16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM AGAINST WOMEN AND CHILD ABUSE

Hello yet again. This indeed is not an easy subject but one that should be trended upon gently and carefully. I read in a recent article in the Pretoria Newspaper on Wednesday 25^th November 2015 about how behavioural patterns are formed in human-beings in the early months of life. That is if a child is crying and the caregiver/parent lifts the child up and comforts it, it creates a better response in life towards stress. Therefore if a child cries and he or she is left unattended, that causes them stress and makes it much more difficult to handle stress in future as they have no built in mechanism to control it.

The one group grows up to be successful and better and less likely to show extreme behaviour and the opposite is true of the other group. It is a study by a neurologist and I found it very fascinating.

As we commemorate 16 days of activism against women and children…it goes without saying that there is a lot of crime unfortunately perpetuated against women and children. Women trafficking and child abuse in all forms is not indicative of a civilised society.

One need not recount the numerous senseless crimes committed against helpless children, which in itself is a shame. What we must endeavour to do is be mindful of our actions and create a loving and caring environment as ultimately we do not need repeat cycles, were the offended becomes the offender in future.

I was reflecting further on a bus driver in Cape Town that got dismissed for starting his day in prayer?!! recently. I am thinking that at least is indicative of a good moral compass that he is trying to put in the midst of his work day, and if perhaps there was one in the bus who was harbouring hateful thoughts against a partner, the reminder of God’s love would mean that person may change his thoughts and his day ends differently?

What is the Government doing to protect women and children?

The law is quite strict in that regard hence the establishment of the Domestic Violence Act and the family courts.

This helps to slow down or hamper abuse in domestic setups and our hearts go out to victims of domestic violence.

There are also specialised units dealing with child porn which is a huge problem on the internet.

As I write, it is my hope that there will be a change in the transformation of our society that will respect and value life and aspire to create an environment in which women and children will feel loved and appreciated. It is definitely Africa Independent’s Magazine CC passion to create an environment that depicts peace, joy and happiness as we enter the festive season, let us hope that we will transform our mindsets and set up health boundaries.

Changing weather and conserving water

Little do we think much of the water that we use! Water indeed is life as a slogan goes. In sub-Saharan Africa one could almost predict the weather partner in the past but that has quickly changed.

With global warming making headlines and news and world debates it is no wonder that the African continents seemed rippled with a change in weather and hence water shortages.

One cannot even begin to imagine a life without water. A previous study that was done at least five years ago {through Nedbank} went as far as to make one conscious  on how much water for instance is consumed to produce a bottle of beer, from the moment the seed is put into the ground, to harvesting and then to processing until the final product is on the shelf for the consumer to enjoy.

Of course we have seen the big dominant companies in the retail sector all trying their bit to go ‘green’ as it were by using a few recycled products here and there.

The greater challenge is for each and everyone to do our part in helping recycle products from ink cartridges to, tin containers, bottles, plastics and so on and so far. As a result there has been a mushrooming sector for collecting items from households trash to recycle. Although it is very informal and strenuous with everyone else that does not have to do that kind out work looking away from those making a living out of the recycle cabbage- one wonders if the informal industry should not to recognized if they are indeed helping to save our environment.

Water as we speak is becoming scares and rare in some areas which is and can be very alarming as we all need water to survive. Farmers have been hit hard with the current change in weather conditions that have mostly resulted in a drought.

Although we seem to have people that have studied in various fields on our continent however our planning as human beings falls short at times. If a drought and weather patterns have changed and been forecast, should we not be considering irrigation farming to avert food shortages?

This all point can be elaborated upon but it just adds to our fear that we need water to generate electricity in some cases. Although there is a cry of unemployment, I have a feeling that everyone should be employed in one way or another if we are to sustain our economy in an eco-friendly manner. Many are the employment opportunities most of which have not even been tapped into. Why don’t we create a 'know-

how' to avert the inevitable by brainstorming and coming up with a solution that will counter global warming?