SA Taxi makes some noise to draw attention to those with hearing disabilities
Imagine what it would be like not to hear a sound – no music, no voices, no laughter. Mphosho Shabangu doesn’t have to imagine it – he lives it every day due to a severe hearing disability. Mphosho’s family realised that something was wrong when he stopped responding to their voices at the age of about 18 months and showed no further signs of speech development. Shocked and confused, they were initially at a loss to help him. Fortunately, a family member who also had a deaf child suggested certain medical care and education options. The family had to adapt to this difficult situation, firstly by finding new ways to communicate with Mphosho. Although his family learnt to use sign language, Mphosho was largely isolated from other children and people, and experienced much frustration. Mphosho was given hearing aids at school, but he had to return these at the end of his school career. A lack of financial resources has kept him in deafening silence since then. His isolation has continued, and many opportunities have been outside his reach. Even free movement is not fully possible for him as he runs the risk of walking in front of approaching cars or injuring himself in the depot where he works as a mechanic for SA Taxi. Sadly, people have taken advantage of his disability to abuse or steal from him. Because he does not speak, he is unable to assert himself or easily ask for help. His brother Bheki has taken the selfless decision to live with him and keep a watchful eye over his vulnerable brother. Bheki says that even the slightest restoration of hearing would phenomenally change Mphosho’s life. He would be able to engage with people, make friends, stand up for himself and grow his self-esteem. Most touchingly, he would be able to communicate with his grandmother, who cannot use sign language and has never been able to freely communicate with him. As part of our Making a Difference initiative, we have decided to help one of our own and support Mphosho on his journey towards hearing again. If you would like to help us cover the costs of medical visits, hearing aids and speech classes, please make a donation to the SA Taxi Foundation: Account Name: SA Taxi Foundation NPC Account Number: 06 147 0848 Account Type: Business Current Account Branch Code: 007205 Bank: Standard Bank Reference: Make Some Noise If your organisation would like to get involved on a deeper level with our initiative, please contact Nomty Malevu at...
Visual storytelling from Fak’ugesi Digital Africa festival
As part of the Fak’ugesi Digital Africa Festival taking place during August and September this year, Hacks/Hackers Johannesburg will be hosting a workshop and hackathon exploring data and visual storytelling and how to make numbers look great. Co-organiser and Editor-in-Chief htxt.co.za and Hypertext Media, Adam Oxford, says that when looking for stories in data, analysing the raw numbers is only half the work: “The real magic comes when you present it. We need to research how leading websites like The Economist, The Financial Times and Quartz produce dozens of graphs a day without ever looking dull or being meaningless. That’s a skill anyone can learn.” From infographs to interactive charts, mobile applications to mapping tools, Oxford says there’s a wealth of options open for anyone who needs to put numbers in front of users or readers without putting them to sleep. “Whether you’re producing news, features, apps or games, presenting data is a vital skill for any communicator in the Internet age and we are extremely excited about presenting this workshop as part of the Fak’ugesi Digital Africa festival.” Working with top designers from the Praekelt Foundation at Jozihub, the format for the workshop will see attendees working in teams to analyse large datasets and present the stories they contain in imagery. “We’ll bring the data, you just bring a laptop and a willingness to produce vivid storytelling for a visual generation.” Prof Christo Doherty, co-founder of the Fak’ugesi Digital Africa festival is delighted with the visual storytelling angle: “It was our intention to use different events to turn the spotlight on some aspect of digital technology. This workshop will bring coders, journalists, designers, students and game developers together to collaborate and innovate with useful and relevant outcomes.”...
Youth Lab June 16 – The Next 20 Years of Democracy
Youth Lab in partnership with Gracefully Consulting invite you to celebrate 20 years of democracy by casting vision for our future with young South Africans Recognising that South Africa in 2014 celebrates the 20th year of our democracy and the great excitement that comes with reflecting on where we come from; Youth Lab has embarked on a ‘Next 20 Years Campaign’. Launched on Freedom Day, this initiative includes poster quotes from iconic South Africans and essays from young South Africans on how they imagine the next 20 years of the South Africa of their dreams. In partnership with Gracefully Consulting, wish to extend this campaign to include a Youth Day, June 16 event that focuses on an inspirational vision sharing session by 4 young South Africans and a general open discussion with the audience of young Sowetans. The day will also host and feature author Thando Mgqolozana – author of ‘Unimportance’. The day will culminate in an entertaining celebration, with DJs and refreshments served after the discussions end. Other guests include: Xhanti Payi – Economist Reuben Phasha – Constitution Hill Ndumiso Ngcobo – Author and Radio personality Thando Mgqolozana – Author of Unimportance The goal of the event is to inspire young people to begin to project and articulate the vision they have for South Africa. The next 20 years are ours to create and ours to determine. We invite and young people involved with your organisation to join us in sharing your ideas about the next 20 years of democracy. Please find the event synopsis and provisional program below. Date: 16 June Venue: Phefeni Senior Secondary School Time: 12:00 –...
Zamantungwa Khumalo Represents S.A at the World Economic Forum
The multi-talented, multi-tasking Zamantungwa Khumalo recently returned from a trip to Abuja, Nigeria, where she and other young South Africans from the Global Shapers community “represented” at the World Economic Forum. A lot has changed since we interviewed Zama last year! Find out more here: Thanks for chatting to us again Zama, first off, who are the Global Shapers community? We are a network of city-based Hubs developed and led by young leaders between 20 and 30 years old. We play an active role in shaping the communities in which we live. Sounds interesting, what kind of people are the shapers? Shapers are highly motivated young leaders who have a great potential for future leadership roles in society. We are selected on the basis of our achievements, leadership potential, and commitment to make a difference. Through the Global Shapers Community, we are provided with opportunities to connect with the worldwide network of Global Shapers, to network with other World Economic Forum communities, and to represent the voice of youth at World Economic Forum events. And what role do you play? I’m a member of the Tshwane Hub and participate in the different hub projects and initiatives that we support, as a hub. How did you get involved in this? A few months ago, Shapers had the opportunity to apply to be 1 of 50 Shapers to attend the 24th World Economic Forum on Africa. I actually applied at the last minute, after some encouragement from a fellow Hub member. Then I received confirmation that my application was successful and started preparing for the forum! What was the role of SA in being the ‘Youth Voice’ at this year’s forum? We participated in the different forum events, not just as delegates, but as discussion leaders and panellists. For example, I was part of a plenary session which was televised live on one of the biggest morning news shows in Nigeria, and it was streamed live – the views expressed went beyond South Africa and some of the challenges we face. Our contributions were not necessarily about the respective countries we come from. Can you give us an idea of how the days were spent? Before the Forum, we firstly attended SHAPE Africa. SHAPE Africa is an annual regional meeting of Global Shapers from Africa and its platform for change makers to discuss and come up with practical solutions to some of the continent’s most pressing challenges. Sounds great, what were the highlights for you here? The two-day (SHAPE Africa) event had phenomenal speakers such as the Finance Minister of Nigeria, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigerian investor, banker and philanthropist, Tony Elumelu, Director,...
Breathe Sunshine African Music Conference & Unity Jam 2014
Cape Town Gets Ready for the BreatheSunshine African Music Conference & Unity Jam 2014 “Pioneering and growing the African music industry” Following the huge success of 2013’s inaugural event, the second BreatheSunshine African Music Conference will catapult the nation’s music into the spotlight in February 2014. This year’s event is set to give back even more in the way of empowerment, inspiration and interactive learning, with a brand-new Unity Jam event to be held in the township of Langa on the final day of the event. Powered by Black Mango, the event brings together a wide range of artists, producers and leaders across the music industry with the aim of building and unifying the industry. International reggae superstar, Gentleman from Germany will be taking part in the conference and will also be performing for the first time in South Africa at the Unity Jam, as part of an African tour schedule organised by the Goethe-Institut. The multi award winning artist has been spreading his reggae music across the globe with his shows and is now one of the biggest international reggae headliners in the world. This year the conference is supported by a sizable German contingent and will include Gentleman’s manager, Volker May (Germany) – Vice President of IMMF (International Music Manager Forum Europe), Hannah Kupfer (Minus Records – Ritchie Hawtin’s label) as well as Detlef Schwarte – Co-Founder of Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg and Director Reeperbahn Festival Conference in Hamburg. Reeperbahn is now the largest event of its kind in Europe and their visit to the conference will further cement the strategic partnership that the two conferences share. As part of the on going relationship, Black Mango will be hosting a South African panel and a live showcase at Reeperbahn at the end of 2014. Gentleman’s and Volker May’s trip is being supported by the German cultural body the Goethe-Institut and with Germany now being the biggest music market in Europe, the German presence at the conference will go a long way to further support an already growing interest in South African music. This year’s conference also sees the addition of BreatheSunshine Connect, a part of the conference dedicated to the digital space. Headed up by African Dope Records founder Roach Roth, Connect brings together the sharpest minds in the digital media world and music industry to explore the current landscape and how the industry can better leverage the space for success. International charity Bridges for Music will host a space on electronic music. There will also be live technical demos along with exclusive invite-only Producer Pow-Wow sessions that offer one-on-one networking between township and city producers. A...
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