Team Green Felt Hearts Poetry Arts Experience rejoiced upon being declared second best in the Amateurs Category of the Durban Sandcastle Contest held at New Beach on Saturday, 1 October.

The team comprising Mikhail Peppas, Sana Ebrahim, Ravi Moodley, Ulisha Beosumbar, Angela Hsu and Dawn Haddon entered the contest under the Cycles 4 Social Justice (C4SJ) umbrella body.

C4SJ is a citizen-based organisation that aims to instil a love for the cycle and widen the enthusiasm for cycling as sport and transport in South Africa. A specific emphasis is placed on making the cycle a central aspect in the lives of the blind and other challenged eco-cyclists. The organisation has kick-started a variety of projects in collaboration with the KwaZulu-Natal Blind Tandem Cycling Association and The Community Resource Centre in the build-up to COP17.

The Green Felt Hearts Poetry Arts Experience initiative encourages arts and poetry experiences around themes of ecology, sustainable living and cycling. One of the organisation’s aims is to have everyone wearing a green felt heart during COP17.  ‘Green Felt Heart’ poetry and art sessions will feature as part of the Green Hub festivities for COP17. The organisation is registered with the World Poetry Movement.

The team built a giant Re-Cycled Saddle and decorated it with a bicycle wheel, Brazilian flag (Soccer World Cup hosts 2014), Brazilian mascot on a bike, hooter, microwave that transmitted the first signal for Greater Durban Television (GDTV) in 1994, green felt hearts, and recycled bottles and caps. The result: Art Technology in Action.

2011 marked the first annual Durban Sandcastle Contest hosted by Street Scene Tours in conjunction with East Coast Radio’s Funsunzi campaign. The event is a celebration of Durban’s beachfront: friends, family, sand and sun. The competition ran from 9am to 2pm with street artists, music and a fashion show providing the backdrop along with the gently crashing waves of the Indian Ocean.