By SHANNON SKAE, health and life coach at Revive with Shan The following question has been on my mind lately: How can we be our own biggest supporters? Most people have an inner critic or a little voice in their head that constantly tells them they are “not enough”, that they “shouldn’t have been so stupid”, “that they weigh too much”, or “do not look good today,” among countless others. These examples are what many would refer to as negative self-talk. The inner critic can be any talk directed at you that sounds negative or makes you doubt yourself and…
Author: Nyx Mclean
By ROD AMNER AND NYX MCLEAN Welcome to another year with Grocott’s Mail. We are back after a much-needed break, and we appreciate your support and understanding over the last few weeks. We will gear up to full production soon as our student journalists start the academic year next month. As late-January temperatures soar, Makhandas are seething with frustration with the municipal water supply. Theoretically, Makhanda has plenty of water. The Glen Melville Dam in the east, which feeds the James Kleyhans Water Treatment Works (JKWTW), has been connected to the Fish-Orange river system for decades. And, after some good…
By SHANNON SKAE, Health and life coach at Revive with Shan It is a new year, but some of the stressors of the previous years remain, making it hard to hit the reset button. Many of us are starting the year feeling stressed and overwhelmed. Stress plagues us no matter where we go. This stress impacts our bodies because our sympathetic nervous system is activated when we are stressed or panicked. This releases cortisol, which has several effects, including suppressing the immune system; inhibiting our ability to digest food; weight gain, causing anxiety and depression and sleep issues; it can…
By GILLIAN RENNIE What’s in the box that makes four professionals smile like this? A bundle of feline pluck with a huge voice, that’s what. Frances Street resident San Knoetze had exhausted all her options (dismay, ladders, long-poled pool scoop, a few other people) when she called in the pros. The cat, too, had reached the end of its terror. Her morning had already included a turn on the top of a wall separating a total of five dogs, a crazed dash across the garden into a swimming pool to avoid snapping canine jaws, a just-in-time rescue by the roof…
By IKHALA VETERINARY CLINIC We are finally here, at the end of a very long and trying year. Some of us may be planning on going away for a much-needed break, but we may not be able to take our pets with us. This leaves us with a challenging task – finding someone trustworthy to take care of our pets. How can you trust that this person will be providing the care or service you expect? There are always risks when leaving your pets with someone else, but there are some steps you can take to ensure that you reduce…
By ROD AMNER The Rotary Club of Grahamstown handed over two sizeable R67 387 cheques to Food4Futures Ithemba Le Kamva (F4F) and Hospice recently. The R134 774 raised is a Rotary Club fundraising record, the successful combination of its online and live ‘Grand Finale’ auction. F4F’s Mary Birt said her organisation was “privileged to be considered worthy of support alongside Grahamstown Hospice which has, for many years, been an inspiration in community service”. “Our grateful thanks to the Rotary Club of Grahamstown for the sizeable donation and congratulations on such a wonderful event,” Birt said. “We have 160 people/families on…
By SHANNON SKAE, Health Coach at Revive with Shan Content warning: Suicide Poor mental health continues to be a crisis in South Africa, with recent numbers showing that over one-third of South Africans are affected. The South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) reported that since October 2021, suicide numbers have increased. SADAG reports that there are an estimated 23 suicides and 460 attempted suicides per day in South Africa. It is unclear how many go unreported. Calls to the SADAG helpline have significantly increased from 600 per day to approximately 2200. The increase in attempted and completed suicide rates…
By ROD AMNER and NYX MCLEAN This edition of GMDirect is our last one for the year. It is incredible how quickly the time has passed since our first late night in early August putting together articles to be sent out on a Friday morning. Grocott’s Mail shifted slightly when we stepped in. While we continued to be a source of news for the community, and we have enjoyed covering news in Makhanda like the local government elections and illegal dumping, we also became a teaching newspaper. We have spent the last few months mentoring students in their journeys as…
By MAKWENA MANAKA Joza Police Station has one of the highest gender-based violence (GBV) reporting rates in the Sarah Baartman District. This was revealed by Joza SAPS station commander Colonel Nomsa Mtshagi at a GBV dialogue session on Thursday, 25 November, attended by about 80 people at Noluthando Hall. The dialogue – themed “The year of Charlotte Mannya Maxeke – moving from awareness to accountability” – marked the start of Makhanda’s response to the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Abuse campaign. Mtshagi said many GBV cases are opened over weekends and that alcohol abuse was a contributing factor.…
By NYX MCLEAN The last few weeks have seen us at Grocott’s Mail confronted with some tough and very sensitive topics, namely sexual violence in schools. As we find ourselves at the start of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, I find that we need to reflect on our commitment to reporting on gender-based violence and violence against children. I wrote my Masters thesis over ten years ago on rape reporting at Grocott’s Mail, finding that the newspaper did not have the capacity to report effectively on gender-based violence (GBV) and that, at the time, it was not…