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Newsletter -- JULY 2004 ROOTS & SHOOTS GAUTENG We hope that you are all having a good winter (and keeping warm!!) We have been really busy – planning for future exciting events and dealing with the changes that have taken place. As you are aware, Shirley Glyn is no longer part of The Jane Goodall Institute and all Roots & Shoots business now goes directly through Sue Slotar. If you need any additional information or have any matters regarding Roots & Shoots that you would like to discuss, please contact Sue. The three co-ordinators of Roots & Shoots groups are still Sue Slotar, Diane Sheard and Mandla Mentoor. We have held various meetings to ensure that all activities run smoothly and to discuss ways of adding value to the groups in the second half of 2004. We will be running another ROOTS & SHOOTS INDABA in September. We’ve scheduled a full day Indaba for SATURDAY, 18 SEPTEMBER from 9am to 4pm (lunch will be provided) and we would love all the groups from Grade 4 to 7 to participate. The Indaba will be held at Wildrocke Eco-Centre at 28 Duncan Rd, Glenferness, Midrand. A map will be sent to all groups attending the Indaba. The Indaba will be good fun with lots of sharing of great ideas, so please join us. Please let us know, via e-mail to merlefinch@iafrica.com, whether your school will be attending as well as how many children and their grade, in order to assist us with planning (and catering) for the day. At the INDABA we would like to discuss projects relating to the environment, community and animals that groups can undertaken on a national level. Two ideas that have been suggested are household sewage (problems with use of toilets through blockages due to incorrect materials being flushed down toilets as well as lack of toilet facilities where we need to look at the option of eco-toilets) and carcasses of dead animals – animals that have either starved to death or been run over and the carcasses are left lying in the streets and on pavements. We need to discuss ways to address caring for pets and involving the SPCA. We’d like groups to think about these ideas and how Roots & Shoots could tackle these problems together. All these ideas will be discussed at the Indaba. ROOTS & SHOOTS INFORMATION We will contact each group on a monthly basis for updates on activities so that some of this news can be included in the newsletter, together with photographs where possible. We hope that you were all able to participate in World Environment Week and look forward to receiving feedback at the Indaba. (These are the kind of activities that would be wonderful to include in the newsletter as they inspire other groups and it’s great for the group participants to read about their activities.) FOOD GARDENS We would like all groups to participate in the Food Garden project where schools make a food garden. Schools that do not need the food can either sell it for Roots & Shoots funds or donate it to a community of their choice. In winter, many charities run soup kitchen and the vegetables from the garden would really help those in need. If any parents or teachers would like to join the ‘Friends of the Food Garden’ volunteer group, please let us know. They would be responsible for helping the groups establish the gardens and to provide feedback from the groups that are not electronically linked so that we can forward the information and photographs to ‘Garden Mosaic’ in America. Once the gardens are started, we have a volunteer that will be providing indigenous vegetable seeds. Part of the project will be for the groups to find out as much as possible about these plants from the older generations. We have a contact for medicinal plants and will provide plants with a medicinal value once gardens are established. Details will be included in future newsletters.
SOAP APPEAL We received a thank you note from Johannesburg Hospital for the soap donation. They were enormously grateful!! They appealed to us for plastic tables and chairs for the children to eat at and do activities. So if any group is looking for a collection idea, please consider this request.
PARTNERSHIP IN UNDERSTANDING IN AFRICA Should any groups be interested in forming a partnership with a group from another country in Africa, where you exchange ideas and news, please contact us and we’ll find a suitable match. NEW FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY Sue Slotar attended a Roots & Shoots Workshop in Umlazi, KwaZulu Natal and was rather excited to see how much has been achieved in the three years that they have been running. Feedback on the challenges (and possible solutions) that they are facing will be discussed at our Indaba Day. We would also like to say a hearty welcome to our new groups in Grahamstown and East London. We look forward to working with you, sharing ideas and achieving incredible results!!! The Roots & Shoots group at Wits are having great success with the implementation of their recycling project. They have established a recycling centre and are putting up posters to create awareness about the project. GOOD LUCK!! ARBOUR DAY AND PEACE DAY CELEBRATIONS Arbour Week is from 1 to 7 September and PEACE DAY is on 21 September so we thought that it would be a good idea to combine them and celebrate by planting seeds in paper cups (rather than the clay pots originally suggested) and attaching a message about PEACE to each cup. The cups can then be swopped between schools and planted directly into the ground. If you are interested in participating, please let us know approximately how many children will be involved and we’ll arrange for another school to swop with you. For PEACE DAY on 21 September we would like to fly doves at Somoho in Soweto. Should your school be interested in participating, please contact us to discuss the arrangements. On PEACE DAY we’d like to fly as many PEACE doves as possible and we will therefore be holding work parties to make the doves at Wildrocke Eco-Centre in Glenferness, Midrand on Saturday, 21 and Sunday, 22 August as well as on Saturday, 28 and Sunday, 29 August from 9 am to 4 pm. Should your school be interested in attending any of the workshops, please contact us in order for us to make the necessary arrangements. We will also require the use of 2 sewing machines – should anyone have any available, please let us know. So, in preparation for PEACE DAY please start collecting all the items required to make PEACE DOVES: If you are unable to attend the PEACE DOVES work parties but your school is still interested in making big and small doves, please contact us for the patterns. Party Design is currently busy making up a simplified pattern for us and we will send this to you. CLEANING AND HYGIENE TRAINING GROUPS We are in the process of setting up 40 news Roots & Shoots groups with the South African Police (SAP) Youth Desks in various centres around Gauteng. This is very exciting and we’ll provide you with details about activities that these groups will be involved with in future newsletters. HIV/AIDS PROJECT IN ALEXANDRA TOWNSHIP Two members of the Thembalethu Haven are doing amazing work in Alexandra Township amongst HIV and AIDS patients. The Haven has purchased a house in 9th Road, KEW which is large enough to provide temporary accommodation for up to 12 mothers and children as well as for support group meetings and counseling. They require people to assist with painting the house, working in the garden, collecting furniture and furnishings, collecting non-perishable foods and cash donations. If your group is able to assist in any way, please contact us. ‘CHRISTMAS CRACKER CHEER’ Just a reminder about including the ‘Christmas Cracker Cheer’ project on your schedule of events. The date for the picnic is Saturday, 13 November from 9.30am to 1.30pm. Please mark this day in your calendar and we’ll discuss details in the next newsletter. Kind regards, Sue and Di
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