We are back after refueling our creative juices at the Afrika Burn festival and recharging our souls in the wide expanses of the Karoo. We are grateful for this time out and ready to rock with our next project.

Towards the end of last year Myrtle made friends on Facebook with Henry Mngomezulu. Henry is an ultra marathon runner who is HIV positive and uses Dagga to boost his immune system and relax his muscles after strenuous training. He does not smoke the herb but rather uses it in a tea and as an infusion for steaming at the end of a long run.
We were charmed by his stories of traveling to KZN for the Comrades Marathon and to Cape Town for the Two Oceans using his meager resources to follow his dream far from home. So we have decided, together with “Below the Lion“, to sponsor Henry’s Comrades run from Durban to Pietermaritzburg this year.

This project kicked off with a shopping trip to buy kit for Henry so that he could wear in his running shoes before the marathon. We still have a few bits & pieces on our list & need to buy his bus ticket to & from Durban. The DC and Below the Lion crew will travel down to KZN and look forward to meeting all our supporters down there to cheer him on. We will all arrive in Durban on Friday 31st May, spending 2 nights in Durban & 1 night in Pietermaritzburg. The race starts in Durban at 05h30 on Sunday 2nd June and ends in Pietermaritzburg at about 17h00.

We need your support to make this happen. We hope that a  project like this will help to take our campaign from the fringes of a sub culture to the mainstream and promote the use of Dagga for a healthy lifestyle. The image of an extremely fit, HIV positive runner will help to dispel the ongoing myth of Dagga users as lazy, unmotivated stoners. We also wish to highlight to use of Dagga in the management of HIV and AIDS.

We need R10 000 to make this trip happen. This will cover Henry’s Kit, transport for him & the crew, accomodation & food for all of us (5 people) in KZN.

You can help us by choosing one of the following options:

1. Make a donation into our Constitutional Court Fund:

Jazzfarm Cons Fund,
Nedbank, Broadacres
Branch code 132805,
Current a/c # 1011773651.

Please put “Henry donation” as the reference. Every rand helps – if each person who receives this mail donates R50 we would be more than covered!

2. Buy a 4.20 D-Day T-Shirt:
For those of you who joined us for the epic street party in the streets of Jo’burg  last month, these T-Shirts are a great souvenir of the first mass gathering in support of Dagga re-legalisation in SA. Made from upcycled plastic bottles, the shirts are excellent quality, soft & comfy with long sleeves for winter. Available in S, M, L & XL & we’ll post them overnight to you for R200 each, shipped to your door.
Read more and purchase your T Shirt here

3. Buy a DC INFOPACK:
Posters, flyers, stickers & a DVD of Dagga documentaries, this pack is all you need to spread the word. Kill two birds with one stone, promote our campaign & support Henry’s run for only R100. Your info pack will reach you within 5 days of your order & we’ll email you a tracking no.
Read more and purchase your INFOPACK here.

We are in the process of setting up a venue in Durban to do a presentation & meet our supporters on Saturday afternoon, 1 June. We will post updates as soon as we have more details.

Dig deep – help us wherever you can. It’s for an excellent cause and will surely enhance our campaign, as countless thousands of people watch the Comrades Marathon. Imagine Henry with his ‘Powered By Dagga’ vest running past all those international cameras.

Thanks in advance, KZN here we come!

Myrtle & Jules