Meet Roz Griffin, a singer and composer with a studio in Pretoria, South Africa (www.rozgriffin.co.za). She writes across all genres – ballads, rock, jazz, country and pop, also rap, which she penned for inclusion in a feature film score. Roz is a regular meditator and avid believer in self-empowerment. She is a member of the TS and lectures at her local lodge on subjects like the subtle power of music, the importance of kindness to others, creating our own reality and how gratitude brings miracles into our lives (including one that will be related here).

Pillars of the TS in South Africa, Ann and Tom Davis, have alerted us to Roz’s other passion – animal welfare – and how she recently put her writing talents to work to help launch a nationwide campaign that has achieved undreamt of success.

The organisation Be Wise Sterilise (https://www.sterilise.co.za/) is displaying this sign around Pretoria as part of its campaign to combat one of the biggest problems in animal welfare around the world.

At our request, Roz relates her story:

In South Africa, many people are very poor and cannot afford to pay to sterilise their animals. Animal shelters are full to the brim. Countless creatures never know a real home other than a cage in a shelter until euthanised. Tens of thousands die simply of disease or neglect every year. South African citizens are unaware that vets often offer special rates in order to fight the animal population explosion.

In December 2013, I came across people from an organisation called Be Wise Sterilise. When I heard of their intention to launch a campaign, I offered them the wording and music for a radio announcement.  They accepted.  I suggested they contact one of the larger radio stations in our area of Pretoria.  I am happy to say that some weeks later they advised me that they had been granted free airplay by the largest media group in the country which owns four stations across South Africa and had offered to run the announcement for seven days on all four stations five times a day.  These stations reach across the whole country and the advertising time they donated would normally cost 266,000.00 Rand (over $US25,000).

The result for this campaign has been way beyond any expectations the campaign organisers had. They have been flooded with calls from all over the country from people wanting to donate, or offer their services. Another station took up the announcement (hear it here) after they were contacted and ran it twice a day for the entire month of April and are continuing today, all at no charge.

Other local stations nationwide will be contacted by the Be Wise Sterilise team once they have had the time to handle all the enquiries and offers that have come in so far.

I am happy that Tom and Ann Davis asked me to write this story for the international TOS because it may inspire readers to try for free radio time in their own countries on sterilisation or a different animal-related issue.

At the Pretoria Lodge, we have a practice that may interest readers. The collection taken up at meetings is sometimes donated to animal rescue organisations. On those occasions, attendees are invited to bring some dog or cat food as a donation for a selected shelter. The Pretoria Lodge members always give generously and I thank them very much.

Kind regards to you all,

Roz

 EN31 June 2014    >Back to newsletter    >Top