pic: 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.

pic: 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

Incoming from Uncle Al:

"24 Hours of Reality taught many important lessons. One of them is this: If you care about the climate crisis, you're not alone.

The live broadcast had over 8.6 million views - and that doesn't count people who watched in large groups, who watched on broadcast television or who tuned in to our video library after the event. But it's still not enough. The 23 people who gave presentations with me in September are more than just activists. They are Climate Presenters I personally trained to talk about the climate crisis in their communities. And there are more than just 23. There are over 3,000.

Bring this presentation to your hometown: Invite a Climate Presenter to deliver a free presentation in your community.

Between October 1 and November 28, the kickoff date for COP 17 - a United Nations conference on climate change - we want to give as many Climate Reality presentations in as many locations around the world as possible. We will create a

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.

pic: GreenpopWe're planting 1000 trees on Saturday 24th September for Day of 1000 Trees and we need a few more planting team leaders and assistants - can you help?

If you've planted with us before, are free next Saturday from 7am (sharp) and feel like being part of this epic Heritage Day celebration, please email lauren [at] greenpop.org for all the details. We will be having a meeting for all leaders/assistants on Wednesday 21 Sept at 6pm at the Greenpop office so would be great if you're available for this too.

1000 trees – 1 day – 1 under-greened community

What better way to celebrate Heritage Day and Arbour Month!

Day of 1000 Trees is a Greenpop initiative that will see community members and school learners of Manenberg near Cape Town as well as volunteers coming together to plant 1000 trees in 1 day to celebrate our country’s natural heritage on Heritage day.

With September being Arbour Month, Day of 1000 Trees has already started spurring excitement among the community of Manenberg which will be the beneficiary of

Earthlife protest 2009: pic by Real Deal

Earthlife Africa Jhb will march on Eskom and BHP Billiton in Johannesburg on Friday 16 September 2011 to protest these companies' continued disregard of the environment and the nation. Of particular concern is Eskom's official status at the UNFCCC as a member of the South African negotiating team.

The march will start at 10am at Westgate Metro Station, stop off at BHP Billiton (10:15 to 10:30am, cnr. Hollard and Marshall) and end at Eskom's office (204 Smit Street, Braamfontein).

Along with Sasol, Eskom is on South Africa's official negotiating team in terms of climate change. Eskom, in other words, will represent South Africa at the upcoming Conference of the Parties (COP17) at Durban in December. COP17 is supposed to determine how to reduce global emissions, and the South African government is sending its biggest emitter of greenhouse gases to negotiate emissions cuts. This is a

Abraham Ramonwana, head guide at Tuli Safari Lodge says: “if a mine develops in South Africa, it’s also going to affect Botswana and Zimbabwe”.

The authorisation given to an Australian company called Coal of Africa Limited (CoAL) to construct an open-cast and underground coal mine, called the Vele Colliery, just outside of the boundaries of the Mapungubwe National Park will affect this fragile natural harmony. To Abraham, "mining and industry is a short term plan, tourism is a long-term plan."

Like many others, Abraham believes that the Mapungubwe region should be preserved and protected from the impacts of infrastructural development, and allowed to remain pristine for generations to come.

Mapungubwe National Park and World Heritage Site is managed by South African National Parks (SANParks) and its partners. The Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area is being developed based on the stipulations of a Memorandum of Understanding between Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe that was signed on 22 June 2006. These are officially mandated programmes in which the South African government, the province and private sector have invested. With the official opening of the

Government recently granted mining rights to an Australian company to mine next to Mapungubwe, a World Heritage Site. Support the coalition group (including EWT, Birdlife Africa, WWF, Peace Parks foundation) opposing the mine at www.savemapungubwe.org.za or

Vele Neluvhalani thinks mining near Mapungubwe will be “an offence to our ancestors” and believes that on a fundamental level, people have always been connected to the earth, visible by the traces they leave behind, like the ancient rock art on the sandstone outcrops in Mapungubwe.

Neluvhalani feels a deep connection to this ancient place, because his ancestors lived there thousands of years before him. He is bound to the area not only by

Requiem: Norman Catherine, Requiem, 1994. Oilstick on paper. 130 x 112 cm. Private collection‘Water, the [Delicate] Thread of Life’ opened at the Standard Bank Gallery in Johannesburg on Friday 29 July. The exhibition sets out to navigate a course through the many wonders and complexities of water and to challenge the way we think about and respond to one of the most precious substances on earth.

This unique exhibition, which runs until 1 October 2011, seeks to bring home just how fragile and tenuous life on earth would be without sustainable water resources. Through the eyes, minds and creative endeavours of South African artists, it shows how integral and fundamental water is to life. Water is indeed the delicate thread on which life depends.

The exhibition comprises work by a host of

Cannabis for Cancer: Medicinal use of cannabis is legal in Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Israel and 16 US states, why not SA?NORML ZA Activists to Highlight The Absurdity of Arresting Medical Patients By Doing The 702 Walk The Talk Backwards.

This Sunday morning a crew of NORML ZA Cannabis For Cancer Patients activists will set out on the Backwards to NORML Walk! The Cannabis For Cancer Patients expedition team, lead by NORML ZA Community Outreach Director, Imiël Visser, will be doing the 5km walk backwards to highlight the South African Government's backwards policy of arresting medical patients for using and growing a plant which has been scientifically proven as an effective treatment for people suffering from cancer.