Development Talk

Hands Of Love (HALO): Giving back to deprived communities

 

July 5, 2011

Hands of Love sent pupils to School.Photo:HALO

Creative Consulting & Development Works has been promoting the great work of Hands of Love Outreach (HALO) since we first heard about them in 2010. Based in Mthatha, this amazing organization aims to reach out and improve lives of people living in resource deprived communities.

Recently, the organization expanded its mission beyond providing for the immediate needs of their clientele (like food and warm clothing) by opening a residential shelter onCallaway Streetin Mthatha which caters to their long term needs.  Recently, they went as far as adopting an entire extended family group that consists of approximately 38 members in Ngangelizwe near Mthatha.

A member of HALO, Sinethemba Dywili, says 13 of the kids from the family were sent to different schools around their community. The Grade 9 pupil is attending classes at Zimele School, the grade 11 is at Ngangelizwe High School and the rest are enrolled at Nxeko Mtirara Primary School.

“The organization would like to get financial assistance to fulfill their dream of sending half, if not all of the children living there to school next year,” Dywili said.

We encourage all of our readers to help Hands of Love Outreach (HALO).  To find out more and to donate please click here.

Filed under: basic human right,children,civil society,community,CREATIVE CONSULTING & DEVELOPMENT WORKS,development,DEVELOPMENT WORKS,education,Family,Homeless,NGOs,poverty,Safety and Security,spatial poverty,Uncategorized,youth — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — admin @ 4:54 pm

Social Media: Helping to Educate Mozambique

 

June 13, 2011

 

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!

Filed under: Africa,Asylum seekers,Awareness,basic human right,better life for all,blogging,Blogroll,Breaking New Ground,campaign,children,civil society,Communications,community,CREATIVE CONSULTING & DEVELOPMENT WORKS,development,DEVELOPMENT WORKS,developmental state,dialogue,donors,economy,education,finance,fundraising,Hope,inspiration,inspire,internet,poverty,recession,Social media,social transformation,South Africa,sustainable,Uncategorized,youth — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — admin @ 5:33 pm

A Celebration of Life: Albertina Sisulu (October 21, 1918 – June 2, 2011)

 

June 6, 2011

Photograph by: Simon Mathebula

Creative Consulting and Development Works joins the rest of the world in mourning the loss and celebrating the legendary life of Nontsikelelo Albertina Sisulu activist, mother and liberation icon. MaSisulu made her mark on history by standing up for human rights and dignity for all people during the dark years of Apartheid era South Africa as the wife of activist and politician Walter Sisulu as well as in her own right as a member of the ANC Women’s League. One of her most notable stands was when she and other ANC Women’s league members led all women demonstrations of civil disobedience against the pass laws in 1956. Thousands of women took their fight against racial and gender oppression to the world stage by marching to the Union buildings in Pretoria to protest against the unfair classification system that had for so long restricted the everyday lives of the majority of South Africans.

She will be remembered as a graceful pillar of justice, who maintained a strong commitment to her family and country throughout some of the most chaotic times in South African history.

Her legacy lives on through the Albertina Sisulu Foundation and Albertina Sisulu Multi-Purpose Resource Centre

Filed under: Africa,basic human right,better life for all,children,civil society,community,CREATIVE CONSULTING & DEVELOPMENT WORKS,democracy,ethical leadership,Family,feminism,forgiveness,Gender,History,holistic,Hope,identity,Inequality,marginalised,peace,poverty,Prison,race,reconciliation,social transformation,South Africa,Uncategorized,women — Tags: , , , , , , , — admin @ 9:56 am

Black & Gold – coffee and trade

 

May 16, 2011

Last week, I attended an interesting and insightful documentary at the Labia courtesy of FairTrade and While You Were Sleeping.

It shed light on the fair trade industry and the massive coffee conglomerates. It was a bit of a shell shock to see, in total, how much the coffee industry produces, yet the coffee farmers, the actual producers of this freshly roasted, aromatic coffee, receive so little. Cooperatives have been formed to better resolve this issue as often, the middle man (traders, buyers, brokers) force themselves into these trading relationships and take a large percentage of the money being transferred to and fro. The cooperatives allows for more transparency as it’s an organized body that allows you to purchase straight from the farmer.

One of the things that struck a chord with me is how the economy produces what the consumer wants. I’m also at fault, but if I were to demand for this ONE type of coffee, eventually, the supplier would have to supply it. He/she wants what I want. So, ultimately (and fortunately) it’s in the hands of the consumer.

Okay, looking at this area, I found that there is one fair-trade coffee roaster in South Africa (Bean There). So, we have little to choose from, but with enough demand, the supply will get bigger and bigger. So, long story short – just ask, and ye shall receive!

I realized (even more so) how instrumental trade/exporting was in the economic development of a community. From the documentary, I learned a staggering fact.

Africa, as a continent, comprises of 1% of the total global market. Increasing this involvement by 1 point (to 2%) would increase in-country revenue by 70 billion USD (5X the amount of annual foreign aid).

So not only does it pump more money (rightfully acquired and earned by locals), but it provides more jobs, and increases vocational, sustainable skills. It wins on all levels.

Though the documentary is a bit outdated, it’s extremely insightful. I’d watch it from a birds-eye view, and relate it more to the overall fair-trade market, rather than just the coffee industry, because essentially, the same theory and criticisms could be applied to tea, cotton, and wine, just to name a few.

The name is Black Gold, check it out, and let us know your thoughts!

Watch trailer here:

blackgold

Filed under: Africa,CREATIVE CONSULTING & DEVELOPMENT WORKS,economy,Employment,Film,politics,poverty — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — admin @ 7:44 am

TIMES: Apartheid-style neglect of kids continues

 

March 25, 2011

Check out this interesting article from The Times following a report made by the UN and the SA Human Rights Commission. The article discusses South Africa continues to neglect its most vulnerable, in particular, children, as they are negatively impacted by a lack of a proper home, health care and schooling.

Some of the report’s troubling findings include:

• 64%, or 11.9million, of the country’s 18.6million children live in poverty. Many of them are Aids orphans – about 5.5million people have HIV/Aids in South Africa, more than in any other country

• Only 54% of the HIV-positive children who should be on antiretroviral treatment are receiving it;

• More than 270 babies and their mothers die after birth on average a day, mainly due to HIV/Aids, and the maternal mortality rate has increased by 80% since 1990;

• 582000 children who should be attending high school are not – 28% don’t have the money for fees and 15% because “education is useless”;

• Of 56500 children who were victims of violent crime in 2009-2010, 27417 were raped or molested. Of those, 29% were aged between 0 and 10.

Read the full article below:

***
The Times: Young,hungry,helpless

http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/article986417.ece/Young-hungry-helpless

UN,USA

Filed under: access to health care,Awareness,basic human right,children,civil society,CREATIVE CONSULTING & DEVELOPMENT WORKS,DEVELOPMENT WORKS,education,Employment,Government,healthcare,HIV/AIDS,Homeless,Hope,poverty,South Africa,youth — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , — admin @ 4:47 pm
Older Posts »