Taking NekNominations to a better place
JOBURG - Only Australians could create an online trend out of nominating ones friends to down a pint on camera.
The random act of NekNomination involves a person finding an outlandish way to down a beer – maybe upside down, balancing on a pogo stick– and then nominating two of his friends to outdo him. The bizarre act is filmed and then posted online.
But a Joburg North resident, Brent Lindeque has found a uniquely South African way of outdoing the Australian random act of silliness and replacing it with a random act of kindness.
Brent calls it ‘micro-charity on a macro scale’. After being NekNominated by one of his close friends, Lindeque decided to make his online footprint one that he could be proud of.
“A couple of days before the nomination I wrote a blog about being responsible about what you post online, because it is there forever,” he said. “In years to come, when my children Google me, I want to be proud of what is online. When I was NekNominated, I knew I needed to do something different.”
And so he did. Lindeque hopped in his car and found a man begging on the street. He wound down his window and handed the man a sandwich, a cold drink and a chocolate.
“There are hundreds of thousands of people in South Africa living in poverty, in desperate need of a helping hand. If I can be the person to give that help, and nominate others to do the same, the pay-it-forward system can turn into something much, much bigger.”
As a result of his NekNomination the #changeonething initiative has been born. The initiative aims to make South Africa better, one small act at a time.
“I would like to feed thousands, provide books and clothes to those in need. Everybody can do something small, and all those small deeds can result in a huge change.”
The ChangeonethingSA Facebook page was launched on 2 February and already has more than 1 600 likes. On the page, Lindeque shares videos from around the world of people doing good. “It creates a butterfly effect of small deeds making huge contributions to society.”
To become involved in the ChangeonethingSA initiative visit www.facebook.com/ChangeOneThingSA
