During my more naive and idealistic years, I thought that studying law could enable me to help make a dent of change in the world. Then a visit to one of the magistrates courts slapped me back to reality. Two years later, Jurisprudence (the philosophy of law) discussions put into words what I had witnessed in the court that day:

– the legal system ultimately only assisted the affluent

– the South African Constitution is a great written work but too ideal to implement effectively

– lawyers, judges, attorneys, advocates, prosecutors… they were all human and swayed by human flaws

– justice was just a matter of perception… undefinable

To be honest, my path into the world of journalism was not a planned one but it made me see more instant effects. I'm not the all-caring all-for-change happy floaty person who hands R100 notes to beggars and I don't pretend to be nor do I preach about helping others. However seeing it and being able to do something does make me smile.

In the first couple of months of my life as a journalist I wrote an article about refugees and a week later I received a call from the refugee that I spoke to, pastor Matabaro, calling me to visit the Old Prison in Pietermaritzburg immediately. I went there, a tad annoyed for being pulled away from my scheduled day, only to find masses of refugees collecting food. A person from a church had read my article and now donates food monthly to help out all the refugees. "You did that!" the pastor had said to me that day.

I've written about many non-profit organisations in my last nine months of working for a newspaper. All of them doing good for the community in their own special way. Recently, a women repeated those three words to me after her project had received some funding.

"You did that!" she said.

It never means as much to me as it does to them. I'm merely doing my job. I have little control over what goes into the newspaper and what doesn't and sometimes, I wish I cared more. (I blame studying law for killing all empathy in me, despite me only studying it for two years).

Almost two years ago, I wrote a post on how easy it would be to make a change using modern technology. Today we witness instantaneous alerts about the earthquake in Japan, the nuclear power plant explosions and other countries that may be affected by it. The devastation is broadcast everywhere (except maybe Libya… but that's not because they don't care!), and people are calling to help globally.

In that light, here are some of the non-profit projects that I have written about that are making small but great changes in society (their details are at the bottom of the linked articles).

– Commodes for young children with Cerebral Palsy: Because dignity is one of the key human rights in the South African Constitution. These commodes assist in toilet-training young children with disabilities in rural areas. While commodes are not new, the design is. It's wooden, stable, easy to move and can be used outside. The design is soon to be made available freely for others to extend the project independently… and hopefully it will end up helping anyone who may need it; old or young.

– A baby safe in KZN (follow up article): Because young babies are abandoned and left to die almost every day and here's someone who's willing to look after the 'unwanted burden' free of charge and without complaint. Babies are innocent. Urgh! I understand unwanted pregnancies and financial burdens, but you don't leave the little bundle in a garbage bin.

– Free Rehab for drug addicts and alcoholics: Because substance abuse is increasing rapidly and it affects every aspect of life and change. It plays a role in the increase of crime, domestic violence, poverty and road accidents, hence affecting everyone of us.

– Refugees in PMB (of course): Because life for them is already hard enough.

Just a few years ago, a crisis occuring somewhere across of our countries borders seemed like little concern because there was little that we could do to help. But now, the world is at our fingertips. Change is at out fingertips. And no matter how small the gesture, every bit counts (kinda like voting 😉

Tharuna Devchand

The world is a strange place. There is an increase of opportunities and this floating ideal that everyone is a star. However, accessing these opportunities are near impossible if you don't have the money or contacts to help you.

 Accelerating globalisation and new-found equalities have resulted in more competition as everyone is now breaking out into what they truly want to do or what seems like more fun than their current day job.

Self helps books are indoctrinating us with their generalised platitudes: "Anything is possble", "Be who you have always wanted to be", "Just do it" (oh wait, that's Nike).

Today, that conservative view holding back the artistic types due to fear of monetary failure still exists but is less binding. People rather opt for the meagre income they get from doing what they love. There is an increase in qualified lawyers who are now radio DJs and rockstars; doctors and accountants who are comedians, and matric-less entrepreneurs. Everybody believes that they can be and do everything, be it writing a novel or self-medicating when they have the flu.

It all sounds glamourous and inspiring, but it's hard. 

It's very easy to say "just go for it… jump!", but there's a lot at stake and EVERYBODY has something holding them back. Fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of success and just fear of financial difficulties are all valid reasons to not quit your current day job that you hate, to not finish that novel or to not emigrate in search for better opportunities in order to become the proverbial 'someone'. 

My philosophy is "baby steps!" Work that shit job and pull yourself through the kak while slowly moving towards what you truly want.

When I was in high school, I wanted to become a film director (or an advert designer person but more a director). A fellow pupil even told me before assembly one morning that I had the stride of one and it just elevated my dream of becoming one (even though I had no idea what it even meant). However, my guidance teacher believed otherwise and said, "You can have your dreams but they must be sensible." 

My parents, as any caring parents would, favoured the more sensible and stable option and I took the road well-trodden on.

After I had dragged myself through four years of university to get a BA Hons and be met with 6 months of unemployment, my dreams had become jaded. The logical option of completing an LLB and living in courts fighting for an 'anti-justice' seemed rosier than a pauper but I was unwilling to prove everybody right by completing my LLB.

I saw a message on Facebook about a short film challenge for the Durban International Film Festival. I wanted to do it but I had R2000 in my account and almost nothing to make it work. The challenge involved making a five minute film in three weeks.

On the first day of the challenge, I got that phonecall I had been waiting for: I had a job as a features writer for a newspaper. Knowing that I would have some income soon, I spent R1500 on editing software and started writing a script and gathering friends who would be interested in helping. Most of them dropped out and a week and a half later, I had one friend, Heloise (I would never have been able to complete the movie without her), helping me out and no cast.

I thought "FK it!". I didn't care about how kak my father's 2005 mini DVD handy-cam and editing software was. I just had to do it.

What resulted is a mad filming shoot over one weekend. It was never easy. The place that we had planned to film the office scene turned out to be empty with only one scratched on table and two broken chairs (one which was bright purple). We used curtains as a table cloth and as a way to transform the empty space into some kind of upmarket office. Due to the rigid time constraints, we were also unable to do second takes for certain scenes…. hence the scene where the main guy is looking the wrong way. My remaining R500 was used on food for the cast, petrol and a few props so there was no way to combat the setting sun to steal more time (though we did try flashlights).

 On top of all that, I had never studied film. I borrowed a book from the library on camera work and just clicked away until I worked out how to use the editting programme.

It was a crazy mess and I never believed it would even make it through the judges to the screening at the Durban International Film Festival. But it did.

How I won was a mix of popularity and luck. The vote, originally meant to be on the DIFF website, was on Facebook. My friend however still thinks that our movie was the best. I think its a load of krap, but I'm also very insecure of my work… like most artists.

Oh well, that is how it won Best Film for the DIFF Short Film Challenge.

The point: Just go for it.

Tharuna Devchand

I thoroughly enjoyed participating in Think About It Climate Change blogging competition. It was great learning experience, got to learn so much more about our world, environment and also about myself.

 Let me be a pompous a## and start by explaining how glorious I feel now that I have successfully participated in this month long competition. It feels great to have contributed to the debate on climate change and Nepal, although towards the end I got a little wiser and wrote about US issues too.

 It was not all about me, I learned about our world too. There is still hope and there are committed people working hard to make a difference. That was a reality check for a chronic cynic like me.

 So, all of you who love this world and our environment, please keep the fire burning. We have keep climate change discussion relevant and push fore more action to deal with issue. 

Bhumika Ghimire

Clean coal is an oxymoron, just like "intelligent design" or "Senate ethics panel". There is nothing clean about coal, you burn it and the by-products are harmful to the planet. Coal can be made clean if you just don't burn it!

Now, even in heartland of the big coal country America, the public is seeing through the big lie being spread around by the coal industry. In Kentucky, locals have embraced clean energy instead of a coal plant.

Jeff Biggers at Huffington Post says,

"Recognizing the spiraling costs of coal-fired plant construction and more practical energy efficiency and renewable energy options, the East Kentucky Power Cooperative has agreed to halt its once fervent plans to construct two coal-burning power plants in Clark County.

The announcement comes nearly one year after American Municipal Power abandoned its plans to build a coal-fired power plant along the Ohio River in Meigs County, and shifted the battle between coal-fired plants and New Power sources to Kentucky.

Led by EKPC members, the Sierra Club, Kentucky Environmental Foundation and Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, along with individual co-op members Wendell Berry, Father John Rausch and Dr. John A. Patterson, the announcement comes as an extraordinary shift in the national debate over coal-fired energy."

A very positive development indeed. Kentucky is moving in right direction, not only are they saving money by not choosing coal, they are also saving the environment and some cold cash.

"Clean coal" lie manufacturers must be going crazy right now. Let them! facts and science don't support them either. Here are some simple truths about coal 

• Carbon capture and storage(a plan that could make coal "clean") is a scam.
• 24,000 people a year still die prematurely from pollution emitted at coal-fired power plants, in addition to a litany of other health effects that injure and impede hundreds of thousands of Americans.
• Time magazine reported in 2009,"coal remains a highly polluting source of electricity that has serious impacts on human health, especially among those who live near major plants. Take coal ash, a solid byproduct of burned coal. A draft report last year by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that the ash contains significant levels of carcinogens, and that the concentration of arsenic in ash, should it contaminate drinking water, could increase cancer risks by several hundred times."

  And the list of myths and lies about coal and clean coal goes on and on. The industry is spending millions to cheat people, instead of investing it on honestly clean power plants. How about investing in a wind farm or solar energy, you "clean coal" liars?

Bhumika Ghimire