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Protect Manaka jetted off to Orlando Florida USA for the Jane Goodall's Global Youth Summit
 Protect Manaka of Lehae to the south of Johannesburg jetted off to Orlando Florida USA for the Jane Goodall's Global Youth Summit "Protecting our Future" on 18th April. Protect is a volunteer for the Roots &Shoots programme of the Jane Goodall Institute South Africa and a part time tour guide and project coordinator for KDR Sports and Adventure Travel (Pty) Ltd www.soweto.co.za .
He had been selected because of his dedication to community work and in particular in the fields of food gardens, sports facilitation, disabled children, wild life and domestic animal care. The trip is sponsored by the Jane Goodall Institute and is held over 6 days with the keynote speaker being Jane Goodall herself. Youth from around the world will be discussing ways to protect our fragile environment in these times of pressure on scarce resources and Protect will surely benifit from interacting with experts and other similar minded youg people from different backgrounds and experiences. The work being done in and around Soweto will definately benefit from his attendance.
Jane Goodall herself will be visiting South Africa and Johannesburg in July 2008.
Mini food gardens in old motor car tyres project.
  Roots and Shoots (a division of the Jane Goodall Institute) and KDR Sports and Adventure Travel (Pty) Ltd (www.soweto.co.za) have combined to launch mini food gardens in old motor car tyres in Kliptown Soweto squatter camp. This is one of the most depressed communities in Soweto with appalling living conditions for over 40000 people. However a beacon of hope is the Kliptown Theatre Productions youth project which is the newest R&S project in Johannesburg. This is truly a Place of Peace and Harmony.
Projects include a crèche, support group for HIV girls, soccer, netball, drama and dance, food gardens (recently initiated by Roots and Shoots), and many others. The projects are driven by a team of motivated youth leaders from the community itself.
 Old motor car tyres have in the past and even today been symbols of violence and protest in communities such as Kliptown. The Peace Tyre project seeks to channel energy and resources into improving community spirit and nutrition. The individual properties on which residents have erected their informal wood and iron shacks are extremely small and mostly unsuited to the establishment of food gardens. The concept is to use tyres as mini food-gardens by placing organic potting material in the tyres and planting vegetables therein. Similar projects have been successful in other areas.
The project is designed to grow geometrically as follows:
An initiator, Roots and Shoots/www.soweto.co.za will start two young people off with the first mini gardens on the understanding that they will do the same with two others and so on. Old tyres are freely available and sponsorship will be sought for the other necessary elements.
I f successful the concept will be launched in other areas too.
Each participant will pledge:
“I commit myself to helping my community to grow and develop in the spirit of Ubuntu (humanity) by conserving our resources, developing our neighbourhood and caring for others, the environment and animals. In joining the Peace Tyre project, I am committed to improving nutrition and health in my community and will assist at least two neighbours to start mini gardens and will keep the spirit going into the future. I pledge myself to peace and harmony and to work for real development in my area.”
:: “Life Is a Ball” Comes to Soweto ::
 KDR Sports and Adventure Trust and the Jane Goodall institutes’ Roots & Shoots programmme has been interacting with youth groups in Kliptown and Lehae for some time and has cooperated in developing various programmes with the emphasis on environmental concern, human development and animals.
>> read more about "Life is a Ball
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