In May this year, thirty students from schools in and around Pietermaritzburg attended a Digital Arts Residency, an intensive classroom based workshop, designed to deliver engaging, personalised learning.  During the workshop students were asked to write, shoot and edit films based on an established curriculum around social issues that matter to them for example, HIV/AIDS and race relations. “As part of the programme, the participants have to write the script, make use of Nokia devices to film the content and then edit the footage on a laptop computer,” says Kulsoom Ally, head of corporate social investment, Nokia Middle East and Africa. “The completed films are then used in classrooms across KwaZulu Natal to shed light on important issues that affect the youth of South Africa.”

Once the students have completed the workshop they will become student mentors at Caversham’s CreACTive Centres in KZN. “Working in groups of three, they will use the centre’s mobile lab to teach other students in under-served communities how to create films that are both personal and also tied to local curriculum,” says Malcolm Christian from Caversham CreACTive Centres.  “Additionally teachers from a wide spectrum of schools will learn how to incorporate digital arts into their existing lesson plans to bring 21^st century life skills to their students.”

Caversham CreACTive Centres began in South Africa in 2002 at Jabula Combined School in the rural community of Lidgetton and is the venue for art-based creative interaction where individual potential is nurtured through personal development and life-skill training.

“By sharing the latest mobile technologies in classrooms, these programmes help teachers and students to develop the necessary skills they need to design, develop and complete the collaborative digital arts projects that will shape their future,” says Malcolm Christian of the Caversham Centre..

Grier started this epic journey in Mozambique and paddled some 500km on his kayak to Madagascar. There, he swopped his paddle for running shoes and set out on an estimated 2500 km run of the island from south to north. In order to assist Grier in navigating the rough terrain, Nokia sponsored two Nokia 6710 Navigator phones for his gruelling journey to provide him with not only a reliable ‘second’ but his tool to navigate, document and communicate throughout the extreme expedition.

During his journey, Grier has been streaming his adventure across a number of social media.  The Nokia 6710 Navigator has enabled him to share his journey with people across the world through social media which in turn has kept him motivated. Grier has been using the phone as a map, a camera and more importantly as a way of staying connected with the world and people at home. This is the first time an event of this nature is being streamed on a number of social media platforms where Grier’s progress can be monitored by followers globally. Grier currently has over 10 000 people following his journey via YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

This is not the first challenge David Grier has undertaken in an aim to help raise funds for Operation Smile. In 2006, Grier and fellow athlete Braam Malherbe (52) became the first people in history to run the length of the Great Wall of China in one attempt, a journey covering 4,200km. In 2008 the pair ran the length of the Southern African coastline from Namibia to Mozambique a distance spanning over 3,000km. In the process, they’ve raised R3 million for Operation Smile.

Once this journey is complete, Grier will once again have made history as he will be the first person to have completed this particular distance across the Indian Ocean and through the Madagascan Island. To date, Grier has completed over 2,000km and the journey has been extremely tough.  According to the most recent reports, Grier has already lost about 15 kilograms, has battled recurrent bouts of swamp fever, food poisoning, infected leech bites and now bilharzias, and he still has another 500km to go before completing the challenge this weekend.

From sweltering rugged savannahs to humid leech infested swamps and forests and uninhabited wild lands Grier has been challenged both physically and mentally over the past 3 months. In completing this challenge it will not only be a personal achievement comprising two world firsts but a fulfilling journey as the money he raises will go towards providing free treatment to children and adults suffering from cleft lips and cleft palates and thanks to his Nokia 6710 Navigator phone he is able to share this journey with the world.  Visit www.milesforsmiles.co.za to view just what David has experienced and achieved, and uploaded through these remarkable phones.

About Operation Smile South Africa

Operation Smile South Africa medical volunteers repair childhood facial deformities while building public and private partnerships that advocate sustainable healthcare systems for children and families in South Africa, Southern Africa and around the world. Operation Smile South Africa is part of a global alliance of Operation Smile foundations and chapters dedicated to providing free treatment to children and adults suffering from cleft lips and cleft palates. Together, they create smiles, change lives, and heal humanity. Operation Smile mobilizes a world of generous hearts to heal children's smiles and transform lives across the globe.

“Some of the biggest names in UK and American music have joined forces to record an emotive cover of the REM classic ‘Everybody Hurts’,” says Jake Larsen, head of music for Nokia South Africa. “The track has been priority listed in all of Nokia’s online music stores, including South Africa.”

With a presence in 33 markets, including South Africa, which now has 6 million tracks available for download, Russia, Brazil, UAE, India, Mexico, South America and the UK, Nokia is encouraging music lovers to raise money by downloading the single.  A newsletter is being sent to all Nokia Music customers and banner advertising across Nokia’s owned online will drive customers to their local Nokia Music Store.

“The track costs R10 to download and all proceeds will go towards the relief efforts in Haiti,” says Larsen.  “The track features some of the music industry’s most popular artists including

Mariah Carey, Jon Bon Jovi, Robbie Williams, Kylie, Rod Stewart, Leona Lewis, Alexandra Burke, Miley Cyrus, Take That, Joe McElderry, Cheryl Cole, JLS, Mika, Michael Bublé, James Blunt, James Morrison, Susan Boyle, and Westlife,” he says.

To download the single, head to

http://music.nokia.co.za/IE/Product.aspx?id=OD2DI6947904 or http://music.nokia.co.za

Notes to Editors:

‘Everybody Hurts’ is a priority single in the following Nokia Music Stores:

Austria, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Finland, France, United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, South Africa, Brazil, India, UAE, Singapore, Mexico, Malaysia, Russia

According to Tania Steenkamp, communications manager at Nokia South Africa, the world of technology is changing and the biggest changes can be seen in the mobile technology space. As a result, people no longer need different devices to do different things.  For example digital cameras, alarm clocks, diaries, laptops and even torches no longer need to be carried around as separate items as they have all been incorporated into the mobile device.  However, although the advancement of hardware is extraordinary, the future lies in mobile device applications and focus needs to be placed on how technology is used to best meet a consumers needs through the collaborative power of people.

One of the highlights of the session was guest speaker, Richard Mulholland from Missing Link and Thunk! who shared his views on why manufacturers should start to put the developer at the centre of their business.  According to Mulholland, the customer centric model is outdated and companies that truly want to get ahead in the mobile space need to put more focus on the developers.  Mulholland also explained that because developers are users, often their applications are as a result of their own personal user experience.  More organisations need to provide the tools and forums to unleash the creative and collaborative power of developers, as there is a potential developer in all of us waiting to invent the next revolutionary application to change the way we live.

Nokia also showcased the Nokia N900 which has been earmarked as one of the device of the future as it combines all the elements of basic communications functionality with the ability to run world class applications on the Meamo operating system.  However the most interest has been shown in Nokia's 3G Booklet, which although not yet available in South Africa, will definitely be a strong challenger to other similar products.

The local initiative forms part of Nokia’s global take-back scheme which currently covers 85 countries. The campaign calls not only for the return of old Nokia devices, but rather any manufacturer device can be dropped in the bins.

“Since the start of the campaign we have had a very positive response from our trade customer as well as our end users,” comments Matthew Channing, Nokia’s head of customer care in Sub Saharan Africa. “We are seeing more and more customers returning their old and broken devices for recycling at our Care points and we are ramping up awareness through a radio campaign to ensure people know about this environmentally friendly solution.”

This year we again held a recycling collection drive at two of the county’s busiest shopping malls, one in Durban and one in Pretoria.  Over 447 devices were collected in Durban alone, more than four times the amount that was collected in the first drive in 2008.  As part of this year’s campaign, which coincided with Arbor Week in South Africa, Nokia established a sustainable Food Garden at a school in Orange Farm, working closely with NPO The Food Gardens Foundation in Johannesburg  http://www.foodgardensfoundation.org.za/

Energy saving chargers

Two thirds of the energy consumed by a mobile phone charger during its usage is lost when the phone is fully charged and unplugged but the charger is left connected to the mains, this is termed “no-load” mode. In an effort to reduce this energy loss, Nokia became the first mobile manufacturer to put alerts into phones encouraging people to unplug their chargers when not in use.

Nokia started this campaign with the introduction of three mass market phones, a move that alone could save enough energy a year to power 100 000 average sized homes. The alerts have now been included across Nokia’s product range.

Energy use in Nokia facilities

“Twenty-five percent of the electricity used in Nokia facilities is from renewable sources and we have a global target to increase this to 50% in 2010”, continues Channing. “From 2003 to 2006, Nokia increased energy saving in our facilities around the world to 3,5 percent. We are targeting further progress in this area, aiming to achieve a cumulative saving of 6 percent before 2012 in our annual facilities energy consumption,” concludes Channing.

Environmental friendly packaging

In a move to reduce Nokia’s footprint, smaller device packaging was created in February 2006 using less than half of the normal materials. Accessories packaging was also redesigned to reduce the amount of plastic used by 60 percent. The cardboard used in Nokia packaging has been made significantly thinner.

 By the end of 2007 Nokia  shipped 250 million phones using the compact packaging resulting in 5000 fewer trucks needed to distribute products around the world and creating financial saving of over R700 million.

For more information on Nokia’s recycling activities visit www.nokia.com/werecycle