Welcome to our first newsletter for the year . . .
 2008 – the year our Chief Patron Mr. Nelson Mandela turns 90 years old on July 18th!
We feel so fortunate to have such an incredible icon of our time in our MaAfrika Tikkun midst. As some of you will be aware, it was Mr. Mandela that is quoted to have said “What I see here today is a miracle . . .” when he was visiting MaAfrika Tikkun’s projects. We will be doing everything possible over the next few months to ensure we honour and pay tribute to this great man. Nelson Mandela’s dream is to eradicate poverty and we want to help him try and bring his dream to fruition.
There will be many ways that you can be involved and share in the birthday celebrations . . . and all funds raised through our events and campaigns will go directly to those in need in South Africa:
- An e-birthday card will be sent out by us soon, for people around the globe to wish Nelson Mandela a Happy 90th. Please look out for it in your inbox and please do send it on to as many people as you possibly can. This is an opportunity for us as a planet to join together and recognise a truly great human being.
- We are planning a large celebratory event for July in Sydney.
More on this as it unfolds.
- There will be some smaller events too:
- A Combined Charities Fundraiser “Celebrating Caring Families & Communities” planned for June.
- A Concert to Celebrate Africa planned for later in the year.
For those unable to attend events, we have other initiatives that we will keep you posted on throughout the next few months. We have a lot of exciting plans and our work is cut out! For this reason, our MaAfrika Tikkun team here in Australia is expanding! Welcome to Kim Morris who is now working with us in the capacity of Donor Relations on a part-time basis. Kim is South African and has joined us with previous experience in the not-for-profit environment. We feel confident that her skills and networking will add considerably to what Rich and myself currently bring to the organization. So . . .” Welcome Kim, we look forward to working with you.”
Kim recently returned from a visit to South Africa and writes:
 “What a wonderful and humbling experience I had visiting the MaAfrika Tikkun projects in Gauteng and the Cape Province, the depth and breadth of the projects far exceeded my expectations. The loyalty and devotion of every member of the MaAfrika Tikkun team in ensuring that all clients are cared for was incredible.
I have returned to Australia with a much greater knowledge of the organisation and the utmost confidence that MaAfrika Tikkun is achieving fantastic results in helping to rebuild a nation.”
 It was great to spend time with some of our Angels Program supporters at our last Angels Gathering in December 07. Thank you to all who attended and to the Buckingham family for opening your home to us, to Holly Davis for cooking lunch, to Caroline Attwooll for provision of food, to Louise Brogan for donating wine, to Ankya Klay for taking photos. A special thank you to our guest Joanna Weinberg who sang so beautifully for us.
Our next Angels Gathering is coming up on:
2nd April 2008 6-8pm @ Touch Galleries, 124 Queen St, Woollahra.
A warm invitation is extended to all.
There is no obligation in attending; it is purely an opportunity to connect, find out more about MaT, the Angels Program etc. Our guest will be musician Justine Bradley, singing one of her own “special” songs. To help us keep our overheads to a minimum, please bring whatever you’d like to drink and nibbles to share. Hope to see you there!
Some of our Sydney supporters visited the MaT projects in Johannesburg & Cape Town recently. They came back totally inspired and we’ve asked them to share their experiences with you:
Colin & Julie Butler:
“We decided to sponsor a 'family', which consists of a 19 year old girl and her two children. We were told she was in dire need of assistance and if a care-giver could look after her 2 children, she could attend school and make something of her life.
We have just spent a month in South Africa and decided to visit the MaAfrika Tikkun 'Wings of Life' project in Diepsloot, Johannesburg on 10th January, 2008.
We were picked up at our accommodation in Bedfordview and taken to the offices of MaAfrika Tikkun. We were made to feel very welcome by one of its founders.
We then drove out to the township with a liaison officer and another lady.
We were shown the kitchen where 350 meals are cooked every day and were taken to a meeting hall where all the caregivers sang to us.
This was a very emotional experience, these beautiful African voices raised in song.
We were taken to meet our family who live in pretty awful, cramped conditions in a tin shack. There was only a tap outside and no toilet facilities, only public ones which looked pretty awful.
There were at least 6 people living in one room.
We felt very humbled by the experience and it made us appreciate the conditions we were born into.
Back at the community project area, we saw a pre-school centre under construction, a youth centre also under construction and a lot of positive activity including a computer room where students were learning about photography.
There was a great deal of hope and positive energy and I really loved meeting Bessie who devotes her life to helping people.
It seems without this project these poor people's lives would be so much worse.
There was a feeling that no matter what the circumstances, any-one asking for help would be looked after.
We were very impressed with the people running the organisation and what they are actually doing. They are all making a huge difference to the people of Diepsloot.”
The development taking place in our projects is consistent. The construction of the Early Childhood Development Centre, Youth Centre and Palliative Care/ Admin Centre in Diepsloot is moving forward quite rapidly. Notice the progress in the photos since our last newsletter. The ground is also being cleared at our Alexandra and Orange Farm township projects in preparation for similar constructions there over the next couple of years. Some other exciting initiatives taking place are:
- Our partnership with the Dept of Social Development in South Africa, which offers MaT enormous credibility and recognition. The government is collaborating with us, having identified our sustainable model, distribution infrastructure, community experience, training skills, reporting procedures – and most significantly - our results. We now support 11,000 beneficiaries including:
- over 1,000 orphans and vulnerable children
- we feed 3,000 people each week
- we offer after school life-skills programs to 2,500 students in 26 schools
- we provide support for hundreds of elderly
- palliative care is offered to 3,500 people of all age groups
- we have 475 paid home-based care givers and 600 volunteers from the communities
- The success of this government partnership has led to MaAfrika Tikkun signing a contract with the Dept Of Commerce and Development and the Chamber of Commerce in Johannesburg. This will focus on MaT trained youth piloting a “Job Gap” program. The appalling crime rate exists as a result of hopelessness, not just poverty. Our aim is to instill hope again. Through our screening process and skills training, 150 young MaT community people will, with a commitment from the corporate sector, be guaranteed jobs as part of this pilot.
- Our strategic alliances with other NGO’s that also support vulnerable children.
Such partnerships include organisations delivering medical, educational, specialist care and counseling to the youth, which are outside of MaAfrika Tikkun’s area of expertise but central to assist vulnerable children becoming functional members of society.
- Community based photographic project, see:
http://www.picturenet.co.za/gallery/cwci_mat/
What about the future of South Africa?
It’s a tough environment right now. The interest rates are high which naturally creates a loss of confidence. The Rand has taken a knock, which has resulted in retail sales going right down . . . consumers are suffering due to food prices, and instability with wheat and crops generally/ fuel/ oil price. The economy capacity is constrained. However construction, which is the highest growth sector,
is going through the roof. There is a real estate and transport boom. Power & water, mining and quarrying are all lagging. The child grant has increased significantly which will over time help poverty, education and health. Infrastructure is being created through the government. Debt continues to decline. Tax rates have reduced significantly. Eskom (electricity) is a very real problem . . . and looks like remaining so for some time as inappropriate decisions continue to be made and the government has no say. They are however looking at where reductions can be made rather than rationing (power cuts). . . .
It’s a mixed bag. Foreign investment is necessary and global growth will help. “Donor fatigue” amongst South Africa’s population is, rightly or not, a reality.
“A country never dies. It gets sick, it gets better”.
Let’s see what we can do in Australia to help this beautiful, troubled country get better.
Have you started training yet for the Sydney Running Festival on Sunday September 21st?! Create a page for yourself on http://www.gofundraise.com.au/ and nominate MaAfrika Tikkun as your charity of choice. Online entries open in April. See http://www.sydneymarathon.org/ (It can be walked as well as run – and maybe a group of you from work or the gym?)
We’ll be there to cheer you on!
Our corporate DVD is now available online at:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8208580615536320328
We look forward to keeping in touch. Please do call with any ideas, suggestions, questions . . . we love to hear from you.
With much gratitude to you as always,
Gael, Kim and Rich
|
