Can we make it to 1000 Likes by New Years?

It's new year's eve and we have 699 'likes' to help save the rhino in 2012. Help us help them by clicking Like on African Safari Consultants Page - they are donating $1 for every "Like"! and will double their donation if they reach 1000 Likes before 1 January!

1 Like 1 $ campaign gains ground

Wow! We're really feeling the love through the 1 Like 1$ Campaign. Thanks everyone for your incredible support. Please pass on the message to your friends to "Like" African Safari Consultants' page to help raise money for the Wilderness Foundation's Forever Wild Rhino Protection initiative. http://www.facebook.com/SafariConsultants

1 Like 1 $ campaign

1 Like 1 $ campaign raising money to help the Wilderness Foundation #savetherhino! Pl 'like' http://mrkt.ms/tInNKc #rhino

 

Save the rhinos

Thanks to the massive support of the public, we've received 181 "Likes" in just 7 days... help us reach our 1000 goal & raise $$$ to save the rhinos! African Safari Consultants have promised $1 for every "Like" on their page during December. Spread the word: http://www.facebook.com/SafariConsultants

Umzi Wethu Hospitality Graduate excels at SA Chefs Academy

Thembelani Wiseman Gunya (22) in centre with is commemorative graduation plate celebrates his achievement with his mother Mabel Yiliwe Gunya and sister, Somikazi Sonia Gunya at the official SA Chefs Graduation ceremony.

A young Umzi Wethu graduate from Uitenhage, Eastern Cape, has excelled at the SA Chefs Academy in Cape Town. Thembelani Wiseman Gunya (22) was the second Umzi Wethu graduate to receive a grant for further education at the SA Chefs Academy, where he spent a year under the mentorship of some of the finest chefs in the country.
After graduating matric in 2007, doing particularly well in maths and science, Thembelani went on to study mechanical engineering at a college in Uitenhage. However, he was not passionate about the course and due to financial constraints he started looking for other opportunities for further education.
He heard about the Umzi Wethu programme through a friend and decided to apply for it, although he did not know much about it.

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Thank you to Pride of Table Mountain!

This message was sent by Sizwe Matoti who was a Pride of Table Mountain leader and some years ago. Sizwe then started a highly successful project, YEP Clan – Youth Empower Project (http://www.yepclan.org/).

Viva to Pride of Table Mountain, may you guys further what you give the youth of Cape Town and South Africa at large.
YEP Clan extends its gratitude for the opportunity that Pride has offered to the youth that we've worked with collaboratively in 2011.
Nature plays a crucial role in our lives and Pride is just one of those opportunities available for us to connect with it. In 2012 I further wish and hope that we could extend the impact and touch more young peoples live through exposing them to what Pride offers.
YEP Clan is proud and grateful to have a partner like Pride that is pivotal in its focus in developing young people and equipping them with relevant skills that would make that better people that can contribute to our society.

-    Sizwe Matoti

Your ‘Like’ could help save a rhino’s life

Rhinos in the wild could be extinct within the next decade if poaching is not brought to a stop. African Safari Consultants recently approached the Wilderness Foundation, offering a donation of 1 US dollar for each ‘Like’ on their Facebook page until the end of December. African Safari Consultants have seen much success with previous 1 Like 1 Dollar campaigns and hopes that the public will show their support for this one.
“If we reach our target of 1000 “Likes”, we will double the donation!” says Cameron Duncan, African Safari Consultants’ social media guru. The team at African Safari Consultants is passionate about the preservation of Africa and its wildlife, and understands the link between a country’s natural heritage and its tourism potential. “The rhino is one of the Big 5 – one of the animals that tourists most want to see roaming in the wild,” says Duncan. “We cannot sit back and allow this majestic animal to become extinct.”

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With COP17 highlighting the vulnerability of the environment, and the need to conserve our planet, the Wilderness Foundation has put together a team dedicated to poaching prevention.
“The Wilderness Foundation launched the Forever Wild – Rhino Protection Initiative in May, 2011,” says Wilderness Foundation director, Andrew Muir. “The Campaign aims save the rhino from extinction in the wild. As an organisation, the Wilderness Foundation is involved in rhino protection activities on two main levels – fund raising and advocacy.”
As an international organisation, the Wilderness Foundation is using its leverage to access some of the highest governmental authorities in order to raise awareness of poaching in South Africa. Director, Andrew Muir will be delivering a petition to US congress in January 2012 to bring the situation to the attention of international governments.
“We are also involved in a number of anti-poaching initiatives throughout the country, and are dedicated to supporting conservation agencies and private game reserves in their efforts to protect their rhino populations,” says Muir.
To participate in the 1 Like 1 Dollar campaign, and help raise funds for the Wilderness Foundation’s Forever Wild programme, go to: www.facebook.com/SafariConsultants and click “Like”.

Ellen and the Crawlers visit Umzi!

Ellen describes herself as “an American expat planning to visit every coffee shop in and around my new city of residence, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.”
She invites friends and ‘friends of friends’ and blog readers to join her for a cuppa and conversation at a different venue each week.
The Wilderness Foundation was lucky enough to host Ellen and her ‘Crawlers’ at Conyngham's Coffee Shop, located at the Ray Mhlaba Training Centre on Conyngham Street, Glendinningvale.
Conyngham’s is one of the training venues that the Wilderness Foundation uses for its Umzi Wethu hospitality skills programme.

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Alternative Energy - Saviours or Environmental Disasters?

Are you in Durban for COP17/CMP7? Why not check out the talk by Andrew Muir, director of the Wilderness Foundation and Jonathan Deal, chairman of Treasure Karoo Action Group (TKAG) taking place at the Alternative Energy Fresh Thinking Forum.
Some of the issues discussed will include the way forward for renewable energy, the impact of green products, the technology of fracking and its potential implications for SA.

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