Defrosting toes and updating software

The weather keeps getting warmer and I feel like my toes are finally defrosting. The plum tree is flowering, there's a lot of green in the front garden and the plants I potted last week still look healthy.

This morning was hectic - I finished an urgent project from a client, finished another client report and emailed and invoiced for them both.

I also booked a stand at the local Spring Fair taking place next week Sunday, where I'm going to sell books that I can't donate to schools due to subject matter. Convinced a friend to also take a stand. We must support the community forum running the fair.

Save me from software that automatically updates!

Had a bit of a problem with my Vodacom Internet connection though. Over 200MG of my data bundle in my main SIM card connection disappeared (some software was updated without my realising it?), so I put in the secondary one, which had about 22MG and some airtime. It was just enough for me to use my online banking facility to buy more bundles for my primary connection. I hadn't even finished the transaction when the system locked me out saying I didn't have sufficient airtime to be online.

I couldn't use my cellphone to buy the necessary airtime. So I phoned a friend who does and she bought me R12 airtime. Just enough to get online and sort out my connection problems, I thought. Weirdly, the airtime was gone less than a minute after I got online. I didn't even get the chance to log onto my bank!

I phoned Vodacom customer care to ask for help, but the consultant told me that I needed to phone them back in an hour because the transaction was not even reflecting on their system yet. WTF?

My saving grace was their Talking Points/usage reward system. I hardly ever claim them, so I asked if I can use them to buy over 100MG of data. Consultant said I had enough to buy a cellphone. But I think I'll keep the rest for emergencies such as these.

With that transaction done, I was back in business. But I was still feeling paranoid, so I bought a couple of Gigs, just to make sure that I have enough to work. I did worry though that whatever ate up my original data bundle would also chow my new reserves, but everything seems fine now.

Personalised Books For Children

I recently met Preni (online) who directed me to her web site, Fantasy Books, which I thought might be of interest to parents who visit this site.

Fantasy Books sell personalised books. “Our Mission at Fantasy Books is to offer Adults the opportunity to bring back reading into their homes and child’s lives by offering fun-filled/colourful/exiting stories where the child is the star of his/her own story,” she says.

The product list does, of course, include the usual fairytales that I’ve periodically ranted about – Three Little Pigs, Ballerina Princess, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast. But it also has the African version of Santa, and Ninja, who wants the kidlets to join him against an alien invasion.

Anyway, I know Christmas is still far off, but if you’re like me and don’t want to get stuck in the Christmas rush, you’re probably looking for ways to buy gifts for your loved ones ASAP.

Check out Fantasy Books – maybe you’ll find something your child will love.

Learning from storyteller Carmen Agra Deedy

I'd love to be able to tell a story with skill, passion and humour and that indefinable something, like Carmen Agra Deedy, an international author of children’s literature and a storyteller. To understand what I mean, watch this video of her presentation at a TED.



My thanks to online enterpreneur and blogger Ramon Thomas for showing me her video.

Yesterday I had tea with Ramon and Ross Rayners, a writer, producer, director and blogger with a very keen interest in the people of mixed race from Southern Africa.

Ross is developing a documentary, Beyond Identity, which is to be released in South African and worldwide in 2009.

Anyway, we discussed the plan to move my blog to a self-hosted site, and to use Wordpress as a platform. Ross very kindly walked me through the back-office of his blog, so I can get a clearer view of Wordpress tools.

Thanks guys, for going out of your to help make my blogging experience easier, enjoyable and much more productive.

My Pictorial Story of the Launch of the Biggest Library in Soweto

I was very impressed with the Jabavu Library, which was launched today amid a whole lot of fanfare.

The city of Johannesburg. partnered with the Vodacom Foundation and .the Department of Public Works to build and kit out of the R14 million facility, which is described as the biggest library in Soweto.

For more information about the Vodacom Foundation's participation read my article for ITWeb
I also wrote an article focusing on the connection to American tennis legend Arthur Ashe, who back in the 1970s financed the building of the tennis development centre on which the library is situated.

I submitted it to a Virginia daily newspaper, hoping they would be interested because Ashe is from that region, and stories about sporting legends are sort of timeless. If the paper doesn't bite, I guess I will have to consider other options.

But that is not ideal - I did the story on impulse because I already had the material, and want to finish with it as soon as possible.

Anyway, here are some of the pictures of the new library. As you can see there is a computer and Interner centre

and a children's wing where the little ones can pick up book and read/look at the pictures.

The organisers made sure that the press' tour of the library coincided with the traditional storytelling time.

I felt sorry for the kids in the audio-visual centre, who were unexpectedly mobbed by a horde of journalists with flashing cameras, bent on capturing that heart-tugging moment that invariably sells newspapers.

The kids didn't seem thrilled to be disturbed from whatever they were reading/listening to, so they could be asked questions. They certainly didn't play up to the cameras!

Though absent, Allan Knott-Craig, CEO of the Vodacom Group, SA's largest mobile phone company and a major sponsor of the children's library, insisted that actual books be handed over.

Despite his appreciation of what technology can achieve, he is not convinced that it can replace books in all the ways.

As matter of interest, I recently published a post on Mobile Life about a book that was developed specifically to be publsished on a mobile phone.

Please leave your comments about whether the mobile phone is a viable alternative to increase the scope of publishing in Africa.

In his keynote address, Johannesburg executive mayor Amos Masondo said the library will provide people with access to vast amounts of knowledge, and echoes eighth law on the freedom charter, which states that "all cultural treasures shall be open to all."

He also cautioned against "indiscrinmanate imbibement of information."

" The use of library requires ability of reader to read with discerning eye and critical mind," he said.

Get a Rape Kit From Rapewise To Help You Protect Your Children From Rape And Abuse

On Friday Baby’s school sent out a newsletter to raise awareness on rape. The school also suggests that interested parties buy an information kit developed by Rapewise, a non-profit organisation that deals with the subject and conducts education campaigns for government departments including the Department Of Health, Department of Education, Department of Safety and Security and Department of Social Services.

The kit costs R50 and covers:

• The Sexual Offences Act
• Rape and Child Abuse
• Sexual Abuse
• Paedophelia
• Depression
• Self Mutilation
• Teenage Suicide
• HIV
• Pornography
• Teenage Pregnancy
• Puberty
• Teenage Abortion

“A parent’s biggest role in protecting their children stems from being informed,” the newsletter from the school says.

It also cites some very disturbing statistics, including the fact that a woman or child is raped every seven seconds in SA. Six children are murdered everyday and 460 000 children abused every year.

I looked online and couldn’t find the web site for Rapewise, which was a bit disappointing, because I would have linked to direct you there. But you can contact the organisation by emailing john@rapewise.co.za

Miss Behave is at The Zone in Rosebank

Camille Lagarrigue, author and illustrator of the Miss Behave books is taking part in the Exclusive Books Children's Festival. Today she's doing a book signing at The Zone in Risebank, starting at 10am.

If you missed today's signing, don't worry. She's also at Monte Casino on Saturday 15th March and Maponya Mall on Saturday 29th March (at 10:00am for both sessions)

Baby loves Camille's books, and she thinks the author herself is cool. So if you can, take pop in with your kids at these bookshops to listen to the stories and say hello if you can. Your kids will thank you.

Reading out loud

Tomorrow morning Baby is taking part in a school arts programme as narrator of her class play. She was thrilled to land the role, which she had to audition for. She even started mumbling about a career in the arts, but I suspect something else will soon grab her attention. Or she’ll go back to wanting to be an accountant. That's what she wanted to do for years after finding out that there were people whose job is to “count money.”

Baby is also taking Zulu and Afrikaans as language subjects, so we’re doing a lot of out-loud reading in those languages. Most days she reads for me while I prepare supper/breakfast.

It’s easier for me to help her with Afrikaans, which I did in high school. I thought I’d forgotten a lot of it. I never had to communicate with anyone in that language after high school (more than 20 years ago), but turns out the little that I know/hear stuck enough to be useful to her.

I’m completely useless when it comes to Zulu though, so we’re learning together on that one. Thankfully, my cottage tenant is Zulu, so Baby can walk over to ask her for help when we get stuck.

We’re also going to try to read as many Zulu readers as we can get hold of, so we can read and practice with them.

Book Review: Handa O Gakgametse (Handa's Surprise)

Handa O Gakgametse
Originally uploaded by damariasenne

Author: Eileen Walker
First Published by: Walker Books, 2004
Reissued by: Giraffe Books, Pan Macmillan South Africa
Published: 2004
ISBN: 1-92001608-2
Availability:Pan Macmillan at www.panmacmillan.co.za or Amazon.co.uk

A couple of months ago Baby and I read Handa o Gakgametse by Eileen Brown but I never did post our review of the book here.

Handa o Gakgametse is the Setswana version of Handa’s Surprise, republished by Giraffe Books. It is the story of a little girl who decided to take a basket of fruit to her friend Akeyo, who lives in another village nearby.

The artwork is beautiful, with the fruit enticingly colourful. Using the pictures, you can teach your child about the varieties of fruit, and explore the different colours of fruit.

The book also introduces a number of wild animals and birds, as well as what they eat.

Baby and I however enjoyed the humour in the book the most, especially the suprise ending.

I also liked the fact that we could read this book in Setswana. It gave me the opportunity to drill Baby on colours, wildlife and fruit names in our language.

There's also a slight difference in the Setswana edition when compared to the English edition.

In Setswana, Handa o Gakgametse means Handa is Surprised, not Handa's Suprise ( as is the original title) and that brought an interesting angle to the story.

The Golden Compass, starring Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig and Dakota Blue Richardson : A Review

A couple of days before I was to see the premier of The Golden Compass, a friend forwarded me an email urging me to boycott the movie because of its anti-God message targeted at children.

The Golden Compass is based on a book called Northern Lights (also called The Golden Compass in the United States) by Phillip Pullman.

It tells the story tells of Lyra Belacqua, a girl who goes on a voyage to rescue her best friend and other children who have disappeared from her community.

The book is part of a series by Phillip Pullman set in a universe where people’s spirits, called daemons, manifest as animals and walk alongside them.

I had already seen the media coverage where many religious groups slammed the movie and its associated books. One report also cited Pullman as saying he wanted to “kill God.”

Despite being a self-confessed Christian, I attended the premier. I went because I like fantasy and The Golden Compass sounded interesting. I also wanted to see if the movie did indeed bash God, or if it was the same hysteria that accompanied Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Harry Potter movies, among others.

The Review

Caveat: I’m not a professional reviewer or expert in the arts, and attended the premier courtesy of pan-African mobile provider MTN

That said, I’m a huge fan of fantasy, and have lately been reading a lot of books populated by demons (they seem to be fashionable in literature lately). So I expected an epic fantasy tale that would be a visual feast for me, and maybe later, my daughter. Sadly the movie was very disappointing.

l could find nothing wrong with the actors’ performance. Daniel Craig is convincing as Lord Asriel and I really wanted to know more on his storyline, but the director kept it very short. Clearly it was an introduction, with more details provided in the next movie.

Nicole Kidman does the stunning but sinister Marisa Coulter very well, but somehow, the character was not rounded enough for me to root against her. Or is that I didn’t love central character Lyra, played by Dakota Blue Richardson and so didn’t much care if she lost against Coulter?

The movie does not fully show Lyra as a proactive character who sets out to do things. It’s more that things happen to her and she gets swept along with the tide of grown-ups concerned about the issue. Pretty shabby, I think, for a heroine…

As to the overall structure of the movie, it felt like an introduction of a major epic, rather than a self-contained movie. Yes, I understand that it’s part of a series, but each movie should stand alone even while driving towards the next installment. Lord of the Rings did that incredibly well.

So no, I would not recommend that Baby watch The Golden Compass. Her R20 would be better spent on another movie.

However, the premier itself was a very classy, well-organised event. I met some very interesting people and watched quite a few local stars as they went about the evening, The food was also great and the drinks were endless. It was a really memorable evening.

Guest Post:Miss Behave Has Reading At An Edenvale Library

Next week Camille Lagarrigue, author of the Miss Behave books will visit the Ricardo Mülder Community Library in Edenvale as part of their holiday programme.

The event will be the first public reading of her second book, Miss Behave and the Sacred Cats of Ancient Egypt.

Children will also have the opportunity to ask Camille all the questions they have about Miss Behave.

There will also be a colouring-in competition and quiz with prizes, not to mention the chance to meet other Miss Behave fans.

Date: 5 December 2007
Time: 10h00 – 11h30
Venue: Activity Room, Ricardo Mülder Library
Van Riebeeck Avenue, opposite Checkers
Edenvale


Please email Miss Behave if you have any queries about the event. If you plan on coming please let us know as soon as possible. We’d love to see you there.

Lots of love
Bart and Blade

Miss Behave and the Sacred Cats of Ancient Egypt is out!

I just received a note from Camille Lagarrigue, author of the "Miss Behave... " series. She says:

Hooray! Miss Behave and the Sacred Cats of Ancient Egypt is finally here!

If you would like to get your paws on a signed copy please let her know. You can order a copy directly from her at R95. The book will also be available through local bookstores (Exclusive Books), but I'm not sure when.

Congragratulations, Camille!

Read my interview with Camille here, where we discuss her writing processes, why she chose self-publishing and how she published her books.

“What township children are reading: a case study

I can't wait for the next SCWBI event in Johannesburg! The programme is primarily about books - What township kids are reading, the Exclusive Books IBBY SA awards, and Exclusive Books' Christmas Reading Lists.

If you'd like to attend, please comtact Jenny Hatton via e-mail – bookings@SCBWI.za.org by 17 November at the latest. The event takes place at the Theo van Wijk Building, Room 8-46, at the University of South Africa in Pretoria.

Programme

10:00: Welcome – Jenny Hatton

10:15: “What township children are reading: a case study” – Nicoline Wessels and Hannalie Knoetze

Description: Nicoline Wessels and Hannalie Knoetze will discuss the research they have done in three schools regarding the type of books that under-privileged children are reading.

11:30: Tea

11:40: Exclusive Books IBBY SA Awards – Penny Hochfeld

Description: Discussion of how the Exclusive Books IBBY SA Award was awarded jointly to:
- The Cool Nguni (written by Maryanne Bester, illustrated by Shayle Bester, published by Jacana Media);

- Fynbosfeetjies (written by Antjie Krog, illustrated by Fiona Moodie, published by Umuzi) ;

- Ouma Ruby’s Secret (written by Chris van Wyk, illustrated by Anneliese Voigt-Peters, published by Giraffe Books Pan Macmillan);

- UTshepo mde / Tall enough (written by Mhlobo Jadezweni, illustrated by Hannah Morris, published by Electric Book Works)

- and Zanzibar Road (written and illustrated by Niki Daly, published in English by Pan Macmillan and in Afrikaans by LAPA Uitgewers).

Penny will also briefly discuss Exclusive Books’ Christmas Reading Lists and how children’s books are marketed.

12:30: General discussion

13:00: A light lunch will be served.

Watching Gcina Mhlope Tell A Story

I first saw Gcina Mhlope, well-known South African poet, playwright; performer and author of children's books, tell a story over 15 years ago. She was a guest of the Mmabana Cultural Centre in Mafikeng, presenting at a writing workshop.

I was just out of university, eager to learn the craft of writing so I could become a rich and famous author and not have to follow a career in the sciences. [Clearly, lessons related to that goal didn’t stick, but I live in hope.]

I don’t even remember the story she told at the beginning of her session, or what advice she gave about the writing craft. But I do remember her powerful voice and the easy confidence with which she paced in front of her audience. I also remember thinking: “I’ll never be able to tell a story like that.”

Isn’t it strange how you can remember a seemingly useless piece of information rather that the stuff that really matters?

Anyway, I recently watched her perform at the launch of Tata Consultancy Services’s South Africa operations in Johannesburg.

TCS is a global, multi-billion dollar ICT consulting company originating from India. They’ve operated in SA for twelve years now, but with a local partner. For the first time they’ll have direct presence in SA, and many of the people at the launch were happy about the collaboration possibilities.

Gcina’s story was about communities becoming stronger when they collaborate. As usual, her performance was powerful, with one speaker commending her for bringing images of Africa to life. Predictably, I sat there thinking: “I’ll never be able to tell a story like that.”

The difference now is that I know I don’t have to tell a story like that. Becoming a writer is not about mimicking those who have come before us.

It’s about learning from them and using those lessons to bring out our own creativity and originality.

Sometimes that's hard to remember, especially when the writing is not going well/your stories are not as popular as you'd like.

But imagine if we all sang the same song, to the same tune, in soprano. No variation, no difference in tone. Wouldn't that be boring?

Q & A with Janet Grace Riehl on “The Culture of African Story” Part 2

I first met Janet Grace Riehl, of Riehl Life, when we both took part in the Lieurance-King Article Challenge in August/September.

Janet is an award-winning author, artist, performer, and creativity coach. Her poems, stories, and essays have been widely published in national literary magazines such as “Harvard Review” and the anthologies “Stories to Live By: Wisdom to Help You Make the Most of Every Day” and “Hot Flashes 2″. Read more about Janet on the first part of my interview with her here.

Janet, what do you love about Africa and its stories?

I feel Africa is truly the Mother of humankind, and certainly archeological findings bear this out. In Africa I felt embraced by that Mothering energy.

Never in my life have I been so enfolded, nurtured, watched over, looked after, cared for…and just flat out enjoyed for being who I am. Africa is a continent, not a country, of course, but I felt this no matter where I went.

Stories ease difficult and painful situations. In Botswana I remember storytelling told around a campfire under a sky full of piercing stars a night our truck broke down in the bush between Francestown and Maun.

In Ghana I remember stories told in crammed to the brim Mammy Wagons that might plunge us into an accident around the next corner. But, in either of these situations if we would have come into danger, we would have faced it as friends, not as strangers, and this would have been through the power and grace of story.

Story is also the thread of celebration and the thread of knowing. During Peace Corps training I went to a village no outsiders had ever lived in. We were mutually curious about one another and expressed this through Story. I collected their stories and they created stories and song commemorating my visit.

Why are stories worth telling to our children?

Stories in any language and culture are always worth passing on. Africa has a strong oral history, of course, and you could probably speak to the impact of technology on her oral history tradition.

Because, by definition Story requires time, and time together, as well as the willingness to pass on a tradition and use our imagination. It’s good to have stories of your family and your people to provide a sense of continuity between generations…a thread of time and life moving across place.

I have a shelf filled with books from and about Africa. Prominent among them are books of African folktales, which carry wisdom from the ancestors into the modern day.

What are your feelings about the popular stories told about Africa (“It’s dark, exotic, and war torn”) versus the stories you took home after you lived and worked here?

I am troubled by the popular perception in the USA of Africa as this place (only) of war-poverty-famine-tribal strife-AIDS crisis. Granted African nations and the African continent have huge difficulties and problems to continue resolving, but to balance all that I so want people to understand the warm beating heart of Africa which for me felt like the essence of being human…not primitive at all, but highly civilized and humane.

I am currently working on a longer piece of writing in which I hope to reveal some of what was born within me through the grace of my time in Africa.

Check out Janet Grace Riehl's "Sightlines - A Poet's Diary."

Q & A with Janet Grace Riehl on “The Culture of African Story” – Part 1

I first met Janet Grace Riehl, of Riehl Life, when we both took part in the Lieurance-King Article Challenge in August/September.

It turned out Janet, who is American, spent some time in Africa, including Botswana, and has a section on her blog dedicated to Africa.

I was honoured when she asked me as a guest blogger.

Janet is an award-winning author, artist, performer, and creativity coach. Her poems, stories, and essays have been widely published in national literary magazines such as “Harvard Review” and the anthologies “Stories to Live By: Wisdom to Help You Make the Most of Every Day” and “Hot Flashes 2″.


Janet, you spent five years living and working in Africa in the 1970s in both Botswana and Ghana. You also travelled throughout Western, Eastern, and Southern Africa. What impressions of the culture of the storytelling in Africa did you gather?

Story in Africa is sacred (thus my capitalization), and Story is interwoven in the daily fabric of life. Story is not just words in Africa; Story is told through baskets, fabric, dance, ritual, and relationship. A slight gesture of a body might reveal entire Story Worlds. I experienced an enormous depth and subtly in communication in every country I visited. Quite ordinary interactions became extraordinary. I recall a woman in the Accra market in Ghana breaking into a spontaneous dance with me as part of our Story Time together.

Initially, you taught English as a Second Language (ESL) and Literature in Secondary Schools through Peace Corps. What do you recall about how your students chose to tell their stories?

My Botswana students made beautiful drawings to go with stories they wrote to include in the school newspaper. They drew Story with ease and confidence because this was part of their early training at home.

Can you tell us a bit about the curriculum you taught and how you used storytelling as a teaching tool?

The curriculum I taught was a mix of English classics such as Shakespeare, Milton, and Chaucer combined with marvelous African books like China Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” and “The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born.”

I prepared students for two sets of examinations that pretty much determined their futures: “O” Levels, or Ordinary Levels (roughly the equivalent of late middle school in the USA) and “A” Levels or Advanced Levels (roughly the equivalent of a high school diploma or even first year of community college in the USA). My students did rather well.

In Botswana one of the books we studied was “Lambs Tales from Shakespeare.” I set my students the task of writing scripts for each of these tales and acting them out.

When one does this kind of analysis, the commonality between classic European literature and World Story comes into sharper relief.

I understand you went to Botswana as an independent volunteer after your Peace Corps tour ended in secondary schools and became involved in three projects.

With the villagers in Gabane you set up Tshwaragano Craft Center, became Puppetry Consultant for a Popular Culture Team, and wrote stories and lesson plans of a literacy curriculum. What did you learn about Story through working on these projects?

Story is the life force that moves brain, heart, and limbs forward. I became Puppetry Consultant simply because I picked up a puppet in the back of a pick-up truck, started wiggling its arms around and giving it a voice and lines to speak. In the Popular Theater work we built on the Brazilian educator Paulo Freire's Critical Theory.

Community Development workers brainstormed critical issues and then we built stories around these, performed in drama, dance, song, and puppetry. We stopped at the high point of the action to ask the audience: “What would you do now?” these discussions led to common work projects in the village. We did something similar in the literacy curriculum we designed and had illustrated.

I was so impressed by the results I’d seen in the other two projects that I started using puppetry performances at Tshwaragano to work out critical incidents and stimulate discussion of tricky situations any new venture encounters, like “Whose turn is it to sweep the floor today?”

Teach your children about their heritage

There’s no doubt that today and the future is what matters, not the old moldy past that we can't even change. But it's also important to know where you and your family come from, so you can learn from previous accomplishments and avoid repeating the mistakes of your ancestors. As George Santayana said, those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Circumstances, such as your child's school project, may force your child to research his / her how culture and heritage. Here are a few tips to help your child research his culture and heritage:

A. Use the Internet to research your cultural practices and the accomplishments of your people:

1. Find interesting cultural about your people. These little nuggets are what will make the subject interesting enough for your kids to keep up the research.

2. Look up burial practices, wedding ceremony, births and deaths, food, art, dance, music within that culture.

3. Find online images that depict the different aspects of life of your people.

4. Identify a few unsung heroes, and research their biographies.

B. Use personal/family history

5. Chat to the older generation in your family about your most memorable ancestors-Focus particularly on those who achieved something remarkable/ were notorious, conducted feuds or formed strange alliances.

6. Tell your child stories of your town/city/country - not the popular stories that are already in the public space, but the little known facts that make a place and people even more fascinating.

7. Tell your child stories of your own childhood- The people you met, the places you went to, the things you did that show her a different aspect of you.

8. Read family journals.

C. Prepare traditional meals

9. For many young people the world over, food=burger with fries and a fizzy or juice, or pizza. But that particular diet, or even the healthy one recommended by the surgeon general, is not necessarily the traditional meal of old.

Why not spend a day researching traditional meals and cook something unique. It doesn't matter if your kids decide they don’t like it. They will at least know what the food is and how it’s cooked.

D. Take an interest in the arts

10. Take lessons - Learn how to play a traditional instrument or to do a traditional dance.

11. Visit an art gallery or museum and look at some of the artwork related to your culture. Take some lessons to try it out.

12. Read a book set in some historic time of that culture.

Setswana culture is over 1000 years old

Baby and I are doing research on Setswana culture. It’s part of her school project for the month, as it’s Heritage Month.

She’s thrilled to discover some interesting bits of old culture about the Batswana people. “Our culture is over a 1000 years old!” she exclaimed, putting up a hand for a high-five.

I think it's going to be a very interesting journey for both of us, because there's so much for her to learn.

Today, she found out that Batswana folded the arms and legs of a dead person in a squatting position and are buried that way ( see pic on the side).

I also introduced her to Sol Plaatjie (1876-1932) - journalist, editor, linguist ( translated the Bible into Setswana), first general secretary of the ANC. He founded at least 3 African language newspapers. "

LG adopts Nomthandazo Children's Home

LG Electronics SA has adopted Nomthandazo Children's Home in Benoni, near Johannesburg. The company says it will officially open the LG Nomthandazo Children's Home tomorrow as part of its women's day celebrations.

LG has donated products to the value of R60 000 and a cash R10 000 towards the revamping of this home. This project is being supported by some of our local actors, celebrities and musicians.

As part of Women's Day Celebrations, LG Electronics staff members will visit the home and assist with the following:

* General Maintenance of the property
* Gardening
* Food preparation
* Children’s entertainment:
* Face painting
* Story Telling
* Playing with the Kids
* Erecting jungle-gyms

Channel O Radio will broadcast live from the home.

Stories from Papi: A story a week

Papi (Jorge) has set himself the target of writing one story a week.

I’m going to put a link to his blog, under Resources for Parents, so you can easily find him when looking for a new story to tell your kids.

Go Jorge! I hope he reaches his target of 50 stories in one year.

Recycling old posts: online resources for storytelling and parenting

I have a 40th birthday coming up next month. As you can imagine, it’s a moment that lends itself to introspection about the life and the paths not taken.

I decided some years ago not to make New Year or birthday resolutions, so I’m not feeling like I didn’t achieve set targets or anything.

In general, I'm pretty happy with my life: the choices made and professional goals achived. I don't regret the paths not taken.

To remind myself of where I come from, I decided to check my blog archives for this time last year:

- In June last year, I landed an agent. He got me a nice deal performing my children's stories at a festival, but he hasn't sold anything. When I didnt hear from him for months, I emailed him for an update. He didn't reply to two emails, so I assumed he decided we weren't a good fit afterall.

Note to self: phone agent and find out if assumption is correct.

- I quit blogging, and wrote an essay explaining my decision. But a friend encouraged me to try again.

RESOURCES FOR PARENTS AND STORYTELLERS

I decided to look through my blog archives to find posts you likely haven't seen, but which have resources you would find useful. Here we go:

Tips for storytelling and other parenting resources

Some bed-time reading