Elsie from Ons Huis in Cape Town!

The official charity for all Mr SA 2010 semi finalists was Ons Huis, a charity for mentally challenged adults based in Pretoria. The head of this charity is a lovely lady by the name of Elsie Van Der Walt. I had met her briefly in Johanesburg for the finalist announcement. We had stayed in contact since and she informed me that she would be in Cape Town...

So we had to meet up while she was down here. We arranged a dinner along with co-Cape Town finalist Ruan Groenewald. It was great to see Elsie again. She is such a sweet lady but now I got to see her real character and she is a barrel of laughs and has quite the naughty side! Thus she made the night a lot of fun as she is so easy going.

She handed over to me a Ons Huis piggy bank, signed by some of the handicapped adults who live at the home. It was a really touching moment as we live in such a self-interested dog-eat-dog world where everybody only seems to care about money and keeping others oppressed, but here is this woman who has now devoted her life to helping others. And always with a smile on her face. She also showed me that night that not everything needs to be taken so seriously all the time, and that words often dont mean that much, but its peoples' actions that count and what we hold in our souls that makes the difference. And she has a beautiful soul. And so does Ruan, he is a really nice guy also with a beautiful soul.

So it was great to see Elsie and Ruan again. Elsie further instilled my belief that we all can make a difference and further renewed my confidence in myself that I can make a difference. Thanks Elsie for being an inspiration to us all, that we can all make a difference while having a laugh along the way!

Cosmo Swimwear Fashion Show

The beginning of summer signalled one of the season's most anticipated shows... the Cosmo Swimwear Fashion Show. It was different in that it was not a traditional show, but more an advertising medium for the sponsors to show their stuff. Sometimes I feel sponsors are not dealt a good hand but Cosmo definitely knows how to market so well done to them!

In every scene there was some sort of brand association. Even before the show had started there were promoters of every brand that was going to be in the show, handing out product or talking about their prospective brands. The Davidoff Cool Water scene we had Tracey MacGregor spraying herself with perfume, the Vawter scene the models were drinking it and dancing as if in a club, the Havianas scene the models came out in outfits made of havianas slip slops and the Bonaqua scene the models sprayed it all over each other...

In times of economic downturn, companies want bang for their buck, Cosmo has obviously caught onto this and thus they made their sponsors products the main focus. It did get a little annoying as it just seemed that product was getting shoved in our face, but the models were beautiful, the lighting good and great music and costumes so all in all it was a great show...

And summer has just begun!!!