67 minutes for Mandela

Things to do for 67 minutes on Nelson Mandela's birthday

Join the world in celebrating Madiba’s 93rd birthday by spending 67 minutes making South Africa a better place. Mandela Day was started three years ago in honour of our former president who dedicated 67 years of his life to fighting for this country. Think of the good we could do if everyone spent that short amount of time helping others. Here are 10 ways for you to spend your 67 Minutes for Madiba.

1. Give
Start at home and go through your things and collect clothing, books and any household items you don’t use to donate to children’s homes or charities. Old textbooks, clothing and blankets may not hold any value for you anymore, but they would be appreciated by others. Be generous and don’t hoard things – if you haven’t used it in over a year then pass it on. Give these charities a call to find out where to donate.

2. Walk
Mandela Day isn’t just about helping people – it’s about creating a country that treats all living beings with respect. Animal shelters can always use dog walkers as well as help cleaning out cages and other tasks. Give them a call beforehand to see what they need the most (donations of food or money are always needed) and if you find that they have enough help on the day then ask around your neighbourhood and see if anyone would like help walking their dogs. Call the SPCA (+27 (0)21 700-4140) or TEARS (+27 (0)21 785 4482) to find out how you can help them.     

3. Donate
There are currently over 3,500 people in South Africa waiting for life-saving organ donations, up to seven lives can be saved by one person donating their organs. Register with the Organ Donor Foundation (+27 (0)800 22 66 11) and tell your family that you would like your organs to be donated when you die. Then spend the rest of the 67 minutes giving blood, visit the Western Province Blood Transfusion Service to find a blood drive in your area (+27 (0)21 507 6300). A single donation could save up to three people’s lives and will only take about thirty minutes.

4. Gratitude
There are many people that work in our communities on a daily basis, use your 67 minutes to thank them. It can be as simple as taking a security guard a cup of coffee or getting your children to draw a thank you card for their librarian. If you have a bit more time or money to donate then help make the local police station or hospital a bit more inviting for the people that work there or bake them something nice. Or why not donate R67 to StreetSmart during StreetSmart Winter Restaurant Week.

5. Clean
Make your neighbourhood sparkle, pick up litter, help maintain parks and make sure that the children in your area have a nice, safe space to play in. Get your community to paint a mural on a derelict wall. If you live in a neighbourhood that is already well maintained then go and spread the love elsewhere.

6. Volunteer
If you are willing to spend more than just 67 minutes giving back to your community then think about volunteering for a literacy project. There are a number of great NGOs that need volunteers to come and help children that are struggling to learn to read. They are often being taught in English which is not their home language and so it’s difficult for them to keep up with the classes. The one on one tutoring helps them to develop their reading and writing at a more manageable pace. Call Help2Read (+27 (0)21 685 8085) to find out how you can become a volunteer.

7. Community
Use the 67 minutes to get to know your neighbours and help turn your neighbourhood into a community. Elderly people or single parents might not want to ask for help but they may need it. Make them a meal which they can heat up for supper, stop by before going to the shops to see if there’s anything they need or offer to help clean their house and weed their garden.

8. Environment
Spend the 67 minutes minimising your impact on the environment. Start by implementing a recycling system for your rubbish, separate your food waste from your solid waste and have a container for the recyclable items. Look into getting solar panels restored so your geyser can run on renewable energy and buy a geyser blanket as this will reduce the amount of power needed to heat the water. Find ways to limit the amount of water you use, such as installing taps and shower heads, which minimise the flow of water.

9. Talent
One of the most valuable and helpful things that you could do is to use your unique skills to help your community. Evaluate what your talents are, if you are a web designer then contact local NGOs, schools or charities and offer to help build them a website, or update their existing one. We all have things that we are good at and spending some time using these skills to help South Africa fulfil its potential would be a great way to spend 67 minutes (or more).

10. Altruism
Help a charity, NGO or person in need by writing, or updating, your will to leave a donation to them. It doesn’t have to be monetary or extravagant; it can be something as small as donating your books or clothing.

By Lindsay Callaghan 

Or you can do what Molo and the CapeTownMagazine team are doing - make sandwiches to hand out to people in the area that need something to eat. We also hit the streets channeling Madiba, check out our Facebook album.

Not sure where to start? Cape Town is full of charities doing great things.

Mandela's Cape Town memories and landmarks in the city.

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