Nearly £10K raised by our London 10K runners

With money still coming in, we have raised almost £10,000 so far from the London 10K run on Sunday 11 July.
Despite the heat and humidity on the day, over 70 Project HOPE UK supporters completed the 10 km to help raise funds for our flagship programme The Thoughtful Path: Munsieville.
Teams from Munro Forster, Fulbright & Jaworski, GlaxoSmithKline and Synergy Healthcare as well as many individual runners ran or walked the route past historic London landmarks and enjoyed a well-earned drink at the Blue Posts Inn afterwards.
Jonathan Brooks was the Fastest Male runner, finishing in 40.43 mins and Claire Grindel the Fastest Female runner with 48 mins, while Stacey Harris won a special Wooden Spoon award for making it back!
Many thanks to everyone who took part and to all their sponsors - all funds raised will be used for our programme changing the lives of disadvantaged children in South Africa forever.

Brazil vs Germany in the Munsieville Children's Cup final!

We are now there! The participating teams in the final of the Munsieville International Children's Cup are now known. Since June 12th, 32 teams and more than 500 children of the Munsieville Community have gathered at the local stadium to bring the whole fever of the FIFA World Cup to their community. Out of the 32 teams, there are two still standing! In a action-filled game played at the Munsieville Stadium, the representatives of Brazil won a crazy match over the tournament favourite, France, by the score of 5-4!

The first half was not indicative of the pace that the game would take in the last 30 minutes, as the score was 1-0 Brazil after 30 minutes. In the other semi-final, Germany won by 2-1, fulfilling their promise established from day one, that they would be part of the last game of the tournament.

For the rest of the week, the two teams will have the chance to maximise their preparation for the final which will be held this Saturday July 10th, one day prior to the FIFA World Cup Final taking place in Soccer Sity, Soweto. Talking to a few players from each team, they cannot wait for that day!

Quarter finals in the Munsieville Children's Cup

The action starts back tomorrow at the Munsieville International Children's Cup as the tournament is entering the quarter final stage. Two exciting games starting at 11.30 am which will see the surprising Team Japan facing the powerful Brazilian formation. The second game will pitch Team Slovenia against 'Les Bleus', who according to the community sports leaders, are the favourite to win the honors of the MICC!
Log back on Friday to get the results and news from the Journalist Team from the HUMANA Project in Munsieville.
To support your team in the Munsieville International Children's Cup, log on to www.hopeactive.org .

What a lucky turn out for SA

A very important game of the Group A was played earlier today at the Mayibouye Ground, pitching Mexico against Uruguay. A win by Mexico meant a free pass to the second round. A win by Uruguay meant that they were to advance to the round of 16. A tie would see each team go out of the Munsieville Children’s Cup and leave the way for the Host team South Africa to advance. In a very intense match players had to cover every inch on the football pitch, but Uruguay and Mexico were unable to sort out a winner and the final score was a draw of 1-1.

The goal scorers were Thabiso Mathibe for Mexico and Kgotso Lehlohonolo of Uruguay to tie the game in the second half. With this result, Team Bafana Bafana now advances to the second round of the MICC. What a lucky turn for Team South Africa!

Serbia creates another upset!

Team Serbia shocked the present spectators at the Mayibouye Ground this Monday June 21st , defeating the powerful Australia squad by the score of 3-2, scoring two quick goals within the first 10 minutes of the match, including a beautiful one by number 9 Sthembile Mangumt, a very skilled player! With this win, Serbia remains undefeated and gains its pass to the next round. As for Australia, they will need to wait for the result of the Germany and Ghana match to see what their future holds. Will Ghana play the trouble maker for Germany?

2 matches tomorrow at the MICC staring at 10am with England Vs. Slovenia

A productive second half for Australia against Ghana

What looked like an easy win for the Ghana Team turned out into a nightmare, yesterday, in an afternoon match at the MICC. Leading by 2-0 in the second half, the Ghana Team saw Team Australia hitting them like a tornado, scoring 5 consecutive goals to win the match by the score of 5-2! The first goal of Team Australia, the first of two by striker Sabata Mojomotse and the first goal of the tournament for Team Australia had a huge effect on the rest of the team, who after that, were unstoppable! The crowd enjoyed every moment of this game, and the hype was at its maximum at the Mayibouye Pitch, the crowd present even doing a ‘pitch invasion’ after Australia's third goal, scored by Thabise Dlomini.

“The football fever is clearly hitting Munsieville, and the kids of the community are the main actors of this. This is so great to see and to live through” commented one of the spectators at the match. Australia is now first in its pool, tied with Germany and one point ahead of Serbia. The race for the 2 spots available for the knock-out stage looks promising in group D.

To also note in day 7 at the MICC, a 2-0 victory of Cameroon against Denmark as well as a 0-0 score between the Netherlands and Team Japan. More action today in the MICC starting at 11.30 with 4 matches opposing Slovakia and Paraguay, New Zealand vs the defending FIFA Champion Italy, as well as Brazil vs Ivory Coast and Team South Africa's 3rd match against the impressive France squad, a must win for the Host Team to keep hope in being part of the second round. To support your favorite Team through a small donation, log on to http://www.hopeactive.org/

A flurry of goals on the 4th day of the Munsieville Children’s Cup

Offence was the word at the 4th day of activity in Munsieville. More than 13 goals were scored in the 3 games played at the sand pitch of Mayibouye – seeing les Bleus, Team Greece and South Korea adding... 3 points to their record.
A deceiving loss for Team Nigeria
Team Nigeria came in the Munsieville Children’s Cup with a lot of hope to make it to the second round, but yesterday’s results vanished their dream to make it happen, getting their second loss in 2 games. “ We have played a superb game, but we have been unable to take benefit of our chances. I am really proud of my team. Of course the result is deceiving but the children have so much fun. We will make sure to win the next game” said coach Abe. Next Team Nigeria game is scheduled for Sunday afternoon.
Surprise loss for Argentina!
Established as one of the top ranked teams, Argentina crashed in their second match opposing South Korea, by the score of 6-1. “Very hard to understand our performance after such a great opener. We will regroup this week and make sure that we are ready for game 3, which will be crucial for us to make it to the second round” said Manager Doctor Batsi after this disappointing game.
Team France on their way to the second round!
Finally, Team France still impress with a convincing 6-0 win over team Mexico, winner of their opener against Bafafa Bafafa. A well oiled football machine spectators at the Mayibouye ground were saying. France has now a 2-0 record and have not conceded a goal yet. This result does open a door for Team South Africa to make it to the second round. The challenge is big though, as their next opponent will be Team France. More action today at the Munsieville Stadium as 3 games will be played, Germany v Serbia, the USA against Slovenia as well as Team England's second match against the Algerians. To support your Team in the chhildren's Cup, log on to http://www.hopeactive.org/

Catching the 'World Cup Fever'!

Hi everyone, hope you are all doing fantastically well!

I know, I know, I have been pretty silent on the blog in the last 2 weeks – and I do apologise for it! And thanks for the many reminders people!

But believe me, it's not because things have not moved on here! So for today’s article – I have decided to talk to you about the current work being done for the launch of the Munsieville Model of Excellence, which is at the core of my mandate here in South Africa.

Anyone who has been in South Africa for a day or two these last 3 months, or even in transit for an hour or two at one of the country's airports, will have been in a vulnerable position to be hit by a very dangerous and contagious bug which is currently contaminating the whole country. Many severe symptoms have been identified, including huge episodes of fever, that the authorities have named ‘The World Cup of Football fever’! And it just gets worse... There are no available vaccines and no drugs have shown any type of efficacy either. As you can see, very dangerous this ‘World Cup Bug’! And it is expected to spread all across the world this upcoming June, reaching millions and millions of people across the globe, with some severe alerts for something like 32 countries! Watch out!!!!

Before coming to South Africa in February, I had been warned by my GSK Canada Vaccines team about this bug, and they even tried to protect me against it by giving me a farewell ‘South Africa Bafana Bafana 2010 World Cup’ jersey.

Despite the ineffectiveness at protecting me from getting the ‘World Cup fever’, I have to once again, say a big 'Thank You' to my team back in Canada: Julie, Isabelle, Alex, Cara, Mary-Sue, Angelo and Carole. This farewell gift has been a real inspiration and source of reflection since my departure – in helping me to gather insights for the second phase of my PULSE ‘Be the Change’ assignment delivery, the development of a powerful awareness launch platform within the UK and South Africa, for the Munsieville OVC Model of Excellence and its associated Partnership Investment Programme, which is also creating a lot of excitement within the Munsieville Community.

One of the big differences I have noticed in my new work environment is the very limited level of resources the non-profit sector has to develop and implement plans, as compared to the private sector. Not a huge surprise you will say! So, how will we be able to create rapid awareness around the launch of the Munsieville Model, both in the UK and South Africa, with the limited resources available to us?

After spending long nights thinking about this, discussing with my colleagues, observing and listening to what the locals had to say about this 'bad bug' which is hitting the country… I came to the conclusion that these few words, if all grouped all together in one sentence, might potentially guide us to our solution: Superior Engagement, Creativity, and …external forces! What are those external forces that are present in the environment, which by adding a massive source of creativity to them, can create a product that will reach out to people to favour mass engagement and therefore, help us to create the energy necessary to reach out our “Tipping Point’?

OK, so enough talking- let's go straight to the point! It is with a great pleasure that I formally invite all of you to the upcoming launch of the Munsieville Model, from June 10th to July 10th 2010, where you will have the opportunity to learn more about the Munsieville Model and its associated Partnership Investment Programme - by following the action of the Munsieville International Children’s Cup of Football, where 32 teams of orphans and vulnerable children from Munsieville, aged between 13-17, representing and wearing the colours of the 32 FIFA World Cup Countries, will compete for 31 days, over 64 games, replicating the schedule of the FIFA World Cup of Football. For a full month, the children of Munsieville will be the kings and queens, the STARS of the community – which is at the core of the Munsieville Model. All the community rallied behind its future: the children’s.

More to come on the Munsieville Children’s Cup very soon. And, before I leave you, a quick word of caution. Watch out for this bug...it is coming....fast! Don't say that I didn't warn you...

Talk soon

Martin

Martin Lafontaine

GSK PULSE 'Be the Change' Volunteer