Instant Kaffein (Youth Month Edition) : Shake The world

We got together with the wonderful young ladies from Shake The World Thina Jita - Sales and marketing and Sisanda Madantswi - Project Manager to speak about what they do and why it is important for the youth to get involved in this social cause.

What is Shake the world?

S: It’s a global campaign that raises awareness around the MDGs as well as women empowerment.  It started in the Netherlands and spread to South Africa and the awareness is raised by the use of beaded bracelets made by the women we aim to empower.

What is MDG?

S: Millennium Development Goals. These are goals that were established by the UN in the year 2000 to be reached by 2015. There are eight goals and these goals address social issues.

How does Shake the world fall into the MDGs?

T: The 8 goals are represented by the 8 colours of the beaded bracelets. They are as follows:

Red: Combating HIV and AIDS

Yellow: Eradicating Poverty

Light Green: Promoting

Dark Green: Promoting Environmental Sustainability

Light Blue: Reducing Child Mortality

Dark Blue: Promoting Global Partnership For Development

Orange: Promoting Gender Equality and Women Empowerment

Pink: Promoting Maternal Health

Through purchasing the bracelets you help achieve three objectives:

1.) Educate yourself and others about the MDGs, which large numbers of people do not know about.

2.) You help reduce poverty, which is one of the MDGs.

3.) You empower women.

4.) You contribute to job creation and assist in addressing the issue of unemployment.

Although we are still aiming to educate people on the rest of the goals, everyone should know that by buying the bracelets you have played a role. Having the bracelets is an easier way to know and learn about MDGs and help.

Do you feel that the youth is desensitized from giving back and if so how does shake the world aim to change the perceptions?

S: Yes, I for one was a desensitized youth before I joined this campaign because I wasn't involved in being part of any social development. STW is fun in the way that it tries to raise awareness for instance we had a party called Party for a Purpose, where we raised awareness on social development.

We are also doing documentaries, documentaries are very formal and so by involving the youth we are bridging the gap and creating a conversation between the young and old concerning these social issues. Those are some of the ways that we hope to get the youth to change their perceptions.

Have you ever visited the communities that shake the world currently serves?

S:  Yes we did, in 2013 we went to the KZN and visited one of the 21 groups of women. We started with Africa Ignite who are the rural development organisation that works closely with the women and since we were doing STW, we decided to go visit them. Most of them are single and unemployed now they have the opportunity to empower themselves through STW.

What has the entire experience taught you about yourselves?

T: I learnt that giving back is not just about giving people money, it is more sustainable to help people to help themselves. Through STW these women now have jobs and careers and through these skills the women can pass them on to their children.

I learnt about the MDGs in University while studying international relations and sociology and politics but it wasn't something that I felt I was a part of. Through STW I learnt more, I know the goals and stats and figures regarding poverty and so on. We are learning and teaching people about the goals and other social issues, which affect all of us.

S: It has taught me to be able to help people live dignified lives, we talk about human rights but honestly you cannot enjoy your rights when you are not living a dignified life, when you are unemployed or hungry then those things degrade how the human species is supposed to live.

There are so many things that are embedded in the various cultures that we come from in South Africa that can help us create a life for ourselves, we don’t have to own shoe shops but we can make a living from the things that our grandparents created. People are now using their skills and their culture to make a living.

Lastly what do you hope to achieve with this initiative

T: We aim to educate people about social issues and we aim to get the youth involved in things like this. Trying to make our society a better place. There’s no use if the rich, the adults and government are the ones taking more initiative in these issues but if we all team up we can make a bigger change.

S: We want to sell these beaded bracelets and make huge sales so that the money that we do make goes to these women. We also want everyone who comes into contact with these bracelets to know what they stand for. We want people to be aware of shake the world and to be a mover and shaker in their world.

Ambassadors that are involved?

Phindile Dlhamini

Phindile is a proud Sowetan who is a dynamic and vibrant entrepreneur who is Managing Director of social business, Gracefully Consulting. She is passionate about Africa and making a positive difference by part of the solution to South Africa’s socio-economic challenges and adding value to the lives of youth and children.

Rosie Motene

Actress, Producer, Presenter, Voice artist and talent agent. Aside from her flair for the arts, Rosie is very involved in human rights issues. Rosie is a Women and child rights activist and has been affiliated with organisations such as POWA (People Opposing Women Abuse).

Zandile “ DJ Zeal” Dladla

Outspoken an opinionated young woman with a ZEAL for life ! Zandile Dladla is a Metro FM presenter and house DJ. Zeal is passionate about human rights, development and education. She uses her voice to MC, present and spread the word around the Shake The World campaign as one of the ambassadors. 

Enjoyed the interview? Great now head on to our facebook page daily to see how you can get rewarded by standing a chance to win amazing prizes from Shake The World. #ShakeDownForWhat