Dreaming out loud.

Imagine if we could actually use technology to make the world a better place. Imagine if we actually start using our shared nervous system in a way that is beneficial to the species. I mean, isn't it possible to better manage the resources available to mankind? I somehow expect the internet to be the ideal tool for some such.

It somehow seems like all it really does is separate the rich from the poor even further. Do I really want to be part of such a problem? I don't think so! But perhaps I can utilise it to some good. So let's find a real problem.

We have too many children suffering for our mistakes. Children should not suffer for our neglect and mistakes. I mean really. Today yet another child did not receive medication in the way she/he should have. Another child died for similar reasons. We expect the uneducated grandmother of an HIV+ orphan to administer medication and to understand the written instructions. Is our expectations reasonable? Do you know how to persuade grandma to not give all the pills to the poor baby in one go? And to rather administer prescribed amounts daily?

If I can find a real need then I can apply myself to fulfilling it and hopefully amount to some really usefulness with this sadly short life. And here is a real need I have learned about. What if I could find some sponsors to make a difference? How will we address these problems?

If we had a half way house where we could catch sick and or abused children that would take allot pf pressure from the over burdened care facilities. With the right people and resources at such a place these kids could get another lease on life.

With some horses we could get out to the ones at home and care about their state while educating by example. Regular house rounds have various other advantages for these remote and disadvantaged people. The horses may also be used therapeutically to improve a child's state of being.

So where does technology come into this? Well this post for one will hopefully raise enough awareness to get something real going here. Hopefully the message spreads to the most appropriate nodes who have enough sway to move this need into a satisfying state. Who knows? Let's try.

Ronnie van Rooyen and Godslove

There are such wonderful people on this planet. People who go to extremes to make the world a better place for someone else.Ronnie van Rooyen, a paediatrician at Stanger hospital is a dear friend and such a special person. Him and his colleagues have challenges here in kwaZulu-Natal with welfare problems as numerous as people that takes a severe toll from them.

With the hospital out of beds again, he brought a little orphan Zulu girl home for the weekend. Godslove was a bundle of bright magic in the last weeks of her 7 year short life. She was amazed at the shopping mall in Richards bay and was so busy choosing stuff for everyone she loves that she forgot to get anything for herself. Hopping, skipping and jumping, one would never have guessed how ill she really was. All laughter and smiles. Another child who contracted HIV before we knew better. Sad thing is that children are still born HIV positive in spite of technology available to prevent it.

Earlier that day I took a seventy year old dame, one of the aunts, horse riding. Off course she got the biggest, slowest horse. During the day I developed an opinion about her being very racist. Perhaps her liberal use of the word caffer all the time. I would soon find out the truth about that idea.

Back from the shopping mall, Godslove was really tired and overwhelmed by the day. The old dame, sensitive to the child as if she was her own picked her up and held her on her lap. She started singing a Zulu lullaby which can continue on indefinitely as one is supposed to keep on making new lyrics after the known part of the song is sung. She gently rocked Godslove to sleep. It was the way she held her and the way she sang to her and looked at her that proved me so very wrong.

Too many sick and recovering children and not enough space. Kids who are orphaned and kids who were abused end up sharing beds with other kids in the hospitals while other places where they can be placed are filled over the brim. Places like Blessed Gérard's Children's Home in Mandeni and Siyathuthuka in Obanjeni or alternatively Izulu Orphan Projects if there is a home available somewhere.

The answer to the problem is to create more space and employ more people to help the currently over burdened care system. And all of this costs money. Perhaps you can help? Even if it is just by making more people aware of the situation. We need space, special equipment like special beds for kids who are getting over weight from being bed ridden, etc, etc...

We need more good people! Here is a list of job opportunities in health care in KZN. And what a delightful place to live in with awesome people and great weather right through the year. You just may end up staying for good :)

While other brides get golden rings Mtunzini got a barbed wire choker from Exxaro.

Barbed wire. Really? Are they being sarcastic? Do they just love rubbing our faces in it? Is it just the usual engineering thing of some idiots being born without any aesthetic sense?
I wonder how Mtunzini will react? Is there anything they can do about it? Should the rest of us not do something about it?
Mtunzini is a pretty holiday destination available to all of mankind. Exxaro and the people associated with it has NO consideration for this beauty. In fact they will do what they can to break it down so they can have more sand to mine. Pretty soon red dust will be all that is left over and we will be considerably poorer for it.

Stop destructive mining at Fairbreeze and Mtunzini

Dear Mankind,

I petition you to please be kind to a favourite paradise of mine. Mtunzini a conservancy in Zululand with Ian Garland's Twin Streams Indigenous Forests and endangered species are under fire from a mining giant with the most atrocious reputation. And just because you have not heard of it before does not exempt you. It belongs to you too and you should not be deprived of this beauty.

While this catastrophe was averted else where in South Africa, the caniving bastards had South African laws amended in such a way that they would be able to squeeze the catastrophe through in future. Now, in stead of doing an impact study, mines are allowed to do what they call a 'basic assessment'. This enables them to get permission to mine at the least expense along the shortest route. So they do not have to assess their damage completely any more. They can simply fast track their destruction. Is this a result of competent resources being occupied with fighting other more immediate fires?

Dear Zulu people, do you see who benefits from this? Do you calculate how much of your inheritance you will loose as a result? What does this mean for Zululand? Destruction of out most valuable assets does not make our future better.

So we have majority Australian, English and American shareholders of a company who will strip our resources, toxic resources to their ridiculous profits and leave us a radio active desert in it's place. That is it! And with the help of government. High and mighty fat cats who care only for their next big party. Is this a fair exchange dear Exxaro shareholder? You are responsible for this! And you offer us a radio active desert in return! Are we not in this life together? Are you 100% sure that a few pennies will be more valuable to you than a beautiful natural escape? And what about the animals, wetlands and indigenous forest which so much effort and expense have gone into? You will indiscriminately destroy so much just so you have a few extra dollars or pounds! Are you for real?

I am being discouraged from complaining about this. People have "given up". "There is nothing to be done any more". But I beg to differ. They have not started yet. This piece of paradise is not a desert yet and we can stop them. Please, dear human, help me stop this atrocity before it happens.

Petition with me: http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/stop-destructive-mining-at-fairbreeze.html?fb_ref=comments_inline&fb_source=profile_oneline

love
e

On facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/SOS-Mtunzini/194597520558329

University of Zululand still needs a website

Generally I apreciate what corruption means for us. Especially when someone's life is not destroyed at the altar of the 'Legal' franchise. But then there is the unfortunate crime that encourage people to believe in this abusive process called Law.
I just leaned that
http://www.tmansworld.co.za/ is an ex-Unizulu student who...there's suspicion that he formed this company and there may have been some kickback to a
someone for employing him...there was a big mess about paying them since the work hadn't gone through any real procurement process.
And...well...they originally tried to bill the university for R150K for the website development. University didn't get a CMS, so we were still dependent on the guy (which is bad) while the going rates are about R7000-R10000 for install and template design for a typical CMS, then R250-500/page on top of that, plus extra for features...
...so his bill should have been R30K or less. Someone settled with him for R75000...

So University of Zululand still needs a website. If you can help, please engage them in their procurement process, this may be a substantial project. Contact details: http://www.uzulu.ac.za/contact_us.php

May it all conclude well.

Zini Music & Food Festival 2011 Wrap-up

Thank you Nicki & Brendan Bristow for generously sponsoring such a fabulous jol. And thank you for making me an accomplice in such a wonderful endeavour.
Emma did a fantastic job of getting great talent to the party and she obviously has a natural talent for this kind of thing. If anyone needs a go getter, who will help make an awesome gig happen, Emma is your girl. Her contributions were invaluable.

Unfortunately for myself, I was engaged at the gate or in the car driving around for this or that and missed out on most of it. That said, I was lucky enough to see The Meditators and The Otherwise live on stage and they were great! I hope to see more of them in the future. Right at the end I had Blind Sunrise almost all to myself and they did very well in the absence of an audience. Great spirit guys! From the feedback I have been getting from everyone else who were there, all the artists outdid themselves.
And then finally a special thank you to the DJs for mixing us into the morning hours with strange and psychadelic tunes. Hopefully there is more of a level dance floor at the next one.

I hear the food was great and vegetarian curry came out top as the most popular food. I woke up on Monday morning and my hangover would still not allow me to eat. I blame that hangover for only posting now.

What a party guys! Let's do it again. Dear world, I do not think it is reasonable of us to expect the Bristows to sponsor so much from their pockets. If anyone out there is looking for an exceptional event to sponsor, this is the one. It would be a great shame to shrink a wonderful line-up like this.

Photos speak louder than words. On facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150184709582462.307737.574187461&l=cfc04823d6
Justin Barker did these awesome pics:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150253759386071.373424.705026070

Hillendale Closure reveals some of Mtunzini's future

The documentation regarding the Hillendale Mine Closure reveals some of Mtunzini's unfortunate fate. Specifically the "Draft Risk Assessment and Mine Closure Plan": http://acerafrica.co.za/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=2&Itemid=9

* Is "Where required the chemical properties of soils will be amended by the application of fertilisers." really the only attention the soils require?
* Is one successful crop really enough: "Successful re-establishment of a commercial crop i.e. sugar cane."
* In the soon to be "safe post-mining area": "If the radiation level of the spilt compound is above the release limit, it will be
disposed of in the mining area."
* No real mitigation for "The cost of rehabilitation and closure of Hillendale mine"
* We are in 2011, three years later: "The outcomes and lessons learned from this
pilot plant were used as input into the design of the full scale bulk mixing plant which is scheduled for commissioning during the second quarter of 2008. Large scale covering of the open mining area will commence subsequently."

Interesting RISK:
"High expectations for jobs at Hillendale and Port Durnford communities"

Swaziland via Jozini

I should at least tell you about the parts where there was no camera. Like when we were confronted by the military and police who were very friendly considering it all. For the rest of it pictures speak better than words.
We picked up a friend from Amsterdam at the King Shaka international airport close to Durban in South Africa and stayed the night in Mtunzini which is the most amazingly beautiful part of Zululand. The next day set out to Swaziland.
Driving via Jozini I favoured a border post I have not tried before and since there is a road on the map that seems to cross the border, we followed the map. We should have been deterred by the flimsy cattle gate but I am so used to just letting myself through those. We had to penetrate thick bush over growing what may have been a road once. Thorns and branches screeching on the windows and enamel paint. I bundubash out the front of the car checking the road between the 100 meter + drop to the right and the ditches and rocks.
A spider web bounced me back and revealed the monster in the following images.
Spider up close

Know what kind of spider this is?

This big!

Stefan Silke behind the wheel there brought us here in his own monster which soon broke the web after I passed through underneath to get these shots. Stefan wants to travel all over Africa and got this Prado for the purpose. get in touch with him if you want to tag along for part of the way. The 4x4 gives you access to places you would not usually get to. Like this adventure/madventure for example.

Facebook sucks for making access to content difficult especially for non-subscribers and here is an attempt to share some of those images, let's see how it lasts. For now just click cancel if it prompts for a login:
The view from the road:


Shortly after that view and getting stuck on a big rock on the uphill from which we had to dig ourselves we reached the border consisting of a few huge rocks which I found impossible to move. An old cattle herd who looked like a bushman, short, suncrumpled and amazingly skinny, wedged himself in between the rock and the ground and leveraged them out of the way. His body the lever! Big red hairy spiders took a defensive stance towards us but I followed suit when he simply stuck his hands under the rock and we rolled it out of the way. The fact that my hand was there meant nothing when he simply bumped the rock over.
As we drive past the rocks and thank the old bushman, other men dressed in civilian clothes arrest us: "Hi. Do you know where you are?" ... "Do you know who we are?" ... "If it was dark, we would have shot you" ... and so on and so forth. So dear world do not use this road into Swaziland: Link to google map
We ended up being processed by military and police who in the end treated us much better than any European authority treat people subjected to them in difficult scenarios. It did take 4 hours and fortunately the police officer phoned our accommodation and ordered food which was ready when finally arrived there very late.

Once in Swaziland we were spoiled with landscapes, flowers, wild life, white wate r river rafting and the most delightfully hospitable human beings on the planet. I love Swaziland and the Swazi people.









More photos on public facebook album

Better photos on picasa:

Join us for Zini Music & Food Fest 2011 and see Mtunzini before it's a minedump

So we were sitting there, around the usual huge bonfire, in the gorgeous natural indigenous forest amphitheater which is the Traveler’s Bush Tavern again. The Milkyway looked like a big white cloud of stars and we were pretty much wallowing in bliss until the stark contrast of reality got pointed out by an Exxaro geologist.
Perhaps a few beers to many and her rant started: ”F@c# your little town. We are turning this place into a minedump. You think you will get a 100 meters between yourself and the mine. Forget it. We will give you 20. If you think a bit of water on the roads will keep the dust away, then you are in for a surprise. We will stick to the letter of the law, that doesn’t mean anything for you.”
Perhaps it was my question about the failure of rehabilitation project in Madagascar with similar mining that set her off or perhaps someone else mentioning the failure of the Richardsbay rehabilitation.
After she explained how little liability they have and that there is no reason for them to care, she carried on in an argument with some of the people there. Finally we agreed to disagree for the sake of the peace. But there you have it Mtunzini, this is how your mine’s employees feel about your town.
And to the rest of the world, join us for the upcoming Zini Music & Food Fest and share the beauty before the prettiest place in the world is turned into a big red minedump. facebook group

Mtunzini is being spoiled even before it becomes a mine dump

Mtunzini's beautiful forest view recently suffered a brutal assault. Some aesthetic genius decided to stick his erection right in what used to be an unspoiled view. Does the visually perceivable space not belong to everyone who can see it? What is next? Billboards? Sky scrapers?
I was shocked when I walked along my favourite trail marked as 'Chalets' through the forest into the grass field next to Nature's way backpackers on the way to the beach. Suddenly there was this big white blotch where there used to be green. As you can see in the accompanying photos. Shocked because I was led to believe that people in this town have some aesthetic values they set out to protect. And other people have had to break down their third story developments in the past. Strict restrictions are placed on everyone else. And somehow this entity managed to impose their tastelessness on us.
It's all part of of a larger aesthetic value decay. Since the mining industry in the body of Exxaro will start mining the space 100 meters from village, the whole place will look like a mine dump, so what difference does one boil make?