community

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south africa to celebrate its first fairtrade week

Submitted by Green Lily on Sun, 2011-10-16 01:10

Ethiopian kids at school funded by Fairtrade premium.Ethiopian kids at school funded by Fairtrade premium.Fairtrade Label South Africa (FLSA) is excited to announce that we will be hosting our first ever Fairtrade Week in South Africa. Running from the 14th-20th November 2011, Fairtrade Week is a national campaign aimed at increasing consumer awareness around Fairtrade.

The campaign’s theme - ‘Taste the Change’ - encourages everyone to learn how Fairtrade is transforming the way to do business in South Africa and Africa, how it creates positive change in farming communities and in the way consumers engage with the product.

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de beers urged to halt sale until they "fix our area"

Submitted by incoming on Fri, 2011-10-14 09:54

This video speaks for itself, De Beers gets to mine the hell out of the West Coast and the local community is left with the mess.

“Halt the sale of De Beers operations until they fix our area”, says the Cape West Coast community of Hondeklipbaai.

The imminent sale of De Beers’ diamond mining operations on the Cape West Coast must be halted until full disclosure and proper consultation with all affected parties has taken place, says the community.

The Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) is expected to make a decision on the approval of the amended environmental management programme, and the transfer of mining rights to Trans Hex, within weeks. The community launched an awareness campaign this week, to urge DMR to postpone their decision.

Speaking at a media briefing in Cape Town, Hondeklipbaai community leader Dawid Markus said the sale

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harvest of hope calendar for 2012

Submitted by incoming on Wed, 2011-10-12 10:42

pic: a child's work of art as featured in the calendarpic: a child's work of art as featured in the calendar

Harvest of Hope (HoH) is currently producing a calendar for our annual art competition. Children from several schools have painted pictures for Abalimi and we have selected 12 winners to be presented in our calendar. The calendars will be spiral bound and produced to a high standard and would be a perfect gift for any loved one for Christmas.

Being an NGO we work to a tight budget and therefore would like to receive orders from our loyal supporters before we print the calendars.
The picture above is one of the twelve included in the calendar all with a gardening/vegetable theme.

If you would like to support Abalimi please purchase one of our beautiful calendars for R 100 by making a deposit into our bank account.

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cobbing workshop in montagu on janna's house “propinquity”

Submitted by Green Lily on Tue, 2011-10-11 22:30

pic: jaana's kitchenpic: jaana's kitchenWe invite you to a practical workshop that is designed to give you knowledge and skills to help you build your own natural home.

The workshop will be led by Jill Hogan, founder of McGregor Alternative Technology Centre who has over 14 years of experience in natural building, restoration and workshops on all aspects of natural homes and has an incredible amount of knowledge and first hand experience.

Cob is soft and curvaceous so is very comfortable. It is also warm in winter and cool in summer. You can build your furniture into the walls giving more floor space.

Janna decided as her house is oval she does not want straight lines in her kitchen so our challenge is to build her an oval kitchen. The kitchen is going to be in the corner of the house shown in the picture above.

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relief for south africa's pigs in sight

Submitted by incoming on Tue, 2011-10-11 03:03

pic: Compassion in World Farmingpic: Compassion in World FarmingSow stalls are to give way to group housing on deep litter.

Sow stalls for breeding pigs are likely to be phased-out in South Africa by 2020. Confirmation of the date of phase-out is anticipated by the end of November this year, Mr James Jenkinson, board member of the South African Pork Producers’ Organisation (SAPPO) told Compassion in World Farming (South Africa) last week.

Sow stalls are narrow metal cages in which breeding sows are confined. They are so narrow that she cannot turn around and can only stand up or lie down with difficulty. Sow stalls are already illegal in Sweden and in the UK. From 2013, they will be illegal across the European Union and are also being phased out in some states in the US and in New Zealand and Australia.

Compassion in World Farming (South Africa) has led the drive for a

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beginners guide to home birth

Submitted by ConsciousBabe on Thu, 2011-10-06 10:49

A pregnant Tatum RocheA pregnant Tatum Roche‘I can have my baby at home?'

In North American and ancient San Bushmen tradition, women would give birth squatting, sometimes held up by a lover or a friend.

‘I think there is something in the human body that wants to give birth naturally,’ Marianne Littlejohn, a local practising midwife with 25-years experience behind her, explains.

‘Most people are just surprised to hear it’s an option,’ Ruth Ehrhardt, co-ordinator of Cape Town’s Home Birth Gathering groups, explains. ‘They ask questions like ‘I can have my baby at home? Am I allowed to?’ The answer is yes and yes.’

Ruth is also a practising Doula- a birth supporter - and currently studying to be a Midwife, who is a person trained in assisting prospective mothers with pregnancy and birth. She believes it to be important mothers have their baby where they feel most comfortable and safest.

Expecting and planning for home birth

Tatum Roche, 30 years old and 6 months pregnant with her first baby, hopes to be able to give birth at home in a birth pool, and in as natural way as possible.

‘The reaction I get from most people when I tell them I plan to have this baby naturally and at home is ‘What would you want to do that for? Are you crazy?’’ she says. ‘It would be nice if

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shyann - my service dog, my life

Submitted by turbosprout on Tue, 2011-10-04 09:02

I received this moving email from a friend, Dawn Pilatowicz, who administers the Cape Town Community Exchange and relies on her "service dog", Shyann, to help her through her day. Read on to find out about Dawn's braveness and willingness to overcome, the amazing difference these animals make and how you can support the .

Dawn and ShyannDawn and ShyannDear friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances,

Last year we raised a record R53,000 for S A Guide Dogs! Thank you thank you thank you.

What can we achieve this year? Why should you help Guide Dogs? Who are Dawn and Shyann?

Shyann is a service dog, from the ‘S’ litter of 2008. S A Guide Dogs breed their own puppies and each litter is given a letter of the alphabet. They then get ‘puppy raisers’ to name them, by submitting three name choices using the letter of the litter. Each name is unique and never repeated. The puppy raisers raise the dogs for a year and a half. The dogs then go to the training centre to be matched with a recipient and trained for that recipient’s requirements, be it Guide dog for the blind, or Service dog for the disabled. At around 2 years old, the dogs are shipped off, to be trained with their new owners. These new owners then have to commit to their dogs for the rest of the dog’s life. Guide Dogs keep a watchful eye on their dogs: via monthly reports from the owners, regular vet visits, and frequent visits from the trainers. If there are any issues with a dog, Guide Dogs are there to help.

My life changed completely in January 2010 when Shyann came into my life. I applied for her a year before I got her, never knowing quite what I was getting myself into. Because of Shyann, I am out and about in my neighbourhood every day. I have met

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hey, hey its green day

Submitted by incoming on Thu, 2011-09-29 16:38

Green Day launched to take environmental awareness more mainstream

Food & Trees for Africa (FTFA) and Global Carbon Exchange (GCX) have proclaimed tomorrow, 30 September 2011 'Green Day' - a day to make environmental awareness issues more mainstream.

According to FTFA founder, Jeunesse Park, ‘From an environmental point of view, we find that we are often preaching to the converted. Environmental issues need to enter the public domain so more people become aware of the role they can play in ensuring a sustainable future.’ Green Day aims to raise consciousness of green issues such as climate change, water, waste and energy management, natural resource depletion and sustainability in general.

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a day to move beyond fossil fuels! moving planet gauteng

Submitted by Guest on Thu, 2011-09-29 16:01

It was a cold and cloudy Sunday on which environmental activists got their groove on in Hatfield, Pretoria to shake up the people and move for the planet. What follows is an account by Kyla v de Westhuizen, who is part of the Project 90x2030 youth forum, Generation Earth member and Grade 12 learner at Holy Rosary School.

We started our rally outside the Hatfield Spur, where some bystanders and passers-by were unimpressed by our presence. We were called “hippies", and asked if we really thought we could make a difference. Many bystanders were curious, however, as to what was going on and we attracted many people off the side of the street.


moving planet cape town by wheelbarrow

Submitted by turbosprout on Mon, 2011-09-26 13:13

The Masses Gather...The Masses Gather...The 350.org Moving Planet Parade in Cape Town on Saturday was fantastic. Noah and I helped out at the Project 90x2030 offices the weekend prior to the march so knew we weren't going to be the only ones showing up. But you're still nervous. What if only twenty of you pitch and you look a right banana? So it was cool to arrive at the Cape Town station forecourt and see a massive bunch of people there. Actually it was more like a throng than a bunch! Getting there was an interesting affair as we were travelling by wheelbarrow...