In Madiba’s humanitarian footsteps

Give 67 minutes, do 67 things to celebrate his birthday

INDIVIDUALS, companies and organisations around South Africa are planning activities for Mandela Day on July 18, in which the public can participate or contribute.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela spent 67 years making the world a better place and now an international campaign is asking people to give 67 minutes of their time to do something good. Here is our list of 67 ways Durbanites can get involved. 1. Help the Highway Hospice: The organisation that assists not only those with a terminal illness or chronic disease, but their families, with registered nurses and social workers, is appealing for volunteers. It needs to paint and neaten its day centres in uMlazi, Chesterville, Inanda and Phoenix. Call Johno at 031 208 6110. 2. Domino Foundation: Join the foundation as it provides a space for the preparation of sandwiches and hampers, collect jerseys, blankets and closed shoes and activities. There will be different sessions from 9am-3pm. Register first at www.domino.org.za, call 031 563 9605 or e-mail volunteer@domino.org.za

Activities are listed on the website. If you’d prefer to donate, challenge neighbours, work colleagues and friends to collect items listed on its website to add to their “donation station” in Durban North. 3. 67 Images for Mandela: Donate stationery and help educate masses of needy pupils in South Africa. The third year of the initiative has close to 1 000. Call Sizwe at 061 472 7565 for more info, or follow 67 Images for Mandela on Facebook and Twitter, or e-mail sizwe@requirementsspecialists. 4. Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund: Make a donation at www. nelsonmandelachildrensfund. com/how-to-help/donate-now/ 5. Create a WhatsApp group for your neighbourhood. Domestic workers and security personnel are often the eyes and ears of the suburb, so chat to them about what’s happening. 6. Meals on Wheels constantly requires donations to continue its nationwide work in providing meals for housebound pensioners who cannot afford three meals a day. SMS the word Meal to 39055 and donate R15. 7. Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust: In KwaZulu-Natal, one in three people is living with HIV, and in some of the communities in the Valley of a Thousand Hills this may be as high as one in two. The trust is encouraging people, families, churches and businesses to volunteer at its centre by gardening or making beaded bangles to be sold to raise funds, help out at their respite unit which has 24 patients, donate food, money or second-hand clothing, have a free HIV test, or get involved in many other activities it is involved in. Call 031 765 5866; e-mail: laurel@hillaids.org.za 8. Wear your slippers on August 5. Buy stickers for R10 from any Pick n Pay, Wimpy or online at www.slipperday. co.za and get your colleagues involved. Last year the organisation raised more than R2.66 million in proceeds towards Reach for a Dream, an organisation that gives children with life-threatening illnesses a chance to experience their dream. 9. Donate R67 to the Animal Anti-Cruelty League. Make a donation at www.aacl.org.za/ 10. Put a money box/jar/glass on the hall table to collect small change and give to a local soup kitchen. 11. If you’re an animal lover, SMS the word MANDELA to 38018, which will be charged at R25, to help the National Council of SPCAs. 12. Stop Hunger Now: Gather family and friends to volunteer at a meal packaging event. This is a fun and engaging way for you to be part of the drive to end child hunger. Forty volunteers can package 10 000 meals in under two hours. Visit www.stophungernowsa.org/ volunteer.html to take part. 13. Register for a MySchool card. Sign up for a rural school or organisation that looks after abandoned or abused children. That way, your shopping at Woolies will mean someone less fortunate benefits, too. 14. Teens who do community hours for school can register at www.communityhourssa. co.za and choose a charity that suits them and log community hours. 15. Buy canned foods, non-perishable items or toiletries (toothpaste, toothbrushes, toilet paper, tissues, adult nappies, soap, moisturiser, deodorant) for The Hillcrest Aids Centre Trust’s feeding scheme and Respite Unit. It feeds 41 families with food parcels every two weeks and its Respite Unit cares for 24 patients. 16. Resolve to submit tips on possible crime in your community. Text Crime Line at 32211 at a cost of R10, or visit www.crimeline.co.za 17. Go back to school for a day on July 18. Visit www.adoptaschool.org. za which can set you up with a school in your area. The association is a subsidiary of the

Nelson Mandela gained international acclaim for his activism, receiving more than 250 honours, including the Nobel Peace Prize, the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Soviet Lenin Peace Prize. He is held in respect around the world but nowhere more so than here, in his beloved country. This is the time of year – on his birthday – we try most to emulate his humanity. Shanduka Foundation. 18. Use your shopper points by buying a gift card and give it to someone who could do with the food. 19. Help spread the word against rape by being an ambassador for the cause. Stop Rape was a successful awareness campaign run by LeadSA but every citizen can use his or her influence to get the message out. Posters can be bought from Viva for R15. Hang them at schools, canteens or community centres. Call Meleney at 079 635 2964 to order. 20. Switch off your geyser for 67 hours over a few days to help ease the pressure on the country’s electricity supplies. 21. Sponsor a dog through the guide dog association. If you can’t foster a pooch, donate money for the training of a puppy. See www.guidedog.org. za or call 011 705 3512. 22. Drugs have become an ongoing social scourge and LeadSA has been instrumental in the fight against substance abuse. Visit www.sancanational.org.za 23. Sign up to educate a child for as little as R100 a month or R1 200 a year. Provide a child with access to affordable quality education. The programme follows a specialised curriculum aimed at overcoming learning difficulties in children aged 4-17. Extensive pupil support including remedial therapy is provided. Visit www. sparrowschools.co.za and click on the get involved button. 24. Start a casual veggie garden on your pavement. Use any container – tyres, old pots or an unused bath – and invite the public to take the fully grown fare. Or plant a fruit tree and do likewise. 25. Donate a new soccer ball to a school in an underprivileged area. 26. Use less water by showering, not bathing. 27. Buy a pack of nappies. The Love of Christ ministries always needs them for the abandoned babies they look after. See www.tlc.org.za 28. Buy groceries for a family in need instead of eating out. 29. Dance to the Madiba beat: go to www.danceformadiba. co.za, make your donation, and upload your video of you dancing the Madiba jive. The website will send you a 67-second music clip to accompany your video, and you will then be sent a full 67-minute jive mix where you dance your heart out. The video will form part of a global series of videos to create the greatest tribute ever. 30. Offer financial support to Tape Aids for the Blind, or volunteer your voice as a reader. Visit www.tapeaids.co.za 31. Donate your skills at a local school. Engage people you work with who may know a township school or community centre that requires maintenance or repairs. 32. Sign up to be an organ donor and save seven lives: Visit www.odf.org.za 33. Package nearly new school books and stationery in bundles for handing out next year. 34. Miles of Smiles specialise in corporate social investment events and making children smile. Call Chris at 072 143 4003. 35. Organise a clean-up in a park followed by a picnic; find a cause to back when doing a sporting event such as cycling or running. Friends can sponsor you online at www. givengain.co.za 36. Go to the local hospital and see if you can get on a standby list to help out in the trauma waiting area. 37. Adopt a cot for an abandoned baby at www.givengain. com 38. Make contact with your local police station’s community police forum. Help with admin, community awareness or bake a cake to keep up staff morale. 39. If you can’t get off work, register at www.ashoka.org/ volunteer and wait for an event you can attend, or start saving spare change towards it. 40. Galvanise your community to improve open spaces by clearing away rubbish and planting grass. 41. Join the Big Brother, Big Sister programme to get involved in making a difference to an underprivileged child by proving a valuable parental role model. Call 031 461 1137 or 031 461 5657, e-mail bbbskzn@ bbbssa.org.za, or visit www. bbbssa. org.za 42. Be kind to your environment. Get savvy on the fish you are allowed to eat by downloading the Sassi info directly to your phone www.wwfsassi. co.za 43. Start making a small library of 67 books you can donate to a school. 44. Visit the My Greater Good website for some fresh ideas on volunteering if you are struggling to get inspired. www. greatergoodsa.co.za has more than 17 000 organisations on its books. 45. Get involved in LeadSA’s food garden activities. Sign up at www.leadsa.co.za to register at one of three sites. Volunteers will learn how to plant and tend food gardens, while also helping to start up allotments for the community. 46. Donate your old bras to women who cannot afford them. Satin Candy and the Robin Hood Foundation will organise getting them to the women and girls in need. Drop them off at the Satin Candy shop in Durban North or in Hillcrest. 47. Organise 67 friends to clean up your nearest beach. A local supermarket manager could supply the plastic bags for collecting the rubbish, or bring one from home. 48. Spend time at an old age home talking to the elderly, who are treasure troves of advice and experience. 49. Make arrangements with a local shelter to provide warm meals this winter. Or sponsor accommodation for a destitute family so they can spend the cold nights indoors. 50. Set up recycling bins for glass, plastic and paper at a popular spot in your community – it can be a local grocer or garage, and take responsibility for clearing away the items. This will make it easier for your community to start recycling. 51. Volunteer at the local child welfare. Prepare stationery or snack hampers for the children to enjoy. Play sports such as volleyball and cricket with them, or organise a pampering session for the teenage girls who don’t usually get the chance to enjoy the luxury. 52. Take 67 minutes to appreciate any people who have helped you. Take your former teachers a fruit hamper to say thank you. Teachers are often not given the recognition they deserve. 53. Speak to your local ward councillor about starting a communal vegetable garden. This would be a good way to teach children about the environment, and the possible birds and butterflies that would be attracted there. The vegetables can be donated to a family in need or a hospice. 54. Organise your neighbours into taking 67 minutes to take a jog around the block. In this way you will connect more with them and create a safer way to exercise and keep healthy. This can become a weekly activity. 55. Give a young mother or family a break by offering to babysit while they enjoy the day. 56. Baby clothes are often in good condition even though they have been used, so give your old baby clothes to a local organisation that cares for abandoned babies. 57. Hospitals often have long lines of people who wait from the early hours of the morning to receive treatment. Prepare cups of coffee or tea and biscuits and hand them out to those waiting. 58. Sporty people can dedicate time to coaching little children in exercising and keeping fit. 59. Collect bread tags to send for recycling and receive money to buy a wheelchair for someone in need. Visit www.breadtagsforwheelchairs.co.za for more information. 60. Rummage through your wardrobe and find those beautiful dresses you haven’t worn in years. A girl who cannot afford to buy a dress for herself will appreciate it and get more wear out of it. Visit www.princessproject.co.za 61. NGO We Are Durban runs several projects and activities to make Durban a better place. The NGO is arranging a market to celebrate Mandela Day. All proceeds will go towards the building of a new pre-primary school for the kids at Dalton Hostel. Find out how you can get involved by visiting www.wearedurban.com 62. Education is a powerful tool. Speak to community leaders and ask if they know of a deserving child you can sponsor to complete their tertiary education, or for a short course where they can learn a trade to earn an income. Possibly, they may only need someone to sponsor their transport fees or stationery. 63. In many communities, people do not have access to services such as blood sugar testing, or eyesight tests. Take the initiative to organise these services once a month for your community members. 64. Bake 67 cupcakes and sell them to raise funds for your chosen cause such as saving the rhinos, or donating it to a cancer association. 65. Lobby your local council to fix sporting venues in your area to make them more attractive to youngsters. This will provide a better space for young people to come together and play sport or host events. 66. Spend 67 minutes helping the people who help you, such as your domestic worker or gardener. 67. South African Blood Bank and the Sunflower Fund – giving blood is giving life. Donating bone marrow can also save a life. The bank and the fund are urging people to donate their time to two worthy causes. A collaborative campaign has been planned by them and local businesses Tate, Nolan & Knight Attorneys and Mum’s Mail magazine, urging the public to donate muchneeded blood to SANBS and to register as a bone marrow stem cell donor. Visit the SANBS clinic in Kensington Square, Durban North, 8.30am-6pm, on July 18. Call 031 564 6070.