Arbor Day

Friday the 5th of September was Arbor Day and so around the world various events were being hosted to celebrate our trees. One such event took place at Johannesburg Zoo where thousands of schoolchildren gathered to hear speeches, explore the zoo and learn more about the world they live in.

Even though the event specifically focussed on trees Rhino SA was invited to have a stand and educate the schoolchildren about rhino poaching in South Africa. My sister and I went along to help Irene Huysamen and Emma-Rae Philipson in spreading the word about rhinos. In the four hours we were there we spoke to around a hundred children between the ages of 3 and 15. It was a very interesting experience for me as I’d never spoken to four year olds about rhinos before and as a result they helped me to be creative in my explanations.

I was honestly surprised at the questions and blank faces that I was greeted with by the older kids though it reminded me how important it was that we were giving up our time to spread the word. I was grateful that most of the children understood the importance of the issue and promised us that they would do what they could to stop rhino poaching.

After standing and speaking all morning Emma-Rae Philipson and I went to the rhino enclosure where we recorded our message that will be sent on the behalf of Rhino SA to the World Youth Rhino Summit next weekend. Hopefully our message will inspire many more people to join the fight against rhino poaching.

Spring!!

So today is the first of September and almost a whole month since I did my last blog post. I hope that everyone has had a relaxing few weeks and is ready to start off Spring with some great goals ahead. I certainly am, but if you haven't and you aren't into the Spring spirit yet then hopefully this pic will make you glad that Winter is officially over!!!

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As you already know I haven't been posting much recently but that's because I've been so busy dreaming up new, inspiring and interesting ideas for blog posts. So, I hope you all have a great Spring and I look forward to posting creative posts for you to read ;)

Here's a Spring riddle from http://www.2020site.org: 

How is the letter A like a Spring flower?

The answer will be revealed in my next Blog post but you can send me what you think the answer is and I'll tell you if it's right :p

Wicky-Whacky Cake

It's nearly holidays for some South Africans and even if you're not on holiday I still suggest that you try out this recipe when you have a spare moment. The cake is ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS and PERFECTLY MOIST :) It's really easy, I promise *winks*.

Recipe:
Ingredients:

750ml cake flour
20ml   baking powder
500ml sugar
5ml     bicarbonate of soda
18ml   cocoa
Pinch of salt
500ml boiling water
250ml oil
10ml   vanilla essence
50ml   white vinegar

Icing:
125g  margarine
375ml icing sugar (sifted)
15-30ml cocoa
Few drops of vanilla essence

Method:
Preheat oven to 180°C.
Spray a 27 x 39cm oven pan.
Sift all dry ingredients together in the pan.
Mix remaining ingredients in a jug and whisk together in pan using a fork.
Bang pan lightly to remove bubbles.
Bake for 20-30 minutes.
Cool in pan.
Ice and serve :)

(Recipe is from the Morningside Pre-Primary School's Cookbook 2004)

TOMORROW

A few months ago I read article after article about how drones were making children scared to look up at the sky. The SKY! How are they ever going to smile when they see a rainbow or appreciate the beauty of the sunrises and sunsets? All it is that I’m saying is that technology is supposed to benefit us. It’s not supposed to kill us. And yet as we all get more and more paranoid we invent cannons, bombs, guns, drones and missiles. Do we not realize that as soon as we do this we’re prompting our enemies to do the same?

Do we not understand that when we “defend ourselves” we may end up killing thousands of other people in the process? Every time when I sit down and start reading a newspaper (yes I do, do that sometimes) I can’t help but wonder why we think we are the cleverest animals out there. After all, monkeys may fight with each other sometimes but I’ve never heard of an ape that spent half of his life building a weapon that he could use just in case someone invaded his territory.

The problem with us humans is that we love ourselves too much. Don’t take my words out of context, because we are meant to love ourselves, however, I do not believe that we were brought into this world simply to kill anyone who tries to hurt us. You see, if we did this then we would never let our guard down. We’d never be able to make friends and in the end only a handful of distrusting people would be left on this earth. So, even though our first instinct is to make sure that we don’t get hurt (which may mean that we have to injure someone else to ensure this doesn’t happen) I hope that the future generation, my generation, will possess the self-control to realize that the easiest option may not be the best option. And as a result, I hope we will be able to walk away from the walls that we are building to keep everyone out. Also to be prepared to lend a hand to anyone who needs it, even though there may be a possibility that we could get hurt in the process. After all, it’s our job to be the leaders of tomorrow, to be even better (if that’s possible) than the ones of today.

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5 Pictures I think we all need to save

FROZEN!

This week I have had the privilege of looking after little girls at my Church’s Holiday Club. It was an amazing but challenging experience that I thoroughly enjoyed. Though I have to say I listened to “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” (from Frozen) at least twenty-three times, and I’m not even exaggerating. Yet, as the children asked me to play the song over and over again I started wondering why they loved it and the movie (that I also love) so much. 

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So, why is Frozen such a great Disney movie?

1. It is one of the first animated, kids’ movies that teaches its viewers that they don’t need men to rescue them. This may seem like an arbitrary thing but it is actually very important especially in a society where women and girls are still fighting to be seen as equals to men.

2. The songs. I just have to say that the songs from Frozen were so catchy that the five, six, seven and eight year olds I was looking after were almost always humming one of their tunes. If I had to pick a favourite song I think I would pick “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” even after I’ve heard it so many times I could probably sing it backwards.

3. The animation in this movie was so exceptional that the characters look just like humans. That in the funny characters like Olaf made this film even more memorable.

4. The cool thing about this movie is that it has a plot-line that not only kids but most parents also enjoy.

If you haven’t watched this movie yet I really suggest you do because well if you don’t you will seriously be missing out.

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TV Time

Yesterday evening I had a brilliant idea for a blog post but on the way to my room I saw the flickering lights of someone watching television. Deciding to take a slight detour I entered the Study and saw my sister grinning as she watched our favourite show. "Just one show" I promised myself. Unfortunately, after that show another one of my favourites was on so I watched that one too, and then the next one.

By the time I managed to drag myself off of the couch I’d seen three shows and I didn’t even remember what I wanted to write about. So, when I finally reached my room and sat down in front of the computer I stared blankly at the screen. I tried and tried to remember but the idea was gone.

However, even after I'd given up trying to remember my idea, I still didn’t hate the fact that I’d watched TV. I didn’t hate the shows that absorbed me or the characters that made me laugh so hard I didn’t notice that my idea was disappearing from my mind. In fact, I was grateful for that temptation that made me sit down because I knew that I was now going to have to be strong enough to resist it, so in the future I would be able to get up after the first show and carry on with what I was doing.

You see, watching TV when you unwind is not a bad thing, nor is lying on the couch and watching movies when you’re feeling sick or viewing your favourite show at 18h30 every night is also okay. It’s just when you spend every minute of every day chilling in front of the television that a problem starts to develop. This is because you start to become a couch potato. You no longer feel like doing homework, chores or even going for a walk outside. In extreme cases you could suffer from depression, obesity and other such problems.

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So, in order to prevent this from happening I’ve thought of a few suggestions and I challenge all of you (and myself) to watch less TV this week by following these steps.

1. Pick a few shows you love to watch and try to only watch these shows. If your show isn’t on yet why don’t you turn of the TV and read until it comes on.

2. Limit yourself to one movie a day for most days (with some exceptions of course *winks*)

3. Try to watch at least two educational shows in one week.


Reading through this post again I’ve realised that it sounds like I don’t enjoy watching TV, which isn’t true. I think this invention can be entertaining as well as beneficial as it educates us, helps us to relax and encourages us to laugh thus getting rid of the day’s tension. Without it, watching our favourite sports wouldn’t be as easy and it would be harder to cheer on our teams.

As you can see I do love watching TV but like many things I believe you should moderate yourself in order to stay healthy and happy.