Help us to warm up the city this winter

Hello all! 

With the winter around the corner, I am trying to source specific items that can help to warm the needy around Pretoria. Remember I mentioned that, in many of the facilities in and around the city, there are children that have no beds and are forced to sleep on bare cement floors in tin huts. 

So here is a list of this week's items:
- blankets
- winter clothing for all ages (0-whatever)
- canned and dried food

I'm also still looking for single or double beds, mattresses, cots and camping cots, old baby carriages or carry-cots and carpets or rugs.

Contact me if you can help in any way.

Thank you.

Ditebogo Day Care - Hammanskraal

The Dutch Reformed Church Magalieskruin referred me to this facility. It forms part of a project they run in Hammanskraal and they have contributed to it a great deal in the past. All the playground equipment, for instance, was donated by the church and they also help them with stationery each year.

The school fees are a standard R 50-00, payable if the parents can indeed afford it. No child is turned away, however. The day care centre has 3 classrooms for the grade R children and one for the little ones. The children are taught by teachers who received basic training from the good people of the church…people who generously donated their time and skills to help ordinary, but willing individuals, to educate the little children in preparation for primary school. For arts and crafts lessons, the children are encouraged to utilize material that can be recycled into the system…think plastic and glass objects, tin cans, paper, cardboard, etc. The products they make are then sold to gain funds for the centre.

In addition to these, Onnica received a number of fruit trees from the church, as well as the means to start a vegetable patch…the fruits of their labor can now be harvested and sold in another fundraising effort. Education remains a priority and the children follow quite a rigid schedule each day…even the toddlers. They love music and Onnica specifically requested us to find a music teacher to donate her time to the centre in order to teach the children musical skills. Next month a lady from the church will come around to give them training in first aid….another thing the very tenacious Onnica requested.

In addition to the day care, the facility also includes Lerato la Mme orphanage. 16 of the 260 children at the daycare stay at the centre 24/7. They are orphans, abandoned as babies more often than not or removed from their family’s care by the police or social workers. Some of them are HIV+ and are being treated with ARV’s. The abandoned children often present a problem for Onnica as they are left at her door or picked up by other people next to the road or in a field (one was even found in a garbage bag). Some of the children still wear their plastic hospital name-tags when they are found and some are just ‘thrown’ away. In many cases the whole process of finding a date of birth and/or a name is pure guess work. Onnica says she uses the dates when she ‘found’ the baby and then just guess how old the child is, and subtract the number of weeks/days to ‘create’ a date of birth. This, of course, presents a problem for the child itself. Onnica has trouble registering these children to have birth certificates issued. Without a birth certificate there will be no identity document, no legal rights to any welfare funding, no job, in fact….no proof of existence at all. So, if someone can think of a solution for her, don’t hesitate to let me know.

Despite the church’s involvement, this facility still has a number of very urgent needs. At the top of the list is a proper bathroom. At the moment the children have to take turns at the outside shower. Other needs are:

• -          Beds, cots, camping cots, mattresses and blankets
• -          Towels and linen for beds
• -          Clothes, shoes, jackets, baby clothes for the orphans
• -          Toiletries: soap, baby bath products, bum cream, Vaseline, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes
• -          Medicine and vitamins
• -          Food, milk formula, baby food (Purity)
• -          Seedlings and fruit trees for the garden
• -          Stationery and educational supplies
• -          Educational toys, puzzles, board games, musical instruments
• -          Empty containers (plastic bottles, tin cans, cereal boxes)
• -          Geyser for hot water
• -          Carpets
• -          Child sized plastic chairs and tables

Contact me immediately if you can be of any assistance

Odinburg Community Centre - Mabopane

Another referral by Tshwane North Outreach, this facility is situated in Mabopane. The outside of the building is brightened up by lovely wall-paintings….an effort by the principal, Busisiwe, to bring some ‘glamour’ to the place.

The house is extremely small for the number of children it serves. There are two classrooms: one for the grade R-class and one for the babies (0-5 years old). The facility also offers after-school care for those children attending the local primary and high schools. There are two teachers, the principal and a cook. They also employ the services of a sports trainer, who trains the older kids in soccer and netball (something that they obviously enjoy, seeing as they won so many trophies already). Once again one notice the efforts of the teachers in the classrooms…they are not properly trained teachers, but one sees that they are putting all their energy into lifting these children out of the circumstances they exist in. The classrooms are decorated with some of the children’s drawings and other crafts, but there is an obvious lack of lovely, colorful posters. Black or white boards are non-existent and there are only a few plastic tables and chairs.

Throughout the house the floors are bare cement and the little ones that nap in the afternoons have to sleep on thin mattresses on the floor. There is no electricity and meals are cooked on a gas stove. They have one flushing toilet that the children share. The playground equipment consists of one swing and one swinging/crawling drum on chains.

Busisiwe offers meals to all the children on a daily basis and, while the parents are supposed to pay a fee of R 50-00 per month, they are not obligated to do so. She says that she will never turn a child away if the parent cannot afford the school fees. Most of the people in the community are on welfare and the money they receive must be used for rent and food for the families, but they still need someone to care for the children and to provide education….Busisiwe says that she feels everyone is entitled to education and I agree with her.

In addition to the day care and drop-in, Busisiwe runs a fundraising effort with the help of the elderly ladies in the community. They get together in one of the rooms at Odinburg and sew aprons and covers for mattresses. The aprons are sold at R 50-00 a piece and the funds used to buy food, clothes and  stationary for the children.

I list their basic needs below:

• -          Mattresses and/or beds for the children to nap on in the afternoons
• -          Cutlery, plates and cups to serve food and drink
• -          Donations of food and drinks
• -          Pots and pans for the kitchen
• -          Toiletries like soap, liquid soap, disinfectant, emergency medical kits
• -          Stationary
• -          Educational supplies and equipment: black or white board, educational posters and toys, puzzles, games, books to read, coloring books, age appropriate learning and work books (like Mastermind: Maths and All-in-one-series)
• -          Plastic tables and chairs
• -          Blankets and clothes for the children
• -          Carpets
• -          Playground equipment
• -          Sports equipment

If you can help at all, please contact me immediately.

Madzibandlela Orphanage - Soshanguve

I was referred to this facility by the manager of Tshwane North Outreach. Madzibandlela opened its doors to the community in 2007 and is the brain child of the ‘house mother’, Annah. She identified a need to take care of the vulnerable and abused little ones in her community and decided to take action. After consulting with social services, she was granted a license and permission to take in those that are in need of help and support. Some of the children are abandoned, others abused and most of those that sleep in (16 in total) have been rescued from their parents’ homes by social workers or the police.

The 16 youngsters that she cares for 24/7 sleep in two bedrooms, two to three per bed as there is only 3 single beds per room. The balance of the children that come to the home are from the neighborhood. Annah provides meals and after-school care, but she mentions that these children are also very vulnerable and come from families that exist on welfare. Most parents are unemployed and many, of course have passed away or simply abandoned their families. The younger children, together with the pre-school orphans that live at the home, receive education to a degree as a means to prepare them for primary school.

The little room where the education takes place is small and, despite several loose rugs on the cement floor, it is skill very cold. I noted the lack of colorful posters (those that one usually find in a crèche) and toys…even basic, cheap ones, are few. The playground equipment is old and dilapidated, though still usable, and the kids enjoy it thoroughly. The children are, however, very content and happy. They sang me the most beautiful song and one can see that they adore Annah….their eyes light up when she’s around, it is quite a sight to behold!

The home has a large vegetable garden and two men from the community are employed as gardeners. The other staff, apart from Annah, includes the one teacher, a social worker and a cook.

Annah receives no income from other organizations and the children’s parent do not pay a monthly school fee, so you will understand that the list of needs at the facility is rather exhausting, so bear with me as I list it below:

• -          Beds for the orphans that sleep at the home
• -          General upgrade of house: painting, refurbishing bathroom, fixing locks and windows, built-in wardrobes (or just simple, but proper, free-standing wardrobes), carpets, tiles for floors and walls, kitchen units,  etc
• -          Mattresses
• -          Curtains to brighten rooms
• -          Camping cots
• -          Clothes and shoes for the children
• -          A new stove, freezer and refrigerator
• -          Kitchen equipment and utensils like pots and pans
• -          Furniture (apart from beds) – plastic tables and chairs for the classroom, table and chairs for the kitchen, mirrors for the bedrooms and bathroom, cupboards and filing cabinets for stationary and the home’s administrative paperwork
• -          Education supplies: stationary, posters for classroom and bedrooms, books, educational toys, coloring books, books to read, blackboard for classroom, puzzles, games and toys
• -          Toiletries: soap, toothpaste and tooth brushes, body lotion, etc.
• -          Food and seedlings to plant in vegetable garden, fruit trees
• -          New playground equipment, sport equipment like balls, trampolines, tennis racquets, basketball ring, cricket bats, jumping ropes

      Another thing that I noticed is the lack of training for the teachers. They need to be trained properly as many of them are only volunteers from the immediate community who offer their time and services to the home. This is not only the case here, at this orphanage. These people are doing a wonderful job with very little resources. They do make a huge difference in these little lives. The education they offer the children should be of such a standard that these children are truly equipped for their future. At the moment the teachers are only ‘lending a hand’…they really try very hard, but, as they do not have proper training, they don’t exactly understand the HOW TO of teaching. We need a few experienced teachers to help us show these very willing and helpful individuals the secrets of proper teaching techniques so that they can be able to prepare the little ones for their future.  A solid educational foundation will cultivate a healthy community, a community of individuals that will have the tenacity and the resourcefulness to grow beyond the borders that now separate them from those more fortunate than them.

Contact me if you can help at all.

Ikhaya Lami le Themba - Soshanguve - The Ilze Halliday Foundation

Ikhaya Lami le Themba - Soshanguve - The Ilze Halliday Foundation

Yet another facility referred by Tshwane North Outreach. There are more or less 100 children served at the facility on a daily basis and of those, 10-11 sleep in. The buildings are mostly tin huts with one building made of brick (the office and kitchen part).

The playground equipment is well-used by the children, but there is obviously not enough for the number of kids that wish to play on it.

Babies are kept in one of the tin huts. The floors are bare cement with thin, loose carpets strewn around. They don’t have any cots for the children, and only a few mattresses. Some of the children are HIV+ and get sick ever so often….the cold tin huts only aggravate their susceptibility to illness.

Please take note of their urgent needs:

• -          Blankets and clothes for the babies
• -          Cots, beds and mattresses
• -          Toiletries and medicine
• -          Food
• -          Educational supplies
• -          Stationary

If you can help at all, please contact me immediately.