Wednesday 28 May 2014

Please sign rhino petition!!

Richard Lee- Avaaz.org

  28.5.2014
to me
Dear friends across South Africa,


The Hluhluwe-iMfolozi park in South Africa is under threat. A coal mine may be built just 40 metres from the world's greatest rhino sanctuary! But South Africa has a brand new Mines Minister who does not want a scandal. Let's make this the first issue he has to tackle and stop the mine! Sign now:

SIGN THE PETITION
The world’s greatest rhino sanctuary is under threat. Plans are underway to build an open-cast coal mine just 40 metres from the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi park. Rangers fear it will destroy the wilderness and clear the way for poachers, who have butchered nearly 400 rhinos in South Africa this year alonebut we can stop it if we act now.

Conservationists, scientists and local communities all oppose the mine and are shocked that the government has allowed it to progress this far. But a new Mineral Resources Minister is starting this week, and if we all speak out we could make stopping this rhino threatening mine the first issue on his desk.

The Minister will want to win hearts when he first comes into office. Let’s make this mine publicly toxic. Click to join the urgent call to save the rhinos, and then tell everyone. If we reach 100,000 signatures this week, Avaaz will welcome the new Minister to work with a herd of cardboard rhinos:
                                                                                                              http:/www.avaaz.org/en/rhinos

Hluhluwe-iMofolozi is the oldest natural park in Africa, credited with saving the white rhino from extinction. It is also one of South Africa’s greatest natural treasures - home to a wealth of wildlife and one of the last patches of true wilderness left in the country. And it could be destroyed by yet another coal mine, which would pollute the surrounding area and potentially poison the world famous iSimangaliso wetlands downstream.
The government has misjudged how much South Africans love this park -- and a broad coalition is leaping to its defense. Local communities and even the traditional owners of the land were kept in the dark and are some of the fiercest critics of the dirty development. Now they are fighting back. They do not want to be relocated to make way for a massive mine. 
They need our help to stop their homes and fields being bulldozed and blasted, and their communities uprooted.
We can help them to defend their rights, preserve the iMfolozi wilderness and protect its endangered rhinos. Together, we can show the government that South Africans value their remaining natural heritage far more than coal. Add your name now and we will create a storm around the new Minister
 that will force him to scrap this project and forbid any future mining within the buffer zone around the park.
http://www.avaaz.org/en/rhinos_worst_neighbour_sa_2/?bPuUgeb&v=40219

When Avaaz launched a campaign to stop the lion bone trade in South Africa -- we forced a landmark decision in South African court, enshrining free speech and fearlessly taking on the SA government. Now let’s bring the same people power to save a priceless patch of wilderness for future generations,
With hope and determination,
Richard, Emily, Sam, Alice, Rewan, Mais, Marigona and the whole Avaaz team
MORE INFORMATION
Proposed mine to despoil nature (The New Age)http://www.thenewage.co.za/125334-1007-53-Proposed_mine_to_despoil_nature

Untested new South Africa mines minister faces baptism of fire (Reuters)http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/26/safrica-cabinet-idUSL6N0OC2HQ20140526

Alarm over proposed mine produces 500 signatures (IoL Business Report)http://www.iol.co.za/business/companies/alarm-over-proposed-mine-produces-500-signatures-1.1682966#.U3GB-K2Sz1w

Tuesday 27 May 2014

My African jewellery on ww.etsy.com



                                       Hello, dear friends.

As I am getting on in life and have to settle for calmer pursuits, I started to fall back on my crafting days and embarked on a new Africa loving venture.
Taking as my inspiration the vivid colors, the bold patterns and the cheerfulness of the local people, as well as their traditions in making and wearing body adornments, I created a few pieces of "African" jewelry myself. People liked what they saw and I really and to me almost unbelievably got some orders. Being encouraged, I opened my own shop on www.etsy.com and would like you to have the opportunity to view my humble creations on my own blog platform as well.
My link to this shop in, what I call a respected global shopping mall for handcrafted items, the mall of Etsy is:

https:www.etsy.com/shop/africasuncrafts

Some of the products on my 'shelves' I herewith present to you and would really appreciate your feedback in any good old way.




......inspired by vibrant colours and patterns of ZULU tribes


In a short while there will be porcupine quill jewelry in my etsy shop!
Poor thing got under a car at the main road. This picture shows the 1st cleaning in process.



 mother of pearl, amazonite, aventurine, wood, free form wire        
                    wrapping technique, silver plated lizzard.


melted glass work by my sister Silja Horne

Please, my dear friends, be so kind as to share the link to my shop with your friends and families.
https://africasun/shop/etsy.com 
or
https:www.etsy.com/shop/africasuncrafts

Thank you for giving me your time once again,
if you are north of the equator keep cool, otherwise keep nice and warm......
Barbara

               Tanzanian Kikoys available in many sunshine colors
               170 x 90 cm, 100% cotton, hand fringed, multipurpose



Wednesday 21 May 2014

Baby baboon saved by father

Just want to share this sequence of events you would probably not see outside Africa.
Greetings,
Barbara

Photographer Evan Schiller and Lisa Holzwarth were on a game drive in the northern Botswana's Selinda area when they came across a big troop of baboons charging through the bush.
"30-40 baboons were heading in our general direction making a lot of noise," Lisa recalls.
The baboons were obviously frightened by something and they all scampered up trees, shouting, alarming, and making a big scene. It quickly became clear what the problem was: two large lionesses came out of the tall grass and rushed the baboons into the trees, soon joined by two more lionesses.
"Between the baboons shrieking and the lionesses communicating with deep guttural roars, it was a mad scene," Lisa says.
But then the real chaos began! One brave baboon descended the dead tree and tried to make a run for it. but got snapped up in the jaws of a lioness.
The lioness grabbed a female baboon on the run. But there was something else there. As the baboon lay dying in the jaws of the lioness, a little baby (less than a month old) slowly disengaged from its mother's body. Photograph by Evan Schiller
Instinct took over and the baby tried to make a go for a tree, but did not have the strength to climb. At this point the lioness noticed the "little guy" and went over to investigate. Photograph by Evan Schiller
Instead of snapping the baby up in a deadly movement, she started to play with the baboon. Photograph by Evan Schiller
The lioness was inquisitive and gentle at the same time. Photograph by Evan Schiller
After a while she picked up the baboon softly in her mouth and walked away, then settled down with the baby between her paws. Photograph by Evan Schiller
In a strange behavioural twist, the baboon started to try and suckle the lioness. Photograph by Evan Schiller
What happened next blew our minds - the baby, in another instinctual moment, held onto the lioness' chest and tried to suckle.
Photograph by Evan Schiller
The lioness got distracted-this time by two male lions who arrived on the scene. Their advances, however, were met with aggression by the lioness. Was she defending the baby baboon? Or just uninterested in their mating advances? Photograph by Evan Schiller
Here's where it gets interesting: Waiting in a nearby tree is a big male baboon, who is obviously intent on saving the baby. The male lions were causing such a ruckus that it presented a short window of opportunity for the brave hero to descend the tree, grab the baby and head back to safety.
The father baboon had to make a move. Holding the baby, in all sorts of contorted positions, he tried numerous times to climb down the tree. He tested the lionesses' interest with each descent. Photograph by Evan Schiller
 
The heroic male baboon, having just saved the baby from the lions, cradled him in his arms. Photograph by Evan Schiller
 
"I was touched by how gently the father baboon held this little baby who was in tough shape after its ordeal." 
 
Life is fragile and no matter how much we fight to control its outcome, all we can do is live in the moment."
 
 

Tuesday 6 May 2014

Mother's Day.....


AVAAZ.org: The World in Action



A genocide we can stop


To Members of the UN Security Council and concerned regional countries:

As citizens from around the world deeply concerned with the situation in South Sudan, we call on you to take all measures to stop the spiral of hatred and violence. These include imposing a robust sanctions regime on the government, rebel leaders and top commanders responsible for the violence, and reinforcing the UNMISS peacekeepers with sufficient troops and capacity to better protect civilians. We also call on you to ensure immediate humanitarian assistance is delivered to tackle the threat of famine, and that the perpetrators of atrocities are tried by an international court. 20 years ago the world said "never again" after the Rwanda genocide - it’s time to live up to that promise.

 

Dear friends,

Please go to www.avaaz.com and click on the petition as a small token of support for the plight of women and children in South Sudan on MOTHER’S DAY 2014.05.06

Greetings,

Barbara

https://s3.amazonaws.com/avaaz_images/8769_south-sudan-violence_1_460x230.jpgSEND

 

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Women and children pulled from schools and hospitals and killed by the roadside, hate propaganda filling the airwaves - Rwanda 20 years ago? This is happening right now in South Sudan, and we have the power to help stop it.

Two men are to blame: President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar. Locked in a bitter power struggle, both are cynically stoking tensions between ethnic groups that have lived peacefully together for decades. Both men have assets and family abroad. If we hit Kiir and Machar where it hurts -- their wallets -- we can stop this nightmare from spiraling into genocide.

With peace talks slowly resuming, the US and France are calling on the UN Security Council to impose sanctions and deploy more peacekeepers to protect civilians. Russia may try to block action, but even China doesn't want to see this oil-rich nation slide into chaos. So it's winnable - if we act fast. Let's flood key leaders with 1 million voices urging them to pass sanctions and deploy a stronger mission to protect the people of South Sudan.