turn to tears as financial backers of many development projects are failing to meet their commitments. As the global financial crisis strikes panic in the hearts of funding institutions, money initially earmarked to help develop post war Mozambique has all but dried up. In response to the growing number of commissioned development projects losing financial backing, Celio Mondlane of Fundacao Joaquim Chissano and Minister of Education Dr. Zeferino Martins, have turned to social media to encourage wide spread investment in their county’s future as well as showcasing its success stories. Educate Mozambique is the blog platform where anybody can learn about and support education initiatives all over Mozambique. It is essentially a way of crowd sourcing new

Flag of Mozambique

 avenues of funding, empowering individuals with information about ways they can contribute. Now, instead of waiting for a massive check that may never come from a bank that no longer considers “charity” a priority, any number of concerned individuals from anywhere in the world can give a little bit of money or time to make a big difference in the lives of children in Mozambique.

Visit the site learn to more about how you can support Educate Mozambique!

In the past, crime and corporal punishment dictated the schools in South Africa, but security has made it so students can now receive an education in a safe and protected environment. Now, the emphasis is on educating students through life skills and technology. Doing so has decreased the volume of teenagers getting pregnant and abusing drugs (such as Tek). This sort of education and raising awareness is largely due to the efforts of Love life and HIV/AIDS campaigns found in communities such as Khayelitsha, Langa and Gugulethu.

Modern technology has allowed people to improve their lives and become more educated on issues such as Medicine, education, and current affairs.

Some say that internet access in South Africa has increased the knowledge of today’s youth, so that by the time they enter university, they are familiar with a lot of the school subjects.  10 years ago, it was not as easy for youth to learn materials as they did not have many resources or examples to reference. Instead of using the internet, a student would have to go to a library and tour an area in person in order to fully comprehend an idea.

These days, if a student is unsure about a topic, they can search on various websites and in class, a teacher can project material onto a big screen for all students to utilize.

Long time ago, students could only access computers when they attended higher institutions. Currently, we have juniors and high schools offering computers, both practically and theoretically.

Once a student understands a computer and learns how to utilize the internet, they become more self-sufficient, which in turn, gives them more knowledge and learning opportunities. The use of internet also helps a student succeed in University and most importantly, it allows them to think larger and live open-mindedly.

References:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/813305/

how_far_has_modern_technology_improved.html

Photo: flickr

Not everyone can rely on three meals a day. Photo DFID via Flickr

Not everyone is privileged enough to receive three meals a day. Photo DFID via Flickr

Tomorrow is World Food Day. Think about going to bed hungry every night. Think about waking up in the morning and knowing that you’ll remain hungry.

Think about relying on your own small garden for your survival.

Think about what it would mean if you could no longer grow your food due to drought, or having to leave your home because of armed conflict. Think about not being able to feed your children. (more…)

South African soccer fans. Photo: Media Club South Africa

South African soccer fans. Photo: Media Club South Africa

If you want to know straight from the fans how they are feeling about the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Winkball.com is an interesting site to look at. You can even record your own match report and stand a chance to win £1000.00.

Winkball is a user-friendly website that enables communication through video. All you need is a computer with internet and a webcam. The ball-shape of a webcamera that you can attach to your computer was probably part of the idea behind the website’s name, while “wink” refers to the personal nature of video communication, where you can see a person’s facial expressions, winks and smiles.

WebcamYou Tube is all about uploading and watching videos and Skype enables live chatting via a webcam. While Winkball also has live chatting capabilities, one can pre-record a video message and then send it out to friends and family, almost like an email. Alternatively you can post it as an entry on your video blog. You can also create a video wall on a certain topic and people can upload videos of their opinion on the subject.

Most recently, UK-based Winkball has sent out reporters to South Africa to record the opinions of soccer fans on the ground. You might see a Winkball journalist walking around with a little recording devise and they might ask you who you are supporting, etc. These comments get posted onto the Winkball website, so that they can “communicate happiness”. They have already spoken to thousands of die-hard fans.

Here are some comments from fans found on the streets of Johannesburg about the match that was played between Brazil and Chile last night.

You can also make a video of yourself giving a match report of one of the games and become a “star reporter”.  Winkball is giving away £1000.00 for the best match report every week.

Creative Consulting & Development Works is also very aware of the impact of videos, that is why we have been sharing videos with you in our blog posts since the start of the World Cup. If you missed any, click here, scroll down and enjoy.

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