mandela day - durban disappointment

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To Cheesekids and 5fm

A group of us attended your Mandela Day event in Durban today and enjoyed the experience. It was a great initiative and it felt good to take part in celebrating Madiba's birthday by doing something we would usually not be able to do. There were, however, some things we felt should have been done a lot better, and hopefully you will be able to use the constructive criticism to improve future events:

1.The organisation of this event was shocking and really disappointing. We arrived at Gateway just before 11 and then waited for the bus for almost an hour, and when it did arrive there was not enough space. Half of the crowd had already left and those who had stayed were still not able to fit on. Surely those who were in charge(was there anyone in charge?) should have known how many busses were available, and once the maximum number of people had registered, the rest should have been informed that there would be no more space. At least that way they could have gone to do some shopping/see a movie and return for the next shift.

2.Why on earth were we made to meet at gateway, which was so far from the venue? Surely there was a place to meet that was significantly closer (eg Galleria) and that way it would have made shuttling peopleto and from the creche easier. It did not have to be at a shopping centre, surely we could have met at a school/field closer to the creche. Logistically, it really did not make sense and was a waste of time for many people.

3.When we eventually did get to the venue, there was no direction and absolutely nobody in charge. All you needed was one person at each station (four in total) just to direct people and tell them what to do and where to do it. By the time we arrived (only the second group of the day, and almost 2 hours late!!) the veggie garden and cooking had already been completed. We eventually decided to start a second veggie garden, just so that we had something to do. This in itself was relatively chaotic, with young children using the pick axes with no supervision and making things quite dangerous for others who wereworking.

4.When the bus came back, there was no announcement and many people were left behind.

5 There were far too many people and not enough work to do. There really should have been two or more sites. Surely you could have estimated from the amount of people who had registered if there would be enough work for us on the one site. We came away from our experience with very mixed feelings, mostly disappointment. This really was a great opportunity for people to help, however due to the fact that there was absolutely no structureor organisation, we felt like it was an opportunity wasted. We were so enthusiastic to work hard, but many of those who were making the veggie patch or plastering had very little idea of how to do our jobs well. What is the point of getting so many of us out there, only for us to do a poor job. How disappointed will the kids be if their veggies never come up or the plastering falls off the walls, because there was nobody there to give us simple, quick instructions before we started? Also, was the plastering completed? It really is a poor reflection on us if it was left half finished. It sends the message to those who work at the creche that we were not there to make a difference, rather just to do something for 67 minutes so that we could say that we had done it. That was certainly not the case for my friends and I, and a concerted effort should be made to ensure that the jobs were completed.

7. 5fm, it is all very well to advertise and encourage people to come,but you should have been more involved in the actual event. Maybe then it would have been more organised. 5fm had no representation there, and in my opinion you would have been embarrassed to see how poorly organised it was. How many people are going to walk away from today and form the opinion that other 5fm events in the future will be as disorganised? Not a good advertisement for you I'm afraid!

8.Cheesekids, it was great to take part, but you need to have people who are clearly in charge of and responsible for the event. Every person we asked while waiting for the bus said they were just helping out, but did not work for the organisation and could give us no information/take no responsibility.

All in all it was a good day, however I really feel that it was awasted opportunity. Hopefully next year will be better.

Lauren

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