Last weekend I had the honour of being a judge at the Mzansi Magic Market Day in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The Market Day is an M-net Cares initiative. It was previously known as “KTV Market Day” and is an entrepreneurial day for children between the ages of 7 and 15. The TV station was there to document the whole day. Below is a picture of us, the judges of the talent show, with the film crew. P.E.’s regional winners for the talent show were two boys who danced to Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal”. They are twins and their performance was incredible. They will now compete online, per a video entry, and voters will decide!
It was such a super experience. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the talent show and seeing what the performers came up with. A day filled with total fun while some kids host a stall somewhere in the mall to sell an item of their choice (these are the ‘moguls’) and other kids take part in the talent competition (these are the ‘stars’). There were many acts in the talent show, ranging from dancing and singing to more. There were gorgeous prizes up for grabs including huge cash prizes and opportunities to perform at other events in the city. On the day there were 95 stalls throughout Walmer Park shopping centre and over 350 kids! The foot count at 3pm was a staggering 19, 000! Utter madness. I recommend you go check out the Mzansi Magic website, it’s very nice: http://www.mzansimarket.co.za/
I also attended a very quaint event hosted at The Granary here in Stanley Street in Port Elizabeth. It was a High Tea in aid of Lake Farm. Lake Farm is a home for 90 intellectually disabled adults who live in 7 hostels. Most of the residents work in 10 different work groups or workshops and contribute to the upkeep and running of the centre. The village started in 1959, opened in 1960 and celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2010. Set in the rural Kragga Kamma area, 15 km from Port Elizabeth , Lake Farm Centre offers a tranquil and picturesque environment that provides a permanent home for 90 mentally challenged adults; living and working together in harmonious co-operation. There was a fantastic talk given by Karel Leerink – buyer for Truworths in Greenacres shopping centre here in Port Elizabeth. He gave us some excellent tips on shopping as well as on all the latest trends in fashion. Everyone got a goodie bag to take home and music was provided by a band of Lake Farm residents.
