The Chatsworth Youth Centre and the Umlazi History Forum invites you to the launch of Jay Naidoo’s book.

Date: Saturday - 7 August 2010
Time: 1pm promptly
Venue: Chatsworth Youth Centre

Five years ago Kamikatsu, in south-western Japan, embarked on an ambitious environmental campaign that, if successful, could become a model for the rest of the country, and beyond. By 2020, the village’s 2,000 residents aim to eliminate the use of landfills and incinerators, and instead recycle or reuse every single item of household waste.

It was not that long ago that life in Kamikatsu revolved around the state of the rice crop and the number of tourists arriving to soak in the restorative waters of the local hot spring. Now the tiny village, in the densely wooded mountains of Shikoku island in south-west Japan, has a new obsession: rubbish.

Since 2003 Kamikatsu's 2,000 residents have been part of a so far unheralded ecological experiment that, if successful, could force bin men across the country to look for new jobs.

Urban Japanese householders, who balk at having to divide rubbish into flammable and inflammable items, bottles and cans, should spare a thought for their counterparts in Kamikatsu.

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In an attempt to ease poverty in the deep rural areas of the eThekwini Municipal area, the City Council, in partnership with the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Department of Health, donors Foodbank and a consortium of fifty medical specialists from the United States of America will provide medical assistance to the poverty-stricken residents of eNgonyameni on the outskirts of uMlazi Township, south of  Durban.

The United Hands Project will take place at Vumengazi Traditional Court, eNgonyameni on Tuesday and Wednesday, 27 and 28 July 2010.