Archive for 'South Africa'

Learning about the Q Fund

by on November 17, 2008 at 12:29 am

Logo_smaller I ran into some folks tonight who know the founders of the Q Fund, an organization dedicated to ensure a free education for vulnerable children so they can realize their dreams and talents. Yes, education, but its about so much more as I geared up to hear more.

No surprise that the discussion came about as we were discussing my upcoming trip to South Africa. The founder was living South Africa in 1997, not long after I was living there the second time around. As she came face-to-face with the plight of millions of orphaned African children, she used photography to recount their courageous and heartrending story in her book, African Journal: A Child’s Continent, an inspiring narrative of how these children taught her the true meaning of love.

The Q Fund has developed partnerships with numerous like-minded organizations and individuals and is spearheading a collaborative effort to build the Mucinshi School – a world-class high school in Zambia which will become the prototype for a scalable, replicable model that can be used to help children and communities in need anywhere in the world.

I plan to dig deeper but didn’t want to miss an opportunity to introduce the organization to people who may never have heard about them. Introduce and of course share their core values:

Free education for vulnerable children.

To honor cultural differences and heritage of communities.

To design and build facilities and infrastructure that conserve, protect and enhance natural resources.

To empower individuals and communities to achieve financial independence.

To deliver measurable results within a specified timeframe with transparency and complete accountability.

To develop community-based businesses which become the foundation of thriving, sustainable economies.

To acknowledge through our mutual endeavors our growth and development as human beings.

WhyVote.co.za – why would you vote in 2009?

by on November 14, 2008 at 5:00 am

If crime isn’t a problem in SA and everyone has a job, if poverty doesn’t exist and everyone has food to eat, if every child is educated, not starving and has a roof over their heads and if South Africa is perfect…
then why vote?
The above statement is outrageous. At SA Rocks I have always maintained […]

Online discounts…why not?

by on November 14, 2008 at 3:00 am

Shopping online is growing in SA, people are becoming more comfortable with the thought of giving away credit card details to an invisible person across the world who just might defraud you out of the tens of rands that one might have in a credit card.

Well, I think that process would be a lot […]

You can register to vote in weekday office hours

by on November 14, 2008 at 12:00 am

According to the IEC 3.6 million South Africans passed through ±19 000 registration stations over the registration weekend that just passed.
I am fairly impressed I must say.
Apparently a total of 1 648 189 new voters were registered, the rest were people checking their details and changing their voter districts. Again, I am impressed. […]

Key blogs about innovation, media & biz online

by on November 13, 2008 at 8:45 am

When it comes to news about internet startups, web trends and innovations, blogs are a way better source than traditional media. If you want to know what’s happening on the web, there are some key blogs that should form part of your daily reading. Most serious online fundis use at least 2 or 3 […]

Click on headline link to visit matthewbuckland.com for full article

eBay South Africa “launches” damp squib

by on November 13, 2008 at 1:06 am

Worldwide dot.com stalwart eBay has stealthily launched a watered-down web presence in South Africa, “Ebay South Africa” on ebay.co.za. Was in a meeting with internet guru Ronnie Apteker (sorry Ronnie!) and he pointed me to it. It apparently launched in the last few days, although they have owned the co.za for years.
Will be interesting […]

Click on headline link to visit matthewbuckland.com for full article

We Blog the World – A South African Bloggers Tour

by on November 12, 2008 at 11:18 pm

I am really chuffed to be a part of a fantastic (and very smart) initiative by the International Marketing Council (IMC).
The basic idea, as I like to understand it, is that 11 international bloggers who are all prominent in their respective fields will all be heading for SA for a ten day whirlwind tour […]

South African Singer Miriam Makeba Dies

by on November 12, 2008 at 8:25 pm

Miriam Makeba passed away right after a performance in Italy on November 9th.

Writes the New York Times about her history and life, “Miriam Makeba had been a prominent exiled opponent of apartheid since the South African authorities revoked her passport in 1960 and refused to allow her to return after she traveled abroad. In South Africa, she stood as an enduring emblem of the travails of black people under the apartheid system of racial segregation that ended with the release from prison of Nelson Mandela in 1990 and the country’s first fully democratic elections in 1994.”

Announcing South African Blogging Expedition

by on November 12, 2008 at 2:52 pm

Brand_south_africa In my most recent post, I announced the launch of a new blog I’ve been working on for a couple of months called We Blog the World. Here, as well as on the Brand South Africa blog, a group of American and South African bloggers will be posting stories, video and photos as they tour the country starting Thanksgiving week.

The International Marketing Council (IMC) is sponsoring the blogging expedition. IMC’s Simon Barber, who is organizing the tour schedule together with Graeme Addison, is putting together an incredible agenda that includes Stellenbosch, Darling, Alexander Bay, Port Nolloth, Carltonville, Magaliesberg, Cradle, Soweto and Johannesburg. Renown South African blogger Matthew Buckland who will be joining us on-site also wrote about the tour kick-off in depth. Simon wrote an extensive blog post about the tour this week on thoughtleader, so be sure to check it out.

I’ve been working with Simon and Graeme to organize a diverse group of 10-12 bloggers who will tour the country from late November to December 10th. More on the itinerary as we get closer.

Joining me on this exciting tour is:

Zadi Diaz

Mona Gable

Ray Lewis

John Gartner

Chris Morrison

David Sasaki

Eliane Fioret

Graeme Wood

I’ll be blogging to both Down the Avenue and We Blog the World

South Africans bloggers onboard the tour include:

Simon Barber

Nick Haralambous

Ndumiso Ngcobo

Below is a snippet of the We Blog the World South Africa page which will be fleshed out after the tour begins later this month.

We_blog_the_world_logo

Mandela vs Obama – no comparison

by on November 11, 2008 at 11:30 pm

There is no comparison.
Mandela is a different person from a different time who called for a different following to achieve different goals. The closest these two come to one another is the tone of their skin color.
End.
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