ST ANNES COLLEGE GETS INTO THE 2010 FEVER

Dressed in their colorful Bafana Bafana tee shirts and some in school uniform , the girls and staff of ST Anne’s College in Pietermaritzburg tried the diski dance that will be showcased to thousands of visitors coming to the country during the World Cup.

This was one effort by the school to encourage the girls and staff to be part at the World Cup atmosphere, adding that Tuesday’s celebration on a Freedom Day was a success. One of the girls was quoted saying ““It’s so lively and so easy to learn, I love it.” This takes between 45-60 minutes and involves our YOC Diski Dance Professional crew doing a demonstration of the official 2010 Disk Dance and teaching it to the whole group creating a highly entertaining and memorable 2010 experience.

We want everyone to be able to catch our Diski Fever and we will work with anyone interested to design a Diski package that suits your budget. Give us a call and will get the crew to you.

PAVING A BRIGHTER FUTURE

"Impoverished communities are close to our hearts and we will continue to find new ways to empower the children in impoverished communities to help them to achieve a brighter future", said Jabulani Myeza the founder of YOC.. Sthabiso Madlala is one of the 60 kids in Masibambane crèche and she is seen here playing with toys donated by YOC through the support from Investec.

This winter, Masibambane creche is in need of hand knitted or crocheted hats, mittens, blankets and scarves to keep the kids warm in the coming winter. Winter in Pietermaritzburg can be very harsh and very cold and you can help to bring a big smile to their little faces. This winter campaign is a chance for good caring individuals and companies to reach out to disadvantaged children by helping them to fight off the winter chill and further make a difference in children and their families, who have been disadvantaged by poverty, disease and other social illnesses.

You will never know whose life you can change unless you become part of the change and be the change. We need your help to help this vulnerable kids and orphans. Call us on +2779 5396131 or email youthofchoice@gmail.com

HIV TESTING PROMOTION CAMPAIGN - "GET IT RITE" Go Testing!!!

The South African government has announced a new approach to HIV and AIDS, in terms of a massive prevention and HIV testing promotion strategy, as well as new treatment protocols. As part of a recent speech given by Health Minister, Aaron Motsoaledi, it was reported that the Lancet Medical Journal says South Africa forms 0.7% of the global population, yet carries 17% of the HIV burden. He went on to say that: "A war is still going to be won. We'll only win when we stand together as government, as civil society. We need to undertake a massive campaign of voluntary counseling and testing."

Youth of Choice Organization (YOC) has heeded this call to action with our Get it Rite HIV testing promotion campaign which encourages young people to do the responsible thing and get tested. YOC believes that young people should be responsible, step up to the challenge and get tested. Young people are reluctant and scared to get tested, but we want to change that mindset, demystify the myths and take away the stigma that young people associate with being tested. What we are saying to all young with this HIV testing promotion campaign is that knowing your status is empowering. It allows you to plan for a bright future with or without the virus.

In Pietermaritzburg region, HIV prevalence is particularly devastating and Umgungundlovu district has the highest prevalence (45.7%) of HIV infections among pregnant women countrywide. This means that almost every second pregnant woman in the district is HIV positive. That picture is far worse. HIV is our problem and the solution is to “GET IT RITE” by knowing your status first. The “GET IT RITE” HIV testing promotion campaign is a program initiated by Youth of Choice Organization (YOC), that uses the youth lifestyle elements such as hip hop, poetry and krump as a strong voice in encouraging young people to get tested for HIV and both raising AIDS awareness as well as funds for the education.

The ultimate result lies in the fact that not only does the youth get entertained and express themsenves through this art forms, but feel the call to get tested for HIV, in some way, this campaign can contribute towards HV/AIDS awareness efforts. With the campaign we hope to reach 500 to 600 young people every month.

YOC GOES GREEN

With Earth Day fast approaching, we’re excited and want to encourage the young people to take an initiative and join the earth hour campaign wherever they are . Young people can take the lead to address climate change and be the voice for climate change. But don’t delay –Take an initiative on Earth Day, April 22nd.

The Youth of Choice Organization (YOC) new campaign hopes to advocate against climate change, strengthen the dialogue on climate change and accelerate the cleanup of South Africa worst toxic waste sites. Later in the year we hope to launch our “YOC GOES GREEN” climate change campaign. This will feature an online climate quiz where young people can test their knowledge of climate change and advocacy with an intention to stimulate discussion about climate change and environment.

We will partner with other credible organization to address global problems, including climate change and sustainable growth and development through our initiative “YOC GOES GREEN”. We will lobby for special focus on increasing energy efficiency in cities, catalyzing the large-scale supply of clean energy, and working to stop climate change.

Check out our website in future for more information about our climate change initiative.

DISKI DANCE HEAT'S THE CITY

The YOC Diski Dance crew recently showed the MEC for Arts, Culture, Sport and Recreation (Mrs. WG Thusi) and her staff how to do the diski dance during the 2009/10department service excellence awards ceremony. The YOC Diski Dance campaign aims to build excitement and enthusiasm as the countdown to the Fifa 2010 world cup continues. The campaign intends to mobilize the nation through the diski dance from government, municipalities, companies, schools and the general public. The Diski Dance captures the essence of African football rhythm and gets you deep into the spirit of the world cup. YOC Diski Dance crew will show you a fun and easy way to learn the dance. Once you have done the Diski Dance you feel good and makes you wanna go out and cheer for your team.

Thandeka Ntshangase who is the YOC Diski Dance project leader says, “We are proud to teach the diski dance and we want to teach all people the simple moves. You can do it alone, you can do it with your work colleagues, department or school doing it together”. The focus is fun and generating excitement in South Africa as the greatest sporting spectacle event come into South Africa. Give us a call on 073 8946957 or 079 5396131 and will bring the crew to you

2010 SPIRIT HEAT'S VARSITY COLLEGE

Just under 64 days South Africa will be on the world centre stage hosting the biggest sporting event, the Fifa 2010 World Cup. Recently some students and staff at Varsity College in Pietermaritzburg Campus got to learn the moves from the YOC Diski Dance Crew. The students put their heart and energy into it to ignite the excitement around campus and get fellow students hyped about the Fifa 2010 World Cup. If you need to learn some moves, call us on 073 8946957 or email us at yocsouthafrica@gmail.com

EVERY CHILDSTORY DESERVES A HAPPY ENDING

There is only one thing more satisfying in life, changing someone life. YOC believes in real change and not just change for the sake of change. Change for the better, meaningful change and change that will make a difference in children lives.

Masibambane creche is in need of hand knitted or crocheted hats, mittens, blankets and scarves to keep the kids warm in the coming winter. Winter in Pietermaritzburg can be very harsh and very cold and you can help to bring a big smile to their little faces. This winter campaign is a chance for good caring individuals and companies to reach out to disadvantaged children by helping them to fight off the winter chill and further make a difference in children and their families, who have been disadvantaged by poverty, disease and other social illnesses.

You will never know whose life you can change unless you become part of the change and be the change. We need your help to help this vulnerable kids and orphans. Call us on +2779 5396131 or email youthofchoice@gmail.com

SHOE DRIVE CAMPAIGN

This initiative is focused on collecting unwanted and gently used shoes and distributing them to those who are in desperate need of them. In December last year before Christmas we distributed our first shoes through the CINDI NETWORK which works with children affected by AIDS in Kwazulu Natal, South Africa. This is our second campaign this year and we are aiming to collect more that 10 000 shoes. For those who will be coming to our country all over the world to watch the Fifa 2010 World Cup, we ask you to carry 1 or 2 pairs of your old shoes with you to leave behind and to help us to bring smiles to many of our kids. This campaign hopes to change lives of many kids in South Africa, enable them to walk to school in shoes for the first time and play football.

Every contribution is important to us whether is 1 pair or 100 pairs. We ask companies, retailers and individuals to absorb the shipping cost to our warehouse facility in South Africa.

GET INVOLVED

1.Contact the Youth of Choice Organization on +27 795396131 or info@youthofchoice.org
2.Secure a drop off point address from us.
3.We suggest a $2 donation per shoe to offset shipping cost.
4.Make promotional posters and flyers to place around your area, school, and company etc to promote the shoe drive campaign.
5.Feel free to use your local media to publicize the shoe drive campaign.
6.Process the collected shoes by placing a rubber band around each pair and place them in a box for shipping.
7.Ship the shoes to our warehouse. 28 Delgairns road, Bisley Heights, Pietermaritzburg, 3201 SOUTH AFRICA.
8.Once the shoes get to us, we will distribute them and ensures that they go to the most deserving kids.
9.When the distribution is done, we will publicize on our website the handing over.

DONATE CASH FOR SHIPPING

We are in need of cash for sending or shipping containers around the world. You can make a donation through our bank and fax us proof of your deposit for us to acknowledge your much needed contribution.