Masimanyane on a massive Haitian drive

A month after the earthquake and the island nation is still short of supplies for its devastated citizens.

Many people have told me they would like to help out in some way but did not know how or didn't know which avenues to take.

Thankfully, Masimanyane Women's Support Centre has come to the fore, giving South Africans the chance to help resurrect the lives of Haitians.

Masimanyane is looking to collect items that contribute to the welfare of women and children who have been victims of rape and robbery in the last month. The organisation encourages each person to provide one item each. These include:

• Feminine supplies, combs, feminine wipes and other support (especially for pregnant women and new mothers).
• Personal/household supplies for birth delivery and after: (rubbing alcohol or disposable anti-germicidal substitutes; baby wipes, baby wraps, pampers, socks and caps and supplies for nursing mothers/newborn. It is cold at nights so there is need to cover the feet and heads of the newborns.
• Clothing and under garments for women and young girls
• Bedding & blankets for babies and mothers.
• Urgent need for the morning after pill (rape of girls and young women is becoming a problem, as is common in the aftermath of most disasters).
• Any items that you think would be useful for women and girls.
• In general any supplies (such as toothpaste, tooth brushes, soaps, etc) that can be used for daily living for men, women, boys and girls are welcome.

For East Londoners, there will be drop off points at major retailers and supermarkets. The dates for the points will be finalised soon.

In the meantime, you may drop off your items at the Masimanyane head office situated on 35 St Marks Road in Southernwood, East London.

Contact the project co-ordinator, Yulinda Sharrock on +27 43 743 9169 or +27 84 481 2195. You can also email her at yulinda@iafrica.com.

To read the report on Masimanyane's website click HERE.

To read the article from the Daily Dispatch, detailing Masimanyane's drive, click HERE.

To read the the report by project coordinator Yulinda Sharrock click HERE.

Enhance your business with these social websites

There are dozens of social media websites that cater for different needs and wants. Some allow you to connect with friends while others provide you a platform to share your opinions. Two of the latest applications that were launched in the last month were myLike.com and Plancast.com. myLikes allows users to list the brands they like and share it with other users whereas Plancast allows you to post up plans you have in the future, whether it be personal or business related.

Below is a list of a few websites that can be used to provide businesses with that extra edge in terms of communication and marketing. The most important thing to remember about using social websites for business is that they should serve as communication tools. Don't advertise, instead engage with customers, partners, board members and staff on a personal level, by sharing ideas and listening to what your clients have to say.

i) Linked In

A social networking tool created specifically for professionals and businesses that are looking to interact with each other. Like Facebook, status updates and emailing are available as well as exchanging contact details. A unique feature includes the LinkedIn recommendation letter whereby users may ask their contacts to promote them. This feature has proved to be popular and credible as well.

It is advisable that both the company and its manager/CEO/director maintain separate accounts so as to engage with other users on various levels. For example, companies may only need to update their status and their information two or three times a week, whereas an individual would do so daily. The reason is that an individual has to create a personal space that represents his or herself as a professional.

ii) Ning

This unique concept allows users to create their own social network space and invite specific people to join so that they can interact with each other. This is similar to creating your very own Facebook website with all the tools for interaction available including chat, email, status updates, blogging and the uploading of pictures and videos – all this within a strictly confined group.

This is perfect for an organisation that either wants to create its own private “social club” with members, clients, customers, board members and directors. However, it works best when an organisation uses it as a space strictly for employees to interact with each other and share information. Administrators can easily monitor the site’s usage and use it as a way of finding out the needs and wants of its employees.

iii) Ping.fm

This is a site that would mostly be used by administrators. Ping.fm centralises all of the organisation’s social websites they belong to. By posting a single message on Ping, all other websites will be updated with that same message immediately. This saves you from having to visit each and every site. However, this is restricted to status updates for now and further improvements to the website will take place in the future. This is perfect for saving time, when you are on the move and need to make brief changes quickly.

iv) myLikes.com

This new, groundbreaking venture, created by Bindu Reddy and Arvind Sundararajan of San Francisco, was launched in January this year. Geared towards businesses, the website allows users to insert a link of their favourite brands and services and share it with other users. The more “likes” a brand or service receives, the more popular it will become. This is a unique feature that has never been featured on the internet. The application can also connect to Twitter, therefore promoting products and services even further.

v) Mixx

A news website that allows the user to upload news and choose the stories they want to view. Mixx has now given the power of news making to the public and businesses, allowing users to create their own realities rather than allowing the news networks of old to condition us. Mixx is effective if you are looking to create an identity abroad.

vi) Facebook

One of the two most popular social networking sites in the world, Facebook was created by Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg and was launched in 2005. It gained popularity rapidly because of its ability to connect people from different parts of the globe. It also offers tools such as email, status updates, gaming, instant wall-to-wall messaging, the uploading of articles, videos, pictures and links to other websites that are of particular interest to the user. The “Marketplace” application allows businesses and professionals to interact with each other and advertise their products and services.

The alluring factor of Facebook is that it allows the user/organisation to create their own identity with a page that best represents their character.

In the last two years, Facebook has seen the value in networking for commercial enterprises and they are forever adding new features that try to meet the needs of businesses and professionals. It is an extremely effective marketing tool that allows organisations to engage with their clients, members, board members, donors and customers on a personal level and offers a [controlled] transparency traditional media cannot.

vii) Twitter

Though Facebook is effective, it is not as influential as the ubiquitous Twitter. This online application allows users to follow other members and keep abreast with their up-to-the-minute activities. There are dozens of utilities linked to Twitter that caters for professionals and organisations ie. myLikes and Flickr. Twitter’s greatest selling point is that it forces the user to express themselves in no more than 140 characters; therefore, we are obliged to write short, direct and hard-hitting messages. The biggest mistake any organisation can make is to use Twitter as a platform to advertise events or products. Twitter must mainly be used to engage with fellow entrepreneurs, clients and the public on a personal level, formulating discussions and sharing useful information that could enhance the operating and image of your organisation.

viii) Youtube

This was one of the first websites that allowed the public to share videos and is more popular and effective than ever. Though it is monitored for explicit material, it is still filled with mindless content. Despite this fact it is still used as a platform for prominent politicians, celebrities and businesses to spread important messages. It is effective because it is a multimedia tool that captures all senses.

ix) Zoopy

This application is the South African equivalent to Youtube. Zoopy looks to host professionally made videos. Users can also post pictures and messages on the site. Though it does not possess the same number of members as Youtube, it can still be used to penetrate South African society.

x) Blogs

This is an incredibly effective tool. Bloggers have their own webpage with which they can express themselves in any manner they wish. Blogs are versatile in that a user is able to create the tone and atmosphere of their own page and write on a specific theme. Though the language used by most writers is informal, it is best for NGOs and corporations to a use formal tone and jargon often relating to their products and services. However, the posts must be written simple enough for the general public to grasp. The advantage of a blog is that it can host multimedia applications, allowing the user to add text, pictures and video to their page. In order to keep readers engaged, a blog has to be updated regularly, up to at least once a week.

xi) Flickr

This website acts as a photo database. It allows users to store and share digital photos online. It can be used by professionals or organisations to share pictures of events and subsequently engaging with other interested users as well.

xii) Really Simple Syndication aka RSS Feed

An RSS Feed is a tool that automatically alerts a consumer or user, via email, of any updates made to an organisation’s website, Twitter page, blog, Facebook page etc.

This has proved to be highly effective for organisations looking to keep in touch with their consumers and clients. It is imperative that you regularly update your web data so as to keep the content fresh and give the consumer the impression that the organisation is productive.

xiii) Wikis

Wikis are programs that allow communities to add content to an information database that is centred towards specific themes. For instance, NGOPedia, wiki site catering for South African NGOs, allows these organisations to add an article containing information about their history, past events, vision, mission and their operations. Wikipedia is the most widely known wiki site. It is the largest online encyclopaedia that is structured like most traditional encyclopaedias. Wikiquote is a databse for some of the most famous quotes while the highly controversial Wikileaks publishes government and corporate documents that aim to expose corrupt practices.