"I love that you've brought this to attention. An extensive database of uncommon but resistant and hardy plants/foods could be developed and organized by climate. Ease of growth and processing should also be taken in to account. I will try to…"
A crash course in changing the world.
Calum James Wright's Blog (23)
Imagine 9
It's 2011 and the latest pandemic flu has hit South Africa. As per usual the children are the ones most vulnerable to the illness which means thousands of children are missing out on their schooling around the country. Fortunately we have managed to put the dark site which was developed a year ago into action to ensure that these children don't fall behind in class and further there educations in the long term. I have contacted schools around the country and hundreds of teachers have agreed to… Continue
Added by Calum James Wright on July 26, 2010 at 11:39am — No Comments
Learn 9
I found that 'managing panic in a pandemic' was the most prevalent insight within the 'five secrets of Crisis Communication' and in particular the idea that public trust is a big issue. I feel these factors are very important as one of the worst things to happen in a crisis is wide spread panic as it can force people to act in an irrational manner which may lead to unecessary violence. Thus, population panic levels must be kept low during a crisis and the… Continue
Added by Calum James Wright on July 26, 2010 at 10:18am — No Comments
Learn 9
The valley of the Mayo River in Peru was isolated from the rest of the country until the 1970s, when construction of the Carretera Marginal trunk road gave access. A wave
of spontaneous settlers from the highlands and the coast then came into
the valley, increasing the population five-fold. Under such a dramatic
event, the locals became a disadvantaged minority in their own
traditional territory. Providing legal land titles to…
Added by Calum James Wright on July 25, 2010 at 5:30pm — No Comments
Mission 7 imagine 7
In the year 2020 my risilient city would be unstoppable! Natural disaster would be no match for the precautions set in place by the government with buildings reinforced and set on shock resistent foundations to prevent damage from earthquakes or wind destruction. Similarly all buildings will be built from fire and damp retardent materials. In the event of of drought and a subsequent lack of food, the city will be kept afloat by the abundent water and food reserves which are kept under strict… Continue
Added by Calum James Wright on May 18, 2010 at 9:58pm — No Comments
Mission 7Act 7
When asking my nieghbours and friends of their knowledge of Grahamstown's resilience plan the majority were either completely clueless or made speculations. On further investigation i discovereed that Grahamstown has very few actual risilience plans in place. however some are being developed! Dr. Garth Cambray is bidding for a Wind farm to be built which will power much of Grahamstown and provide a the city with three potential energy sources. so at least that's a start!
Added by Calum James Wright on May 18, 2010 at 9:48pm — No Comments
Mission 7 Imagine 7
Xenophobia has been a scary issue in South Africa over the past few years and although it seems that such mentalities have been snubbed out, the possiblitity of further outbreaks of violence still looms. In the event of further outbreaks of Xenophobic violence, Ushahidi could help bring them to a stop. With Ushahidi, innocent bystanders could record where such acts were taking place and send the coordinates or directions via their cell phone which in turn could help Ushahidi in… Continue
Added by Calum James Wright on May 18, 2010 at 9:31pm — No Comments
Mission 6 imagine
The year is 2020 and Sindiswa walks through my front door, she has a lot to tell her old english tutor and we sit down to a cup of tea. You wouldn't believe how well spoken her english is just ten years since her first lessons but that is not the msot amazing of things. After she picked up her second language, english, she discovered an undying love for language and communication in general and dreamed turnign this love into a career. Now at the age of 23 she has finished her degree majoring in… Continue
Added by Calum James Wright on May 18, 2010 at 9:20pm — No Comments
mission6 act
When given the task of empowering a girl or woman forever i wanted to do something that helped someone on a personal level rather than simply donate to a charity through which I would never have any real contact. I have thus started to give our domestic worker's daughter extra lessons in english. Sindiswa is 13 years old and her 1st language is Xhosa, but she is not fluent in english yet. i have thus been giving her fairly informal english lessons which have proven to be very helpful to both… Continue
Added by Calum James Wright on May 18, 2010 at 9:11pm — No Comments
Mission 6 Learn
In looking for a feed on WomenWatch, the article on empowering women to boost African development sprung out at me as I am drawn to anything to do with African development! the article brought forward some very positive informaton about what women are doing for their various African countries and it was nice to focus on an article which records the empowerment of women rather than discussing the oppression which is so prevalent. However the article does not skip over such…
ContinueAdded by Calum James Wright on May 18, 2010 at 8:45pm — 1 Comment
Mission 5 imagine
The "Makana Trade Post" has recently opened on the outskirts of Joza, Grahamstown. Jacob Mtaleli was given inspiration for the innovative alternative to traditional economic exchange after witnessing the need for barter systems in his neighbourhood, namely the Joza township. The "Makana Trade Post" can be described as a 'barter broker' as the organisation essentially works as a middleman between those who wish to barter their goods. The organisation simultaneously ensures that no foul play… Continue
Added by Calum James Wright on May 11, 2010 at 6:27pm — No Comments
Mission5 act
Last week there was a party in Grahamstown, where I go to University which was called burning man. i'm not sure if it was Evoke inspired but nevertheless it provided a perfect opportunity for this weeks act mission! Instead of paying an entrance fee, people could bring items such as clothes, food, ect and trade them in order to get into the party! While The paty could sustain itself off those who prefered to use traditional currendy, everyone else had much fun bartering with each other inside… Continue
Added by Calum James Wright on May 11, 2010 at 6:09pm — No Comments
mission5 learn
In my opinion the most important advancement in alternative forms of money has been around for quite some time and exists on a number of different web sites. Such alternative money of courseoriginally stems from orginal currency but with the introductio of eBucks and the like, online currency seems to be the way of the future! Already hundreds of thousands of people trade online, on websites that require you to convert money in your bank to site specific currencies. Such advancements have… Continue
Added by Calum James Wright on May 11, 2010 at 5:30pm — No Comments
Mission 4 Imagine
It's world water day 2020 and after speaking to all of the first world leaders, the Evoke team has managed to convince them of a drastic way in which to remind people of how lucky they are to have clean, running water. Every street in major first world countries has been restricted to one tap of running water for 24 hours. This is far from a comparison to the millions of people living in communities where their only tap is situated miles away from their home but will hopefully create an… Continue
Added by Calum James Wright on May 11, 2010 at 5:29pm — No Comments
Mission 4 act
Galela Amanzi means "pour the water" in Xhosa a South African language and is a student project formed by students at Rhodes University, South Africa, the University to which i attend.
Galela Amanzi installs rainwater tanks in key locations in the disadvantaged regions of Grahamstown, providing water for irrigating
community vegetable gardens, for cooking and drinking purposes, as well
as keeping schools open when there are water supply problems. In this
way, they…
Added by Calum James Wright on May 11, 2010 at 5:19pm — No Comments
Mission 4 learn
In searching for an awe inspiring clean water project i looked at Water for the People a non-profit development organisation whose vision is to provide safe drinking water to the 884 million people who do not have such a luxury as well as the 2.6 billion people living with inadequate sanitation facilities. Water for the people recognioses that near 6000 people die every day from water related illnesses and aims to fix such a devastating problem by creating solutions that last rather than…
ContinueAdded by Calum James Wright on May 11, 2010 at 5:09pm — No Comments
Mission 1, Imagine 1
The phone
rings and Calum steps out of his energy efficient shower which will recycle the
water he has just used and will be ready to go within 20 minutes. He walks
across the house, picking up a towel and clothes produced entirely of Ingeo
fibres which are organically produced with a low effect on the environment yet possess all the same qualities of… Continue
rings and Calum steps out of his energy efficient shower which will recycle the
water he has just used and will be ready to go within 20 minutes. He walks
across the house, picking up a towel and clothes produced entirely of Ingeo
fibres which are organically produced with a low effect on the environment yet possess all the same qualities of… Continue
Added by Calum James Wright on May 11, 2010 at 4:27pm — No Comments
St. PADDY'S DAY 2020
It's the 17th of March 2020, St.Patrick's Day! The pubs are full and people are getting extremely festive as more and more beer is consumed. However, in previous years two problems have arisen, the first was the issue of how much excess energy is needed for such a festive event to be held and the other has been the lack in toiletry facilities needed for the many beer consumers. This year however, both problems have been addressed with a single solution. Using an adaptation of hydro-power, water… Continue
Added by Calum James Wright on March 23, 2010 at 11:32am — 1 Comment
Riding power
With this weeks ACT in mind I set out to design a power source for lamps around the house by connecting them to a dynamo powered by a standing bicycle. This was an attempt which approached rather dauntingly as I am aware of my lack of practical electrical expertise. Unfortunatley the most I managed to do was break afew light bulbs, but i still maintain that it is a good alternative energy resource which would work particularly well in rural areas and one room houses. 20 to 30 minutes on a… Continue
Added by Calum James Wright on March 23, 2010 at 11:03am — 1 Comment
Future foods!
It’s 2020 and I am in Cape Town, South Africa, sitting down to dinner with my family. We prepared the meal together and it consists of our own organic produce which we grow in both a veggie garden and
our green house in combination with beef from an energy efficient cattle farm.
With innovations in technology South Africa has managed to minimise its carbon
footprint created by cattle farms as the methane which was once damaging the
ozone layer is…
Added by Calum James Wright on March 16, 2010 at 11:52am — No Comments
Helping a friend
When reading up on the ACT mission for this week I wondered for a while as to how I would go about it only to realise that someone in need of a little quidance was right in front of me. My house mates and I employ a domestic worker (Sylvia) who gets by quite well but seeing as she has to support 6 children a little extra food will never go wasted. I spoke to my house mates and to Sylvi who all thought it would be a great idea if we had an afternoon to which we dedicated the planting of a veggie… Continue
Added by Calum James Wright on March 16, 2010 at 10:54am — No Comments
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Fourth of July on the Lake
This past weekend was the annual celebration at the lake house in Connecticut. It is amazing that the lake is still so clear and beautiful after all these years. The watershed association has done a wonderful job protecting these waters from the damaging effects of development.The wood grill was finally ready to cook on, so we didn't miss the propane tank fueled grill anymore. The food actually tasted fresher than in the past and was easy to keep fueled.Dad was very proud of the solar hybrid…See More
Stinging Nettle
In this blog post I will focus on a plant that is abundant in our nature, and which is immensely nutritious. It's of course the Stinging Nettle. Let's start with the chemical constituents of this plant:37 % Non-Nitrogen-Extracts19 - 29 % Ash9 - 21 % Fiber4 % Fat22 % ProteinOnce the leaves are drid, their protein content can reach an astounding 40 %, which is much higher than beef, which even under the best of circ**stances can never exceed 31 % protein. In addition the Stinging Nettle consists…See More
The meal
It is 7'oclock, I was late home from work due to an assignment that i wanted to get ahead on. By the time I get home I am feeling extremley tired and I cannot be bothered to make a proper meal. I walk to the fridge and open it to see what there is for me to eat. All of the out of date foodstuffs have been automaticaly thrown away by the fridge, they will be recycled tomorrow as animal feed or something. I see i have organic local eggs and some local cheese. Foods are vacc** sealded for easy…See More
Future
FutureToday is 2020/1/1. It is just like yesterday. The war is still continuing. It has started since 2010. In 2010, that year was a horrible year. Almost every energy ran out. Every country’s governments were crushed down at the same time. There were riots everywhere. All of the big company’s bosses were killed xdeadx in the riots. Troops fought each other everywhere. Food was bought up xawayx at once. There were no more food supplies in any shops. The economy was all crushed down. All the…See More
public servants
The exchange works directly for state and public workers and servants. It gives them credit in exchange for the amount of public work they contribute to the community. The more constructive they are based off a base rate the more credit they recieve.
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