Calum James Wright's Blog – May 2010 Archive (13)

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

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!

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

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

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

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…

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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

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

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

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

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…

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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…

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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