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Deadly dog virus hits crisis levels in Cape Town just before busiest season

November 30, 2018 By Admin

14 November 2018

First appeared on TimesLIVE

As animal welfare organisations prepare for their busiest time of year, clinics and veterinary services are facing the added burden of an outbreak of the potentially deadly parvovirus among dogs in Cape Town.

The workload ahead of the Christmas season includes normal vaccinations and check-ups. In addition, over the festive season many pets are abandoned and need rescuing.

This year an unusually high incidence of the canine virus, reported across the city, will exacerbate the workload and costs.

Karen de Klerk, who heads the Cape Animal Welfare Forum, representing animal rescue shelters in the Western Cape, confirmed that infection reports were up across the region.

The Mdzananda Animal Clinic in Khayelitsha has been overwhelmed with the “worst influx of parvo patients in the 22 years of its existence”, said manager Susan Wishart.

While the clinic usually sees around 14 parvo patients a month, last month it had seen 45, the organisation confirmed. “Our vets think that the recent heat wave could have triggered the outbreak,” said Wishart.

Abortion pesticides kill foetuses — and young women

November 5, 2018 By Admin

The problem seems to be with medical practitioners who handle abortions poorly

05 November 2018

By Francine Barchett

First appeared in Times Select

Three months later she drank pesticide in an attempt to end her pregnancy, and it killed her.

This is one of the case studies related by gynaecologists calling for a shakeup in the way unwanted pregnancies are handled by medical practitioners.

Writing in the South African Medical Journal, Dr Sylvia Cebekhulu and Professor Robert Pattinson of the University of Pretoria (UP) said cases of organophosphate poisoning among girls and young women trying to induce abortions were common.

According to Wikipedia, “organophosphates are the most widely used insecticides today. They are used in agriculture, the home, gardens and veterinary practice”.

The healthcare system often failed pregnant young women, said Cebekhulu and Pattinson, describing several cases from the national maternal deaths register:

The teenager who was denied an abortion was acutely ill when she arrived at a hospital. She died within an hour from multi-organ failure caused by poisoning.
A pregnant teenager was admitted to hospital six hours after consuming a pesticide. She died three days later and “mainly received nursing care and occasional telephonic advice from a doctor”.
A pregnant woman in her 20s was found dead at home after drinking insecticide.
A 20-year-old pregnant woman was unconscious when she arrived at a hospital and soon died from suspected pesticide poisoning. The doctors said she should have been diagnosed more quickly.

Organophosphates in pesticides cause more than 200,000 deaths a year in the developing world, particularly in rural areas, said Cebekhulu and Pattinson.

Within a few days, the poisons compromise the central nervous system, and survivors may need long-term therapy or rehabilitation.

The doctors, from the obstetrics and gynaecology department at UP, outlined the protocols that should be followed when patients arrive with suspected pesticide poisoning.

My mission: To get the deaf to raise their voices

November 5, 2018 By Admin

Tracy Duncan is determined to build confidence among the deaf, and to make signing SA’s 12th official language

05 November 2018

By Francine Barchett

First appeared on Times Select

At three months old, Duncan was diagnosed as deaf. It came as a shock to her parents, as neither they nor her two older siblings were deaf.

Her doctor told her mother to choose how her daughter would learn language: would she learn to sign or speak? Her mother chose speaking.

Duncan began lipreading when she was two and speaking a year later.

“My mom would put me in front of the mirror every day for one hour to learn to lip read,” she recalled. “I wanted to play but mom would try to explain to me that I need to learn language.”

While Duncan grew up speaking, she has always identified with the deaf community. She went to schools for the deaf, so she had many friends who were deaf.

However, it was only a few months ago that she picked up sign language. Now she hopes to help make it SA’s 12th official language. And as Mrs Deaf South Africa, Duncan might just be able to pull it off.

“I want to speak to all 46 of the deaf schools in SA,” she said, explaining plans for her “Deaf Confidence” campaign.

“My platform’s about how you present yourself, whether you speak or sign, not to be afraid to go for what you want, and to ask for what you want. A lot of the deaf have so many great ideas but they don’t believe that they can make them happen. I want to change that.”

A way Duncan hopes to empower deaf children is through physical fitness, which she credits for boosting her confidence and self-esteem.

She visited her former schools – Mary Kihn in Observatory and Dominican Grimley in Hout Bay – a couple of weeks ago to teach pupils a simple kettlebell workout as they prepared for exams. At each school, she picked two pupils to join her at Runstacle, an obstacle course near the Cape Town Ostrich Ranch.

Duncan is also determined to bring her platform to deaf married women like herself, who are usually busy with work and family.

“I want them to take care of themselves, because if you take care of yourself you can take care of others,” she said.

She hopes the simple healthy cooking e-book she is preparing will come in handy.

Duncan is not alone as she prepares for a busy title year. She is working with a four-person team and seeking more sponsors, especially for deaf schools.

“Hearing aid batteries are very expensive,” she said.

The batteries cost about R60 and last five days. Cochlear implant batteries last only two days. Duncan knows this because she had a hearing aid before getting a cochlear implant three years ago. Without her batteries, she can’t hear anything.

“We want the deaf pageant to be on the same level as Miss South Africa and Mrs South Africa because at the moment no one knows about [us],” Duncan said.

“This is our moment to educate people about the deaf – that we can do anything but hear.”

Old hospital set to heal Cape Town’s apartheid wounds

November 2, 2018 By Admin

By Natalie Elliott

Sixteen years after a Cape Town hospital closed‚ the site is a step closer to becoming home for thousands of families.

The 22ha occupied by Conradie Hospital‚ between Thornton and Pinelands‚ is set to make way for 3‚602 houses‚ two schools and a commercial centre.

The Western Cape government wants to sell the site to Concor Construction for R202-million. Just under half the houses the company builds in a R3-billion development will be social‚ subsidised and rent-to-buy units. The remainder will be sold on the open market._____________________________________________

Becoming a Muslim in Prison

October 25, 2018 By Admin

By Natalie Elliott

He used to carry R1000 at a time in a roll in his throat, and in his jacket pocket he would smuggle cell phones to the prisoners on the inside. He used to be on the outside.

Many of those around him at the prison eat the sugary strawberry-flavoured biscuits on the table, but not Bonginkosi* He doesn’t put “just anything” into his body any more.

Now, he drinks only water and milk.

He drinks it with purpose. “Allahu akbar” is followed by three intentional sips.

He weighs every choice.

At the beginning he got into fights. First, they landed him in prison and then in solitary confinement. The first time in solitary, it was for 9 months, for violence. He did nothing with his time. The second time, it was for 90 days, out of choice and for his own protection. He fasted and prayed.

These days Bonginkosi considers it a privilege to choose what to do with the R1 400 he receives every month from sponsors. It was when he began swimming that his determination to change his world got him noticed. That was at the last prison. Now there is no pool but he still dreams about it, and the sponsors have stuck with him.

“When I’m in the water, I feel free,” he says.

And the money he gets now is more than he used to make from his last gig – secretly growing marijuana in the grounds of a high security prison.

Homes in the area near the prison are simple, often surrounded by sugarcane.

At first he would spend this money on snacks and cigarettes. Last month, he used it to order 56 Qurans instead. Thirty people converted to Islam, just like he had.

He used to be in the highest security prison in the country, and now he is in the lowest. He used to have contact only with members of the 26s, and now his family comes to visit him every weekend.

Bonginkosi’s world has changed since the day one of his friends shot and killed a man during a robbery. Bonginkosi was there, and that’s why he is now here.

For several years the man’s son sought a gang that would help him avenge his father. Then he came to the prison and met Bonginkosi face to face. With their extended families present, the first meeting was tentative. But the young man has persevered.

Now, he is Bonginkosi’s Muslim brother, and visits him every week. They have made their peace.

Rural Dreams

October 22, 2018 By Admin

The life she lives is one she appreciates, mostly because it’s all she’s known, but that doesn’t stop her from dreaming. It’s her ability to dream that keeps her grounded while allowing her to be free, as freedom is the only thing she truly seeks.

The rural landscape of Dokodweni, which is home to a few hundred South African natives.

Just a few hours outside of the bustling city of Durban is the rural town of Dokodweni. Like anywhere, it has the four necessities for it to function; a church, a school, a clinic and a grocery store. The residents work both regular and odd jobs, most unaware of what lies beyond their homestead.

The same can be said for Lindelwa Dube, who has gone no further than a few kilometers into town, never venturing further.

She finds freedom in her ambitions. Because of the burden of expectation that comes with being a Zulu woman—namely being a homemaker and the requirement of marriage— she spends a good amount of time submitting to the wishes of her mother and father.

“I always have to be available to help.” she says. “Even if there are things I don’t want to do, I do them because I don’t want to disappoint my mother.”

Humility and respect are two concepts that govern Lindelwa’s life, both of which challenge her daily – on the one hand, submitting to her parents, while on the other rebelling against school to the point where disrespecting teachers is a daily activity, most times to the detriment of her education.

She tells how she and her schoolmates sang and danced during a lecture. And how one week the teacher decided not to show up. But education remains part of her plan – Lindelwa still wants to be a doctor.

Lindelwa Dube, age 15.
gracefully smiling after being caught off-guard.

She smiles as I ask why. All she knows is that her mother deserves a bigger house and her father a new car. As we sit on the sofa, eyes glued to the TV set where Imbewu: The Seed tracks the daily drama of a Zulu family caught in a big city tale of ambition and tradition, she can see herself living this life – fast paced and glittering. But her ties to her rural homestead remain powerful. She breathes and says, “One day I’ll go to America…but I want to stay here forever.”

By Corey D. Smith

Durban Driver Traces his Routes

October 22, 2018 By Admin

It’s usually the passenger whose trip takes priority. But what about the person behind the wheel? Fifty-one-year-old Virash “V” Tiloki has been driving international visitors in South Africa for thirty-three years, and he’s had quite a journey.

It rains on the way back as Tiloki’s bus drives International students from Mozambique to Durban.

“I was born in Durban to a family of two brothers and a sister. My dad passed away at an early age. We grew up in a poor suburb called Chatsworth,” Tiloki says.

Going to school didn’t come easily. “I never really enjoyed school much back then.”

Tiloki attributes this to being the youngest in the family—kids would bully and poke fun at him in the schoolyard.

After dropping out of school, he says, he started working as a shoe salesman “at R5 a day”. But privately, Tiloki had plans in the works.

“I said to myself, I’m going to achieve every single dream of mine and prove everybody wrong.

“I could show them that without education, if you put your mind, you put your heart and soul into anything, into a dream… (that dream will come true).

“Driving has become my passion.”

Tiloki puts his other hand on the wheel, “You know, I’ve only read one book in my entire life.”

But his lack of formal literacy hasn’t steered him away from learning.

“My passengers are my teachers. I’m passionate about learning. I want to learn about anything and everything that comes my way.”

As a boy, Tiloki wanted to learn to how to read and play music in the footsteps of his father, who died when he was just 8.

However, the local music teacher turned him away because he didn’t have an instrument. His family was too poor to afford one.

But driving musicians on tour in Durban has given him a taste of the music scene his father introduced him.

“I ended up meeting all of my favorite singers from India. I met every great Indian artist and got to interview them personally.”

Then he tells another story about how his love for space travel unexpectedly rocketed into his backseat.

Tiloki’s white van sits parked in one of Maputo’s streets, waiting to pick up students from their hotel.

In 2004, he drove one of the Columbia Space Shuttle commanders for a week but conversation never led to revealing his identity. One night, the man pointed out Mars to Tiloki from the car window. He wondered why his passenger would mention such a trivial fact.

When the visitor forgot an important parcel that Tiloki was able to return to him, Tiloki discovered the man was as an astronaut.

And soon after the man returned to the US, Tiloki received a letter in the mail.

It read, “To V, thank you for returning my present. If you ever come to Cape Canaveral, the tour’s on me.”

“I got the shock of my life,” he says.

Moments like these are what makes this Durban driver happy to be on the road.

Photo of the Day: October 10, 2018

October 20, 2018 By Admin

Found near the zebras and giraffes grazing at Amatikulu Nature Reserve stood this lonesome *crinum* flower. Crinum are found throughout the African continent as well as America, south Asia, and Australia. However, Africa boasts the most species. *Photo: Francine Barchett*

Managing Waste in New York and Globally

October 20, 2018 By Admin

“Do you really need one more seashell?” During Nell Pearson’s senior year of high school, her classmate posed this question to her. They were visiting Assateague, a island off the coast of Maryland and Virginia known for its wild ponies and beaches, but her classmate worried about the retreat’s environmental impact. She used a seashell to symbolize tourists who took shells and other articles that didn’t belong to them, which hampered with the park’s natural decomposition processes.

This past summer Pearson designed and constructed a prototype three-bin system for composting at Plimoth Plantation in Massachusetts. The system is currently being utilized to help the museum become a zero-waste facility. Photo: Plimoth Plantation Staff

The illustration stuck with Pearson, not that she was a novice to conservation or waste management. Since a junior in high school, the New York City native has worked with several organizations that promote recycling, composting, and environmental protection. It all began with her internship at the Brooklyn Historical Society, where she learned about Brooklyn’s sewers. The project led to her joining The Billion Oysters Project the following summer. As a partner organization to Earth Matters, The Billion Oysters Project replants oysters into New York’s rivers. “Actually New York was a huge spot for oysters originally,” Pearson explains. “Oysters can naturally filter the waste generated by New York City.”

Besides her oyster-centered work, Pearson spent the same summer composting, practicing urban agriculture, and teaching New Yorkers to improve their personal waste management strategies. Peterson reflects, “It was really cool seeing and understanding waste on a larger scale. In New York you’re not really thinking about it and just put your trash on the sidewalk for someone else to pick up. ” She laughs. “I’m now the waste enforcer of my house!”

At Plimoth Plantation, Pearson collected a variety of waste to be composted, including these food scraps from the museum’s kitchen. Photo: Plimoth Plantation Staff

This past summer Pearson applied the skills she learned to an original project. At Plimouth Plantation in Plymouth, Massachusetts, Pearson initiated a composting prototype for its horticultural department. After contacting the museum’s gardens, kitchen, and offices, she collected scraps for composting. “Looking towards the future, I think the museum can become a leader among neighboring institutions to live more sustainably,” Pearson states.

As Pearson completes her semester in Durban, South Africa, she looks forward to pursuing waste management research in a new context. After observing plenty of waste along the roadside and few collection bins, she knows the area has potential. “I think it’s really important to not only be aware of the problems in my community but also what’s going on at a global scale.”

Cato Manor from the Outside-In

October 20, 2018 By Admin

Some of its houses are meager in size, tin-roofed dwellings that seem claustrophobic to the outside eye. Other homes look more sophisticated – orange, yellow, and tan mud structures, accentuated by tall gates with barbed wire and sharp glass on top. Here you might at one moment catch the infectious scent of meat grilling, but soon after sniff a strange mixture of smoke and decomposing refuse. This is Cato Manor.

Cato Manor is located 7 kilometers from Durban’s city centre. Although Indian gardeners originally settled there, it has since been dominated the black working class. *Photo: Aaliyah Wells-Samci*

The homes of this Durban suburb may not be imposing, but its people present a striking contrast. In the early hours of morning, black African women bustle on the sidewalks on their way to work, their dresses well-ironed, their hair impeccably arranged, and thick handbags giving off a final stylish touch. “Sawubona!” they greet each other as they go their separate ways. Now and then uniform-clad children run to the sidewalk, their small backpacks hanging around their shoulders, as some carry a couple of rands for the mini-bus taxi. Men rise early too, some beginning their daily Taxify and Uber rounds, while others descend the streets to the city on foot, their meager clothing in sharp contrast to their female counterparts.

Outsiders are wary of Cato Manor, with its reputation as a dangerous place, but with the sunrise, danger is not yet on the horizon. Come evening the suburb becomes a different place. The distant city lights, combined with glow from street and home lamps, prevent total darkness from engulfing the area, illuminating men and women who walk alone or isolated groups of young men venturing into the unknown. At the nightlife heart of Cato Manor, Mojo’s Car Wash hosts a DJ and serves cheap shisanyama, pap, and drinks through the wee hours of night. Young people sit, chat, and occasionally get up to dance to old-school western beats.

Although Cato Manor’s informal settlements have scared many upperclass South Africans from the area, the settlements’ residents go to the city everyday for work. *Photo: Kate Irwin*

Come Sunday morning, Cato Manor transforms again. Neighbours are to be found greeting each other, this time as they make their way to church. The work outfits of the week are replaced by lavish, colorful dresses and heels, ironed suits and polished dress shoes. Those from the poorest of homes mingle freely with those from the most sophisticated homes as they all praise the same God together. This is Cato Manor.

Admin

Deadly dog virus hits crisis levels in Cape Town just before busiest season

Abortion pesticides kill foetuses — and young women

The problem seems to be with medical practitioners who handle abortions poorly

My mission: To get the deaf to raise their voices

Tracy Duncan is determined to build confidence among the deaf, and to make signing SA’s 12th official language

Old hospital set to heal Cape Town’s apartheid wounds

Becoming a Muslim in Prison

Rural Dreams

Durban Driver Traces his Routes

Photo of the Day: October 10, 2018

Managing Waste in New York and Globally

Cato Manor from the Outside-In

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The problem seems to be with medical practitioners who handle abortions poorly

Tracy Duncan is determined to build confidence among the deaf, and to make signing SA’s 12th official language

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