ashburton aloe festival programme 2020
Activities
Patsy Devine
'Connected though apart'
liberty work with horses
Join Patsy Devine as she takes us into her world of liberty work with horses with her demonstration 'Connected though apart.'
David from T’Shinga Training Kennels in Assagay discusses and demonstrates dog training techniques.
LMVC Game Guard
Lucky Makuyana (Aka HardLife)Lucky Makuyana (aka Hardlife) is the Lower Mpushini Valley Conservancy's Game Guard and one of the main reasons for our fundraising efforts. We need his expertise, his passion and commitment to help protect the land and wildlife it supports. Please help us keep Hardlife, our amazing Game Guard on patrol by donating through any of the secure DONATE buttons on the site.
The Art & Craft of Soap Making
Shirley Bradshaw
'Inspiring Local Innovation'
Shirley Bradshaw demonstrates the art & craft of soap making and cutting. Shirley shares how COVID-19 lockdown became the catayst for local people to innovate, adapt and survive.
COMING SOON
A Photographic Blog
Nicole May'Creatures I love'Nicole May share's a photo blog with Ashburton Aloe Festival 2020 Goes Virtual visitors and her journey to protect 'The Creatures I Love'. Nicole May is chairperson of the Mpushini Protected Environment Land Owners Association (MPELA)
COMING SOON
Duzi Disaster Fund
andrea Kotze
'Story of the Duzi Disaster'
Andrea Kotze shares her account of the Duzi Disaster (Willowton Oil & Caustic Soda Spill 13 Aug 2019) and her message that rivers and streams, and all our water sources are very valuable.
COMING SOON
Patsy Devine
Join Patsy Devine as she takes us into her world of liberty work with horses with her demonstration 'Connected though apart.' Patsy Devine’s lifelong love of horses has taken her on a never-ending journey of searching and enjoying finding ways to improve how we communicate with horses.
Patsy says “I found that without fail it is actually all about us! In this presentation I was asked to ‘share my story/my take on working with horses at liberty. The more I thought about the outline, the more I saw a link to our current COVID-19 situation. I hope it helps and entertains you.”
From as far back as she can remember, Patsy wanted to either BE a horse or be WITH a horse! Her earliest memories are that of her Mum making her a fabulous tail out of rolling up a few double spreads of newspaper and cutting it into long ‘streamers’, leaving about 6” to tuck into my little jeans. Patsy says, “This gave me the magnificent tail of a horse and set me cantering around snorting and doing pirouettes and passage and piaffe......without knowing what the heck they were!!!! Still it was horses at their very best in Posturing.”
Patsy’s other talents are art, which became her first profession. Patsy’s paintings can be found on her Facebook Page either simply Patsy Devine or Patsy Devine Art.
David Padbury
David Padbury is Director of Wilderness Training Enterprises and T'shinga Training Kennels in the Assagay Valley, KwaZulu Natal. David’s particular passion is Gun-dog Field and Obedience Training.
Under lockdown David demonstrates some training tips with his son and trusty canine companions that you are sure to want to try out.
David was born in Cape Town and moved to Southern Rhodesia as it was called then…(now Zimbabwe). David’s early life was a great outdoor adventure through the ‘50’s and the ‘60’s, and David’s choice of tertiary education was to study Agriculture.
After graduating from Gwebi Agricultural College, David’s first few years were spent in Agricultural Research before moving on to work for Anglo American on one of their major livestock enterprises.
The adventurous outdoors combined with all the agricultural studies and experience…especially with livestock…gave David great insight into the natural environment, and this became a key asset in his passion for working with dogs later in life.
A military career in both Rhodesia and South Africa added to the adventurous spirit, as did a teaching appointment in the role of Outdoor Adventure Learning, which David designed and ran for one of the Upper Highway prestigious schools. Not surprisingly, these aspects of life also had great influence on David’s passion for working with dogs and training.
David’s passion for working with dogs came late in life, although David says that dogs were always part of family life. Jasper, David’s first working Labrador, was the finest teacher he could have had, and together they became a respected team in the Field Trail community within South Africa.
This success led to the establishment of T’shinga Kennels, and a respected Dog Training career that is now the unique signature of the Kennels…“Training the T’shinga Way”…developing the potential of Owner and Dog.
The kennels provide both Boarding and Training, and the training covers a wide range of requirements from Obedience to Working Field Dogs and much in-between. David and his wife, Jean, have been married for 48 years, and have three children along with six grandchildren.
Follow David on Facebook at the T’shinga Kennels page.
Phone: 0829070744 Email: tshingakennels@gmail.com
Facebook: Tshinga Kennels
Lucky Makuyana, aka Hardlife
Lucky Makuyana, aka Hardlife was born on the 25 May 1979 in Chipinga, Zimbabwe where he grew up at a wildlife lodge where he learnt to love the African bush and nature.
Hardlife is one of six children, three boys and three girls. In 1997, Hardlife moved to Rustenberg to work at a Lodge near Sun City. Hardlife then worked for a security firm in Johannesburg that sent him to various areas – at one stage he was at Afrimat in Ashburton and fortunately for us, we convinced him to come and work for the Lower Mpushini River Conservancy.
Most of Hardlife’s knowledge is self-taught. He has loved nature and the outdoors since a young child. His favourite animal is an Impala and then Zebra. He says he is not afraid of anything except maybe a Mamba…
Hardlife is married with a family of four children, two boys and two girls ranging from one year old to seventeen years old.
Hardlife has an area of 3000 hectares territory to monitor and is an integral part of the organization.
Your donations will ensure the Conservancy is able to continue to employ him to ensure we keep our wildlands safe and free from poaching. This has become especially a challenge with COVID-19 lockdown and regulations making it impossible to hold our annual fundraiser, The Ashburton Aloe Festival.
Your contribution will contribute to this valuable work. To find out more please contact:
The Chairperson: Pandora Long
Tel: 072 6928124
Email: lowermpushinivalleyconservancy@gmail.com
Facebook: Lower Mpushini Valley Conservancy
Shirley Bradshaw
Shirley Bradshaw demonstrates the art & craft of soap making and cutting. Using flashcards Shirley gives a short explanation of the chemistry of soap and goes through some of the soaps that she produces, explaining the oil choices and different properties of some of the oils. Shirley explains the difference between commercial soap and the differences to home crafted soap products and also explains how the COVID-19 lockdown catalysed an opportunity for local people to adapt and survive.
Shirley grew up in Kwazulu-Natal and attended school at Malvern, Stanger and completed her high school year’s at Epworth High. Shirley studied at Varsity Pmb and Unisa and always loved teaching. Shirley taught piano for twelve years and ran a small private school in Pietermarizburg during the Maritzburg Civil War years of 1987 to 1993. She taught at various schools between 2003 and 2013, after which Shirley did care work in UK and then returning to her first love of teaching. As part of home schooling an Ashburton family the parents gave all their employees R1000.00 and challenged them to increase it over the next six weeks. Shirley rose to the challenge and baked and sold her goods locally.
In 2017 Shirley accepted a post as head teacher at a small school in the Midlands but was retrenched in April 2018. Finding it very difficult to get a teaching post at her age, Shirley remembered making soap for Christmas presents the year before and decided that to make soap. Shirley’s business “Functional Soaps” started in April 2018 when she ran a stall at the Ashburton Aloe Festival. She was challenged by a customer to start making mixed oil soaps.
Shirley started researching and the more she discovered the more ideas crowded into her head. Forging ahead, Shirley’s latest soap is a potato soap which lightens skin blemishes and brightens complexions. It is in the stage of being cured and tried. Shirley says, “I've always loved making things. Soap making I enjoy because it is both scientific and artistic. Also I'm making something that helps people.”
To contact Shirley Tel: 084 380 5273 Email: Shirlaitch@yahoo.co.uk Facebook: Functional Soaps
Nicole May
My name is Nicole May and I am chairperson of the Mpushini Protected Environment Land Owners Association (MPELA). MPELA was declared in February 2011 as per the South African Protected Areas Act (no 57 of 2003). This brings 665 hectares under formal conservation as a Biodiversity Stewardship Nature Reserve, the first such Community Protected Environment to be proclaimed in Kwazulu-Natal, with a vision to link these properties and incorporate a further 18 000 hectares to create a bio-corridor in the Eastern Gateway of Pietermaritzburg. Besides MPELA properties, there are several other member/leased/conservation by agreement properties that fall under the umbrella of MPELA for protection.
All MPELA properties fall within the larger area of the Lower Mpushini Valley Conservancy and have been declared biodiversity hotspots. In terms of the Ezemvelo Systemic Conservation Plan the area has an ‘irreplaceability’ status and falls within the status of Critical Biodiversity Area. This is an extremely special biodiversity area.
I am co-owner and Director of Toprock Gemstones & Minerals founded by my husband, Nick May. Even more importantly I am a mother of two incredibly talented and wonderful humans. They inspire me daily and I am every grateful for their love and input.
Despite a history of working in the corporate world before joining forces with Nick, I do not have an official list of formal tertiary education, however, I am well-studied and passionate about conservation issues. I am self-taught and have found the pursuit of researching, learning and figuring out the link between the species of Fauna and Flora, natural cycles and laws regarding Nature Conservation to be of huge importance to our world.
I am passionate about reading and together with Nick have built up an extensive library. Our beautiful valley reconciles this learning with practical observation, and the more I learn the more I realise how little I know. This scares me, as I also realise that others that have not studied even a fraction of this information about nature are often in charge of cities, provinces and countries.
We moved into the LMVC eleven years ago and the beauty and biodiversity of this valley has taught me so much, not just in conservation knowledge terms but also in how to be the best person I can be, and how important it is for all people to have access to being in Nature and connecting with who they really are. This is the main reason why, we as a Conservancy, have hosted our annual Aloe Festival and why this year, despite all the odds we have pushed through with a virtual version to still allow all of you good people a glimpse into this precious piece of heaven in Pietermaritzburg and connect with Nature.
I didn’t grow up on a farm but have always been connected to Nature. I grew up in flats and suburbia in Durban. `I must five thanks to my incredible Father, who at any opportunity, dragged me off into remote and wild areas, my Uncle in Botswana who thought nothing of taking me fishing in crocodile infested water off the Chobe River (and catching problematic crocs too) These parent figures lit a flame in me many years ago and they were the starting line to connecting me with the wild world.
Despite all of the modern civilised “improvements” to our Earth, Nature represents the true world, the one I hope that all people get an opportunity to connect with… this is what will save this beautiful earth of ours…a deep love and understanding for Nature, which is also the best cure for being in balance with the world.
To contact Nicole May
Tel: 083 677 7711
Email: nicole@toprocks.com
Andrea Kotze
Andrea Kotze shares her account of the Duzi Disaster (Willowton Chemical Spill 13 Aug 2019) and her message that rivers and streams, and all our water sources are so valuable and if we continue to pollute them one by one, we will eventually pollute them all. All water leads to the ocean and even that is in such danger.
Andrea Kotze was born and raised in Hoedspruit, Limpopo and the love for nature and the bushveld stems from those early roots. Andrea found a sense of peace and freedom growing up in the bush that she says is hard to experience in town.
Andrea moved to Durban in her teenage years and there fell in love with the ocean spending most of her teenage days on the beach and swimming and surfing. From these experiences, Andrea learnt that all water sources effected the ocean in different ways. Andrea met her partner, Sherwin when she was around twenty. Years later as parents, she says “after watching our daughter play in a tiny yard with too many neighbors and dirty air we made the move to the beautiful family farm, Galago where Sherwin grew up”.
Expecting their second child, Andrea and Sherwin decided to get their own farm, neighboring Galago farm, and called it Legavaan Rocks. They have no municipal water or a borehole and pump water from the Duzi for domestic and garden purposes.
Andrea is an early childhood educator and teaches children life skills. She describes herself, not as an environmentalist, but as a human with a huge heart, that loves all life and our beautiful earth. Andrea says “My passion is to make this world a better place and to ensure that the little people that will look after us and our world are filled with knowledge as to how to look after it too.
Tel: 082 920 6899
Email: andrea@theinstallationguys.co.za
Facebook:
The Lower Mpushini Valley Conservancy would like to thank our speakers for their contribution towards raising funds for anti-poaching and conservation.