This Week's Meeting is at Marks Park
We are trying out the venue. You should have booked with Steve du Plessis before hand as they need to know numbers on Monday. Urgently phone him on 082 893 4211 if you have forgotten!Marks Park also houses the Welsh Male Voice Choir and the Swingtones Big Band!
Marks Park is in Judith Rd Emmerentia..........the Auckland Park end of Emmerentai so it is quite close to where we normally meet.
Last Week
One of our own Rotarians, Pat Richards, who has also been a City Councillor spoke to us about Street Children and in particular what she had been trying to do in her ward for many years. It was interesting and was followed by a lively discussion as several members also have an involvement and knowledge of the problem.This Week
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| Joanne Bender |
As long ago as 1979, Dr Steven Black realised the potential for the Junior Achievement programmes, launched in 1920 in the United States, to make a positive contribution to economic and social transformation in South Africa. With the help and guidance of business advisors - volunteers from funding companies - young people from both the previously white only areas and the townships were brought together to learn business and entrepreneurial skills through practical, experiential programmes.
Since then, Junior Achievement South Africa has been providing these essential skills to young people of all ages, across the country, in both rural and urban environments. Children as young as 8 years of age are exposed to entrepreneurial and business activities in a fun and interactive manner. The core programme is one for young people from the ages of 16 to 25, where under the guidance of highly trained facilitators, participants are introduced to key business concepts before launching a small business of their own.
Through the years and some very turbulent times in the history of the country, Junior Achievement South Africa has never ceased to offer young people an alternative to formal employment through the transference of practical business and entrepreneurial skills. A founding Trustee recalls an awards evening in the mid-1980's where a young lady indicated that the JASA programme was the only education she had received that year as schools had remained closed during a particularly difficult time in our history.
Since then, Junior Achievement South Africa has been providing these essential skills to young people of all ages, across the country, in both rural and urban environments. Children as young as 8 years of age are exposed to entrepreneurial and business activities in a fun and interactive manner. The core programme is one for young people from the ages of 16 to 25, where under the guidance of highly trained facilitators, participants are introduced to key business concepts before launching a small business of their own.
Through the years and some very turbulent times in the history of the country, Junior Achievement South Africa has never ceased to offer young people an alternative to formal employment through the transference of practical business and entrepreneurial skills. A founding Trustee recalls an awards evening in the mid-1980's where a young lady indicated that the JASA programme was the only education she had received that year as schools had remained closed during a particularly difficult time in our history.
"...the work of JASA has been a blessing for South Africa, to champion an institutional and systematic shift towards entrepreneurship in order to create the capacity necessary to both absorb those who cannot be accommodated in traditional employment and at the same time making a valuable contribution towards South Africa's competitiveness."
Wendy Luhabe: Patron: Junior Achievement South Africa
Wendy Luhabe: Patron: Junior Achievement South Africa
South Africa Today
Youth unemployment in South Africa is one of the highest in the world. It is estimated that approximately 40% of all young people under the age of 30 are unemployed. (Quarterly Labour Force Survey for the third quarter of 2010 published by Statistics South Africa.)
Although entrepreneurial activity is considered to be an important mechanism to address this massive challenge of youth unemployment, the current South African school curriculum does not provide for practical skills development in the understanding and management of economics, business, entrepreneurship and personal finances, leaving little scope for school leavers to shape a future for themselves through the establishment of a business.
"Although entrepreneurship is meant to form part of the secondary school curriculum, it is taught neither widely nor effectively enough - a situation which must be addressed as entrepreneurial education and training is one factor that has been shown to have a significant impact on entrepreneurial attitudes and aspirations. This can be addressed by improving the training in business skills offered at school level….." (Tracking Entrepreneurship in South Africa: A GEM Perspective (Herrington,M.; Kew,J.; Kew,P.))
For the past 32 years, Junior Achievement South Africa, a non-governmental organisation support by Junior Achievement Worldwide, has been providing these essential business and entrepreneurial skills to young people of all ages, across the country, in both rural and urban environments. Children as young as 10 years of age are exposed to entrepreneurial and business activities in a fun and interactive manner. The core programme is one for young people between the ages of 16 to 25, where under the guidance of highly trained facilitators, participants are introduced to key business concepts, after which they launch and manage a real small business.
"Although entrepreneurship is meant to form part of the secondary school curriculum, it is taught neither widely nor effectively enough - a situation which must be addressed as entrepreneurial education and training is one factor that has been shown to have a significant impact on entrepreneurial attitudes and aspirations. This can be addressed by improving the training in business skills offered at school level….." (Tracking Entrepreneurship in South Africa: A GEM Perspective (Herrington,M.; Kew,J.; Kew,P.))
For the past 32 years, Junior Achievement South Africa, a non-governmental organisation support by Junior Achievement Worldwide, has been providing these essential business and entrepreneurial skills to young people of all ages, across the country, in both rural and urban environments. Children as young as 10 years of age are exposed to entrepreneurial and business activities in a fun and interactive manner. The core programme is one for young people between the ages of 16 to 25, where under the guidance of highly trained facilitators, participants are introduced to key business concepts, after which they launch and manage a real small business.
Former Rotary Youth Exchange student designs a backpack bed for the homeless
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Top: Tony and his wife Lisa with the Backpack Bed they designed. Bottom: The bed has won four global product design awards. Photos courtesy of Tony Clark
Rotary International on Facebook
During Australia’s colder months, emergency shelters often fill to capacity. Many homeless people searching for a warm bed are turned away, handed a piece of cardboard and a blanket for the night.
Tony Clark, an IT entrepreneur, 1992 Rotary Youth Exchangestudent, and the founder of the Melbourne-based nonprofit Swags for Homeless, offers an alternative.
In the past year, his organization has distributed more than 3,000 swags, or portable sleeping units, to charities and shelters throughout Australia, New Zealand, Germany, and the United Kingdom. The Backpack Beds, which Clark and his wife, Lisa, designed, are made of a lightweight fabric and have a built-in, 6-foot foam mattress and mosquito netting. But most important, they offer warmth with their waterproof, windproof design. The entire assembly weighs only 6.5 pounds and rolls into a backpack.
Clark was inspired to start the nonprofit when he questioned why so many shelters didn’t provide homeless people with proper outdoor bedding. He immediately began working on designs for the versatile bed.
“I thought to myself, ‘How would I like to be treated if I slept on the street?’” Clark says. “Homeless people suffering from frostbite, hypothermia, and trench foot are common in wealthy countries. A Backpack Bed is an interim crisis measure – one that can save the lives of those without shelter.”
The bed, which can be purchased with a A$68 donation, has won four international honors, including the Australian International Design Award and the German Red Dot “Best of the Best” award – one of the most prestigious accolades in the product design world.
The innovative beds offer more than physical comfort, say those who have used them – they also provide a renewed sense of dignity.
“Until people are faced with living on the streets, they have no idea of what is involved. Just getting a shower, finding a toilet, or trying to wash clothes becomes a big event,” says Matt, a young homeless man in Australia. “This is the third time I have been on the streets, and previously I didn’t even have a blanket. Tony Clark and his organization change the lives of people like me.”
The success of Swags for Homeless throughout Australia and Europe has encouraged Clark to bring his Backpack Beds to the United States. Rotary clubs in District 9800, which includes Melbourne, funded and transported 100 beds to Baltimore and parts of New Jersey and New York to help the region’s homeless and those displaced by Hurricane Sandy. District 7500 (New Jersey) worked with Australian Rotarians to coordinate the effort. Swags for Homeless also donated 60 beds for distribution in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles.
“We knew we had to take this idea and spread its success to other countries and help save others,” Clark says. “Thanks to Rotary, this is an important moment: It will be the first time Backpack Beds will be distributed to street-sleeping homeless and disaster victims in the USA.”
