The Soapbox | Where South Africans Speak Out

BY MICHAEL MULCAHY

South Africa, 2009. JZ is president, GodZille is the premier of the Western Cape. We have our very own Ponzi scheme and a World Cup to put on.

The glass is very clearly half…ja, Well no, you know… in some sort of dynamic equilibrium. Not having the ability to solve for the x-factor and work out equilibrium, I have decided to keep filling the South African glass, and maybe one day our cup will runneth over.

Rather than make this a rant about apathy and indifference, I’ll give you an alternative… Do something.

On the 1st of July, go to www.doitday.co.za, and volunteer for Do It Day (18th September). All it costs is your time; there will be plenty of projects to choose from. You will find all the projects you expect, like building houses, veggie gardens etc, and a few bizarre ones like flapping elephant ears in Jo’burg zoo (apparently it calms them down while the vet does a check-up). This is a country wide initiative by GreaterGood SA, and the target is 20 000 Volunteers and 2 000 projects (all over SA). So that’s about 10 people per project. The materials (where needed) are paid for by corporate sponsors, so all you need to do is sign up and do it…

You still there? Excellent… most of the chaps are switching off as soon as some-one mentions charity or volunteering. But, if you haven’t done something like this before, rustle up a posse and sign up for a project. It will be something that you will be proud of, getting you hands, heart and head involved in helping and building South Africa.

You can do it…

Michael Mulcahy is a spokesperson for GreaterGood SA. Drop him a mail if you have any queries about Do It Day: michael@ggsa.co.za