Introduction
Today we are out in Stellenbosch doing training with an amazing group of people. .......


Body:

Conclusion:

Social Media Training at the Tanzania Association for the deaf

This week has gotten off to a good start. We are doing Social Media training with another group of deaf participants and they will be paying it forward by training others in the community what they have learned.

Zanzibar Living Lab

Zanzibar Living Labs has kick started and is underway. The group is doing very well and have made so much progress.It is clear to see that this will be one of the successful living labs in this region.

This training was conducted at Suza University .

Loved ones

JamiiX, FTW (For The Win)

JamiiX, the brainchild of Marlon Parker walked away with the Best Commercialized Innovation at the SAFIPA Conference. I am so proud to be associated to this start up initiative that is now so ever growing. The award has found its home at RLabs Business Innovation Incubator ,the birthplace of JamiiX. We have put this award amongst our other awards (3 SA Blog Awards) in the voyeur of RLabs for the people (community) to enjoy.

We missed our flight!

One of the unimaginable things happened to me this morning. Angelo and myself was scheduled to board a flight to Jozi to go and do ongoing training with the RLabs Champions there. When we got the the fight counter we were told that we that our fight has been closed and that we had to go on a standby flight. This is the first time this has happened to me since I have been travelling . I was a bit despondent as things were put into place in terms of people picking us up from the airport in Jozi etc.

As we were sitting at Mug and Bean i whipped out my laptop and decided to make the most of this situation by blogging about it. As i am writing about this i feel inspired as blogging is one of the tools we will be teaching the RLabs Jozi Team about. I am sitting and still giving Jesus praise as i know He is still in control of everything. Still very excited as to what is going to happen in Jozi and meeting everyone there.Jozi here we come!!$

Team from Jubilee church visits Cape Town

God has been gracious in the sense that He continues to strengthen the bridge between South Africa and the U.K. This week we had 5 guests from the Jubilee Church based in Bromley, UK. They however did not come to do sight –seeing as so many tourists do when they come to Cape Town. They had a different agenda and that was to come and impart knowledge into the lives of people from the community.

They did a number of short courses like: Listening and counselling skills, first – aid, c.v writing and interview skills with the community.All the courses took place and was hosted at Impact Direct Ministries. Over the years the Jubilee Church has been sending from members to come and impart their skills into the lives of people here. We as Impact Direct would like to thank the Jubilee church for sowing into the lives of many and allowing their church members to come to Cape Town.

More pics to follow.

RLabs Legacy Programme Interview: Registration Day

RLabs Covering Social Media Coverage at Sahara Park Newlands

Today the RLabs team was out at Sahara Park Newlands doing the Social Media Coverage for a cricket match between Wynberg Boys High and Grey High School. This event was in collaboration with Standard Bank Pro 20 School Cricket . The Rlabs team covered ball by ball and wicked by wicked action with live commentary through various Social Networking tools. In the picture we have Brent capturing content. The content that was captured included interviews with the crowd and players taking photos and uploading them to Standard Bank Facebook Page.



For more products and services you can read here or contact one of our consultants info@rlabs.org

VOTE FOR TABLE MOUNTAIN TODAY

Table Mountain is one of only 28 natural sites from around the globe shortlisted to be named one of the Official New7Wonders of Nature.

From an initial list of 440 magnificent natural sites nominated in 2008, Table Mountain was voted onto a list of 77 sites prior to being selected for the final shortlist of 28 finalists in July 2009.

Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, Table Mountain National Park and Cape Town Tourism have formed an official supporting committee to champion the mountain’s cause. Table Mountain needs approximately 30 million votes to secure a top 7 spot.

The Official New7Wonders of Nature contest aims to raise awareness of the incredible variety and beauty of nature around us.

The campaign is run by the New7Wonders Foundation in Zurich, Switzerland, an organization which fosters global dialogue through democratic campaigns, and through these campaigns, promotes conservation efforts worldwide for man-made and natural monuments.

The Official New7Wonders of Nature will be determined entirely by votes from the public and the final 7 wonders announced on November 11, 2011. The campaign is well on track to receive more than one billion votes. Voting platforms are made accessible to everyone through the Internet and mobile phones.

Candidates must be clearly defined natural sites that have neither been created nor significantly altered by man. The awareness and tourism income generated through the New7Wonders campaign will ensure that these natural treasures are better preserved for future generations.

So why should we vote for Table Mountain?

Table Mountain is a recognised global icon, visited by millions of people each year. The mountain has attracted the attention of royalty, sports stars and Hollywood celebrities and is one of the most photographed sites in Africa. It withstood years of political turmoil in South Africa and was a symbol of hope for freedom fighters jailed with Nelson Mandela on Robben Island off the coast of Cape Town during the apartheid era.

Table Mountain is one of the oldest mountains on the planet. It’s six times older than the Himalayas and five times older than the Rockies. Mount Everest in the Himalayas is 60 million years old so Table Mountain is estimated to be 360 million years old.

Table Mountain was named a World Heritage Site in 2004. It is part of the Cape Floristic Region, which is the smallest and richest of the six floral kingdoms on earth, boasting an amazing 8200 rare and endangered plant species, some of which occur nowhere else on the planet.

Table Mountain is the only terrestrial feature on our planet to have a constellation named after it. The southern constellation Mensa was first introduced to Western astronomy in 1754 by Frenchman Nicolas Louis de Lacaille (he originally called it Mons Mensae – Latin for “the table mountain”). Lacaille, an astronomer, catalogued an amazing 10 000 stars during his professional career and named Mensa after the increasingly world-famous landmark in the Cape of Good Hope.

If Table Mountain is named one of the seven wonders of nature, South Africa can expect a massive boost in tourism revenue and brand value. Studies have shown that sites participating in the New7Wonders of the man-made world (which were named in 2007) saw an increase of more than US$5 billion (R35 billion) in tourism revenue and brand value.

To vote for Table Mountain, SMS “table” to 34874, visit www.votefortablemountain.com or call +44 203 347 0901.

ENDS

ISSUED BY SPLASH PR & MEDIA CONSULTANTS

ON BEHALF OF TABLE MOUNTAIN BID COMMITTEE

FOR FURTHER INFO EMMA McADAM

021 790 9911 or 082 567 1400

emma@splashpr.co.za

FOR COMMENT FIONA FUREY

TABLE MOUNTAIN CAMPAIGN MANAGER

021 424 0015

n7w@tablemountain.net

Learning together

After last week’s class the participants requested that we do a refreshers class on blogging again. Last week’s class included: loading up and image in your blog post, loading up a video in your blog post and doing a hyper link in your blog post.




In this evenings class I have asked the participants to do a blog with all of the above mentioned components in it. It is going to be interesting to see if they still remember what they have been taught last week. The is also a young man in this evenings class that was absent last week so did not get to learn what the others have learned. I requested from the others that was in class last week to assist and show him what we have learnt. I think that this is a great way of learning together and let’s face it, the participants in this year’s training is the CHAMPIONS of tomorrow.

Knight News Challenge

If you have an innovative media technology idea, you might be able to get funding from the Knight News Challenge contest.

Run by the Knight Foundation, the grant competition awards up to $5 million annually for innovative projects that use digital technology to transform the way communities send, receive and make use of news and information.

More info can be found . The site includes application information, as well as details about past winners.

This year’s application deadline is December 1. The News Challenge is looking for applications in four categories: mobile, authenticity, sustainability and community. All projects must make use of digital technology to distribute news in the public interest.

The contest is open to anyone in the world.

A simple description of the project is all you need to apply. Submit a brief pitchhere. If the reviewers like it, you’ll be asked to submit a full proposal later.

If you have questions you can a) reference the FAQ, or; b) check the archivedchat transcript (another live chat will be held on November 18 at 1:30 EST).

You can follow Knight Foundation on twitter. The News Challenge Twitter hashtag is #knc

F5 (refresh) session at Silulo Ulutho Technologies

On Wednesday the RLABS team was out in Kayalistha to do a refresh session with the facilitators of Silulo Technologies.We took them through the things that we had previously done with them i.e Facebook,Blogging and Gmail.We did not only revisit these tools with them but also showed them more in depth functionalities within each of these tools. They will now be training and equipping their clients with what they have learned.Silulo have classes running throughout the day up until the evening.Many clients pass through their doors daily and so many people are trained at their centres. This is a wonderful opportunity to see the potential of Social Media in the townships and see how it it can positively change the lives of many.

Also we are looking at launching an RLABS in Kayalistha early in the New Year so watch this space.

RLABS IS ON THE MOVE

Yet another exciting week has passed for the Reconstructed Living Lab. The team finalized the graduation date and worked on some logistics of the graduation. This year 35 participants will graduate from the Reconstructed and Mom3.0 sessions. A big thanx to Nokia for sponsoring 2 mobile phones this will go toward the special prize. Marlon came with great news, that everything is finalized and RLabs will relocate to a new premises. Thursday we had a planning meeting on how we gonna reconstruct a run down community space into an innovative space to change the lives of citizens. Three of the team members are designated to drive this project while the rest of the team will carry on with the daily operations. The goal is to move in by the end of November that leaves us with 3 weeks of reconstructing the space

If anyone want to contribute to this project feel free to contact our office. “Many hands make light work ”

A post by Craig Ross on http://rlabs.org

Innovator up for social media award

Many of the RLabs team come from
disadvantaged backgrounds.

Through the Mom 2.0 and 3.0 courses,
women in the community learn to use
technology.

April McAlister

JamiiX, an online counselling service operating on the Cape Flats, is a finalist in the inaugural Bees Awards. The ceremony, which takes place in San Francisco on 9 November 2010, recognises the most innovative use of social media in business and communication.

In the category of best use of mobile social media, developer RLabs’ mobile drug counselling application is up against the brpr Group for its work with Smirnoff Ice, and Leo Burnett Frankfurt for its Fiat Punto Evo challenge.

“To be a finalist for this award is such a great honour and privilege,” wrote RLabs founder Marlon Parkeron his blog, “as about 74% of the entries were from large brands coming from 21 countries.”

Parker added that the non-profit RLabs is encouraged by the recognition from the international social media community, and will continue to innovate by using social media to bring about social change.

Empowering communities

RLabs operates with a mission to impact, empower and reconstruct global communities through innovation.

Situated in Athlone in the Western Cape, Rlabs tackles the rampant drug use and trade as well as gangster-related violence that have resulted in severe economic and educational challenges for the Cape Flats community.

Based at the Impact Centre in Athlone, RLabs also advises companies and other organisations on social media strategy.

The project was born in 2007 when ten young residents of the area decided to change their lives and obtain an education at a time when use of methamphetamine (known in the area as tik) was rife.

The men went to the Impact Centre, a community centre in Athlone which offered programmes such as feeding schemes, support and counselling and a seniors’ wellness program.

There was no availability at the centre at the time for their rehabilitation, but the director was moved to start a programme called Reconstructed which offered them training and mentoring, as well as motivational talks and lessons in basic responsibility.

The director then brought Parker, an IT lecturer at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, on board to teach them computer skills. When asked what they knew about computers one student stated: “I know how to steal one.”

Their experiences were taken online in the form of the Reconstructed.com blog, which later became Reconstructed Living Lab, or RLabs. Through the use of the blog, Facebook and Twitter they gained a large following and used the social media platforms to encourage and empower other youngsters who were in similar situations and wanted to get out.

In order to give more people access to much-needed counselling, and recognising that most people have a mobile phone even if they can’t afford much else, RLabs developed JamiiX, an aggregator that combines instant messaging with social media in one application. JamiiX can be used on a computer or mobile phone.

RLabs’ Drug Advice Support (DAS) service, which was started to address the drug addiction problem in the Western Cape, is available on JamiiX. DAS is a place where those in need can get help on questions related to drugs, HIV, relationships, and abuse. It also offers a suicide help line, a place of safety and immediate assistance in a crisis.

The system allows a counsellor to transfer a person’s entire history to a colleague, and still retain confidentiality. Over 100 000 South Africans currently use the system, as well as many international users.

JamiiX has partnered with South African success story MXit to make its interface available through a special gateway on the popular instant messaging application.

With an average of 20 000 messages exchanged every hour, 250-300 users assisted in that time, and 5% of online conversations receiving offline referrals. JamiiX is known as “the contact centre on the go”.

“What really excites us is when we hear stories of people whose lives are being changed because of the members of the community who offer their time to help those in need,” said Parker. “Well done to all at RLabs for the amazing work you are doing and we celebrate with you and the rest of the online community through the Bees Awards finalist nomination dedicated to you.”

Helping the community

Besides RLabs and JamiiX, the other main activity at the Impact Centre is Impact Direct, a community- based organisation. Formerly funded by the government, Impact Direct now relies on donations of all kinds, as well as income from wellness sessions, to maintain its operations.

The organisation has adopted the local Kewtown primary school, which accommodates about 400 pupils and is at the heart of the gang wars. Programmes help children to learn basic manners, social skills, and hygiene. They receive a meal, help with homework, and support and counselling where needed. As many children as possible receive one new uniform.

Counsellors also make house calls, as many children have no parents and battle with overcrowding in a limited amount of space. The children thank their teachers by holding an annual wellness day on which each teacher is pampered and given a little gift.

The Moms 3.0 program and Social Media for Teens are a couple of the many programmes offered by the Impact Centre and Rlabs. Others include projects that assist newcomers to technology, such as the elderly, on an individual level.

There is also a dedicated pampering day for the elderly of the community, which focuses on keeping their minds active through arts and crafts. The Seniors Mobile Sessions teaches them to use mobile phones efficiently and send text messages and “please call me” requests, and covers the use of the internet to find all kinds of information, from recipes to growing plants.

Last year technology corporation Dell Inc. sponsored 14 computers for use in the lab – youngsters and adults are able to log in to them via their desktop computers or mobile phones.

RLabs’ Social Media Factory holds sessions in public places such as shopping centres. Each session lasts about ten minutes per person, helping them to set up email, use social media, find a car online and even start a business. This innovation prompted the World Bank to invite RLabs to be the official social media partner at its Innovation Fair held in Sea Point, Cape Town, in April.

Overseas expansion

RLabs operates in Portugal and Malaysia as well as South Africa, while JamiiX has been launched in South Africa, Finland and the UK.

The organisation has initiated its first social franchise, which encompasses the business model, support, branding, and more, in Porto, Portugal. A local franchise in Khayalitsha, also on the Cape Flats, rolled out at the end of October.

Future plans centre on the establishment of RLabs as a social franchise in other locations. Those already confirmed include RLabs Eastern Cape (end of 2010), RLabs Southeast Asia (end of 2010), RLabs Kenya (early 2011), RLabs Johannesburg (early 2011), RLabs Netherlands (early 2011), RLabs Brazil (end of 2011) and RLabs Namibia (late 2011).

Innovator up for social media award

Many of the RLabs team come from
disadvantaged backgrounds.

Through the Mom 2.0 and 3.0 courses,
women in the community learn to use
technology.

April McAlister

JamiiX, an online counselling service operating on the Cape Flats, is a finalist in the inaugural Bees Awards. The ceremony, which takes place in San Francisco on 9 November 2010, recognises the most innovative use of social media in business and communication.

In the category of best use of mobile social media, developer RLabs’ mobile drug counselling application is up against the brpr Group for its work with Smirnoff Ice, and Leo Burnett Frankfurt for its Fiat Punto Evo challenge.

“To be a finalist for this award is such a great honour and privilege,” wrote RLabs founder Marlon Parkeron his blog, “as about 74% of the entries were from large brands coming from 21 countries.”

Parker added that the non-profit RLabs is encouraged by the recognition from the international social media community, and will continue to innovate by using social media to bring about social change.

Empowering communities

RLabs operates with a mission to impact, empower and reconstruct global communities through innovation.

Situated in Athlone in the Western Cape, Rlabs tackles the rampant drug use and trade as well as gangster-related violence that have resulted in severe economic and educational challenges for the Cape Flats community.

Based at the Impact Centre in Athlone, RLabs also advises companies and other organisations on social media strategy.

The project was born in 2007 when ten young residents of the area decided to change their lives and obtain an education at a time when use of methamphetamine (known in the area as tik) was rife.

The men went to the Impact Centre, a community centre in Athlone which offered programmes such as feeding schemes, support and counselling and a seniors’ wellness program.

There was no availability at the centre at the time for their rehabilitation, but the director was moved to start a programme called Reconstructed which offered them training and mentoring, as well as motivational talks and lessons in basic responsibility.

The director then brought Parker, an IT lecturer at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, on board to teach them computer skills. When asked what they knew about computers one student stated: “I know how to steal one.”

Their experiences were taken online in the form of the Reconstructed.com blog, which later became Reconstructed Living Lab, or RLabs. Through the use of the blog, Facebook and Twitter they gained a large following and used the social media platforms to encourage and empower other youngsters who were in similar situations and wanted to get out.

In order to give more people access to much-needed counselling, and recognising that most people have a mobile phone even if they can’t afford much else, RLabs developed JamiiX, an aggregator that combines instant messaging with social media in one application. JamiiX can be used on a computer or mobile phone.

RLabs’ Drug Advice Support (DAS) service, which was started to address the drug addiction problem in the Western Cape, is available on JamiiX. DAS is a place where those in need can get help on questions related to drugs, HIV, relationships, and abuse. It also offers a suicide help line, a place of safety and immediate assistance in a crisis.

The system allows a counsellor to transfer a person’s entire history to a colleague, and still retain confidentiality. Over 100 000 South Africans currently use the system, as well as many international users.

JamiiX has partnered with South African success story MXit to make its interface available through a special gateway on the popular instant messaging application.

With an average of 20 000 messages exchanged every hour, 250-300 users assisted in that time, and 5% of online conversations receiving offline referrals. JamiiX is known as “the contact centre on the go”.

“What really excites us is when we hear stories of people whose lives are being changed because of the members of the community who offer their time to help those in need,” said Parker. “Well done to all at RLabs for the amazing work you are doing and we celebrate with you and the rest of the online community through the Bees Awards finalist nomination dedicated to you.”

Helping the community

Besides RLabs and JamiiX, the other main activity at the Impact Centre is Impact Direct, a community- based organisation. Formerly funded by the government, Impact Direct now relies on donations of all kinds, as well as income from wellness sessions, to maintain its operations.

The organisation has adopted the local Kewtown primary school, which accommodates about 400 pupils and is at the heart of the gang wars. Programmes help children to learn basic manners, social skills, and hygiene. They receive a meal, help with homework, and support and counselling where needed. As many children as possible receive one new uniform.

Counsellors also make house calls, as many children have no parents and battle with overcrowding in a limited amount of space. The children thank their teachers by holding an annual wellness day on which each teacher is pampered and given a little gift.

The Moms 3.0 program and Social Media for Teens are a couple of the many programmes offered by the Impact Centre and Rlabs. Others include projects that assist newcomers to technology, such as the elderly, on an individual level.

There is also a dedicated pampering day for the elderly of the community, which focuses on keeping their minds active through arts and crafts. The Seniors Mobile Sessions teaches them to use mobile phones efficiently and send text messages and “please call me” requests, and covers the use of the internet to find all kinds of information, from recipes to growing plants.

Last year technology corporation Dell Inc. sponsored 14 computers for use in the lab – youngsters and adults are able to log in to them via their desktop computers or mobile phones.

RLabs’ Social Media Factory holds sessions in public places such as shopping centres. Each session lasts about ten minutes per person, helping them to set up email, use social media, find a car online and even start a business. This innovation prompted the World Bank to invite RLabs to be the official social media partner at its Innovation Fair held in Sea Point, Cape Town, in April.

Overseas expansion

RLabs operates in Portugal and Malaysia as well as South Africa, while JamiiX has been launched in South Africa, Finland and the UK.

The organisation has initiated its first social franchise, which encompasses the business model, support, branding, and more, in Porto, Portugal. A local franchise in Khayalitsha, also on the Cape Flats, rolled out at the end of October.

Future plans centre on the establishment of RLabs as a social franchise in other locations. Those already confirmed include RLabs Eastern Cape (end of 2010), RLabs Southeast Asia (end of 2010), RLabs Kenya (early 2011), RLabs Johannesburg (early 2011), RLabs Netherlands (early 2011), RLabs Brazil (end of 2011) and RLabs Namibia (late 2011).

Another Life Reconstructed!!Niven Petersen

Today I introduce Niven Petersen to you guys. Niven is one of the young men that have joined our Reconstructed programme. He has been on our programme and has been attending our Reconstructed classes now for the last 3 months. With the help and collaboration of Impact Direct ministries andRLABS, Niven is progressing wonderfully and has achieved lots

This young man comes out of a lifestyle of gansterism and drugs and has been abusing drugs from the tender age of 12 years old .He has had many criminal cases to his name and in one of these counts he has been sentenced to a 3 year sentence to a juvenile facility. The courts have agreed that as long as he is participating in a programme like the Reconstructed he will be able to do his 3 year sentence on the outside and would be placed back into society.

One of his latest achievements was celebrating his 16^th birthday with friends and family and being completely sober on his birthday for the first time in 3 years. Reconstructed Living Lab would like to commend Niven on his achievement and will continue to support him in the reconstruction of his life.

“Double Bypass Surgery” #RLABS

The Twins

Surgery in process

With our Social Media Surgeries we run we have “surgeons” that signs up people to various social media sites and show them how to use it. At our last Surgery I had the privilege of doing a”double bypass surgery” with two people that came to sign up a Gmail and Facebook accounts.

It just so happen that these two people were twins. When I was helping them sing up to Facebook I noticed that they had the same surnames and thought that they were probably cousins or something. But when I saw that they had the same birthdays I asked them what’s up and they told me that they are twins.

The twins are now sorted and on Facebook each, and will be connecting with the wwworld soon.

RLabs and She’s The Geek Win at SA Blog Awards

Last night the RLabs team had the honour of being one of the finalists at the South African Blog Awardsheld at theOne and Only Hotel in Cape Town. The event brought a wide range of bloggers, media personalities and other key people together to celebrate not just those who have been nominated as finalists but everyone who are making the online space a better place to be. So RLabs and one of its Start-ups She’s The Geek that included Best Group Blog (RLabs), Best Company Blog (RLabs) and Best Science and Technology Blog (She’s The Geek).

It came as a great surprise and much joy when we won all the awards we were nominated for and more so knowing that all the hard work and sacrifice by the people involved are finally being rewarded. These three awards we therefore dedicate to those in our communities who’ve decided to not let their circumstances silence their voices of hope. For the rest of the winners of the SA Blog Awards visit the list of winners here.

Social Media Surgery In Public Space

The Social Media Surgery concept is where we go to shopping malls, shopping centre and public places where we provide social media training, advice to the public, non-profits and businesses in the format of a surgery. This is the first of its kind in Africa allowing local citizens to engage with one another and globally. The spot for the Surgery was at the Bridgetown Community Center a location that is central and where gangsters hang out.

Early Saturday morning the RLABS team met at the office and loaded all the equipment need for the Social Media Surgery. The cool thing was that we did not have to travel far as this event was to be held at the local community centre in the area. At the community centre we set up our speakers outside to play music and make announcements to attract the crowds. Inside we set up our laptops from where we were going to sign up various Social Media accounts for the locals.

Bridgetown Community Centre

It s was not long before the curiosity got the better of the people walking past and the streamed in to see what was happening. We explained to them what we are doing and they were more than happy to be signed up to facebook, twitterand blogging platforms for free. We have also invited the same people to theRLABS space in the future to enhance their social media knowledge.

Girl Power

Yesterday we ran a Social Media class with the girls City Mission Educational Services. We had not had a class with them for a while now. In yesterday’s session we did a recap on Gmail with them. These girls have a long way to go and much more to learn.

I remember when was first exposed to a computer about 2 years ago and did not know anything. It was a very overwhelming feeling and did not know if I was going to be able to finish the course. Well if I see where I find myself today I know teaching these girls is not impossible.

I am looking forward to the next session with them. We will be taking them to the next phase which will be Facebook. Soon they will be bloggers and setting the World Wide Web alight. Watch this space.

We have to impart in them what we have learned. If someone did not take the time out to teach us we would not be where we are now.