Aug08
13
Jailed For Autism
I had a fascinating chat over Skype with Rafiq Phillips this morning. In case you don’t already know, Rafiq is a prolific blogger and Web AddiCT, he was recently featured on Carte Blanche in a piece about Web 2.0 and has rubbed shoulders with the likes of Bono and the founders of Google at global conferences. He’s somewhat of a geek celebrity…
Despite all this pixelated fame he remains humble and committed to using his knowledge and his influence for a good cause whenever he can. His most recent project comes in the form of Gerhard Pieterse, Autism’s Executive Director for the Western Cape, who has imprisoned himself in a jail cell in Canal Walk in a bid to raise R1 million for the development of autistic adults and children (interview here). Rafiq has made it his personal goal to educate Gerhard, himself the father of an autistic child, about the power of social media tools.
You see Rafiq believes he can leverage the innate power of these social media tools to generate more PR than traditional channels can, in a shorter period of time. Considering Autism Spectrum disorder affects one’s social skills on an everyday basis, there’s something really powerful about the idea of using social media to raise awareness around it.
So if you want to follow Gerhard’s progress in his jail cell (and hopefully help him reach his goal in record time), check out his Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/jail4bail or go to Zoopy.com and search for ‘jail4bail’ to see videos related to the campaign. Alternatively, if you’d like to the R 1 million autism fund you are more than welcome to drop by Gerhard Pieterse’s jail cell or you can pledge by going to their website. Cerebra’s pledged - how about you and your company do the same??
The Afrigator team has also set up a dedicated topic page to monitor social media mentions around the “Jail4Bail” campaign - please make sure you tag anything you write with “Jail4Bail” to ensure we can track you.
I get really inspired when I see clued-up, digitally-empowered young South Africans using their skills and resources to change the world. It gives me hope when hope is scarce…
I second that!
I’ve known Gerhard for a long time, and believe me this is a worthwhile cause.
Autism is something that really needs our help. As much it is an extremely challenging, lifelong prognosis and affects many lives in SA, the guys at AWC struggle to get the funding because the reality is most of donor funding goes to the ‘top of mind’ causes, AIDS, etc.
Autism, unfortunately, flies under the radar - which is why what Gerhard is doing is as much about raising awareness as it is about raising funds.
Kudos for this article.
Thank you to the likes of Rafiq and Mike, you’re taking an awareness campaign to a whole new level. Appreciation doesn’t cover it.
Great to see this awareness campaign taking off. I am the father of an Autistic son myself so I am especially affected by this campaign. Kudos Gerhard, Rafiq and Mike. Now following jail4bail….
Can one donate by sending an SMS?
There is a competition that’s currently running that’s SMS based. SMS VUKA to shortcode 38010. Cost is R10-00 plus normal service provider rates. The draw will take place when Gerhard is released. First prize: Vuka XR125, Second Prize: R3,000-00 cash and Third: R2,000-00 cash. All donated by a remarkable individual called Jaques Mulder in the Tableview area.
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