The “Before I Die I want to…” wall that was installed at the Moses Mabhida Stadium was a huge success and received positive public response including the media. The intended big reveal of the wall was supposed to be on 28 September 2013 but sadly it poured with rain and it had to be postponed to the following week. But the rain gave way to an amazing week of sunlight, and a wall full of aspirations, dreams and goals that had to be washed down daily to make room for more responses.
Within a matter of hours of launching on Monday 30 September 2013, the wall was filled with inspirational bucket list items. Schools visiting the Stadium couldn’t wait to get their hands on some chalk and decorate the wall with life aspirations and colourful drawings.
Here are some of the inspirational responses that were written on the wall
Before I die I want to…..
- Help people help others
- Live an extraordinary life
- Make a difference even if just with a smile
- Help the underprivileged in my community
- Reach one million children with my conservation message
- Save the world through cycling
- Be bold enough to be whoever I want to be
- Blow a million rand just like THAT!
- See the end to Police brutality
- Go on a food journey
- See my wife cancer free
- Know that I have parented children who care more about the world and others than things and themselves
Berea Mail visited the activation and has since then published a beautiful report so true to the ultimate message of the wall. The Mercury also published an interesting article as well a number of online media. Marissa Whittle, the brains behind the activation, was also invited to a radio interview at East Coast Radio.
Those who wrote their bucket lists on the wall were not only from Durban but from all over the country and the continent; Johannesburg, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Pakistan, China, United Kingdom, Botswana, Finland and America, all of whom connected with each other and reflected on common life goals.
Whilst the wall was being incredibly supported in person, so too was hype generated around the wall on digital platforms; from the MMS website and social media platforms, I Heart Market website and Facebook, Durban Tourism website, Berea Mail website and twitter page and on Candy Chang’s official Twitter page and the Before I die website (beforeidie.cc).
The fledging beforeidieKZN twitter page quadrupled its following within four days of the wall being launched with followers spanning from Durban opinion leaders and businesses; Wakaberry, Caffe Java, I Heart Market, Vega School, The Mercury, I love Durban, Moses Mabhida Stadium to publics that interacted with the wall and tweeted their experiences.
Tweets and mentions began to grow as people from Durban and abroad began to tweet their bucket lists and answered to ‘Before I Die I want to….’ The twitter page continued to upload pictures of people’s interactions with the wall and was in constant contact with Candy Chang, the founder of the Before I Die project.
News spread like wildfire when people began to interact with the wall on 5 October 2013, which conceded with the I Heart Market, bringing a diverse range of people interacting with the wall from families, the elderly, children, creative’s, artists and traders.
This Before I Die wall will continue to inspire our community to share their life aspirations and connect with others. We would like to thank the Durban community for the warm response and positive feedback. We have together made our public space profound!
Visit beforeidie.cc to see more photos of our beautiful wall, or better still come through to the wall on Saturdays or Sundays and leave your mark!
29 October 2013 | Events
