Autism is a condition (some will call it “disease”) that affects a person’s moods, ability to communicate, and ability to integrate into society. It’s thought to be genetically handed down, it manifests when the child is between 2 and 3 years old, and autism has no cure.
There is no cure for autism.
Autism Western Cape is a PBO (Public Benefit Organisation) that aims to provide relief, counselling, training and support to autism sufferers in the Western Cape. It’s unknown how many autism sufferers there are in the Western Cape, but it’s known that about 1 in 86 children under the age of 6 years suffers from autism. There are more than a hundred children on school waiting lists that are known to have autism, but there are definitely more out there.
Like any PBO initiative, the AWC is in need of funding. So much so that the Executive Director - Gerhard Pieterse - has locked himself in a makeshift jail cell in Canal Walk, refusing to come out until the goal of R1 million has been raised to assist victims of autism in the Western Cape.
Apart from the money, Pieterse is also trying to raise awareness of autism, it’s effects, and where sufferers can go for treatment. Rafiq, among others, has taken up the challenge as a “case study” of how much impact a free, social-media driven campaign can have on the general population, to raise awareness, and maybe even money.
Jail4Bail is primarily an awareness drive.
The Afrigator crew have set up a Topics page for posts related to this campaign - called “Jail4Bail” - and various members of the blogosphere have been trying to help out in their own way. As a web developer with too much time on my hands, I decided to set up a gateway site, to track the progress of the Jail4Bail campaign. It’s available at Jail4Bail.co.za, and will be improved upon in the coming week.
I believe that the collective force of the South African blogosphere can make a measurable impact on the awareness aspect of this campaign, and I’m also hoping to see that in the coming weeks. We can make a difference in this. Blog about it, retweet the links, and if you’re nearby, stop and say “hi”. It must get cold there at night…
Thank you for you support
Well, hey, it’s the little bit I can do to help - you’re welcome :)
At last, a great description of what exactly it is.
Haha, yep. Here we are, trying to raise money to fight autism, and most of us have no idea what it actually is, lol. Like I said, just doing my bit :)
kudos wogan!