BACKGROUND OF TSWANE HOME OF HOPE where Trail of Hope Foundation is hosting Holiday for Hope event on the 19th of Dec 2009.
Living and working on the streets of Sunnyside,Pretoria young girls are at the mercy of pimps and predators out to exploit them. Under cover of darkness, they prostitute themselves, surviving from one pick-up to the next and one substance fix to another. They have no hope of a different future.
Without homes, parents, mentors or education, these damaged lives have experienced only abuse, squalor, depravity and deprivation, hunger and hopelessness. Some of the girls have been abused, others are orphaned, but all deserve a better quality of life.
Tshwane Home of Hope offers a refuge from prostitution, a safe haven of love, care and hope for girls in crisis. Through love and care, we rekindle the spark of hope in their lives. We value them, and teach them the value of belonging. We re-introduce them to the education system, securing places for them at local schools. We mentor and support them, encouraging them to learn successfully. We wean them off the streets and teach them simple skills to earn an income from other methods.
We give these children hope.
We hope you will too!
With your support, we can repair broken lives, offering young girls hope for the future.
We need presents ,we need volunteers.
Get in touch
Tendai Sean Joe
+27 971 5992
tendaijoe@gmail.com
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Abusers don’t discriminate against colour, creed or age. Child Abuse is rife in our country and unfortunately not nearly enough is being done to protect the future of our country, the children. Government is shirking their responsibility when it comes to providing for destitute families therefore making it increasingly difficult for the poorest of the poor to survive. Abuse & Poverty are the main contributing factors to street children and abandoned baby statistics in our country.
One of the resultant problems is Abandoned Babies. They are found in plastic bags, boxes, parks, public toilets, dustbins and sometimes just left on the side of the road. These babies are helpless little victims, innocent bystanders who did not ask to be subjected to the hardships they face, and this is where Tswane Home of Hope ,together with New BeginningZ would like to make a difference. The babies who are found alive are the lucky ones, but what about those babies who have had their lives stolen away from them by being suffocated in a plastic bag or frozen to death in a dustbin. And in our community this is unfortunately the harsh reality we are faced with far too many times as we come across dead babies.
It doesn’t have to end like this for all of them though. What if we could provide some alternative solution for these desperate mothers? A safe place where they can leave their babies safely and anonymously. A place like the “New BeginningZ Baby Door”.
Some might ask: But how can mothers abandon their babies? The answer is not an easy one, but from our previous work experience we have realised that these mothers sometimes feel they have no other options. Sometimes, the girls who are involved in Commercial Sex Exploitation have their newborn babies taken away and dumped by their Pimps in order for the girls to continue work almost immediately. Others are young teenage girls who are fearful of what their families might say and do to them and there are those who have been raped or part of an incestuous relationship and cannot begin to imagine how they are going to cope with a little child conceived in violence.
Tswane Home of Hope shelter in particular was the project where the “The New BeginningZ Baby Door” was installed. What is the “Baby Door” you might ask? Well, basically it is a square gap or hole in a wall with a hatch where desperate mothers can safely leave their unwanted babies. The person would lift the hatch and place the baby in the receiving bassinet which will press down on the hidden silent alarm button located directly beneath it. Although the person dropping the baby will not be able to hear the alarm, it will sound in the housemother’s room to alert her that there is a baby. She will immediately go and fetch the baby from the hatch regardless of time of day or night. We foresee that most will utilize the “Baby Door” at night.
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PS STATISTICS :According to the Network Against Child Labour, more than 40 000 children under the age of 18 in South Africa are involved in child prostitution as a means to survive.
Many children find themselves without homes as a result of poverty, neglect or abuse. Surviving on the streets, they are vulnerable to the booming sex trade and human trafficking.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Turning Point in My Life
"At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us." Albert Schweitzer
Whatever life holds for us, we are indebted.For life, for enjoyment, for happiness, peace, for well being.For everything that we have, are and are going to be. It is a privilege to be alive.To be able to live and enjoy and give.From the time of birth, we are in debt to a million influences.To our miraculous physical creation – a million chemical reactions, transformations and creative forces.To the people who fed us from the bottle, changed our diapers, cuddled us and gave us the physical touch that we needed, clothed us when we couldn't have done so ourselves …We could have perished otherwise….Clean water.Fresh air,Warm clothes and cuddly blankets.Clean hygienic surroundings.Roof over our heads. Those who have touched and supported us mentally emotionally when we did not know any better.No doubt, some experiences may have left emotional and physical scars- but for the most part there was some good.
The fact that we exist in this universe- makes us indebted to the creator who gave us life.Gratitude for not only the good things in our life, but also the problems, our mistakes.And when we realize there is a loving source behind everything, we can be grateful.Also for our surroundings, the wonder and beauty of nature that is immaculate.When we feel gratitude, and acknowledge the source, we allow ourselves to feel joy and peace. We feel complete. The circle is complete. We have been given, we receive and we appreciate in gratitude.
Even the poorest of the poor can be rich if they have gratitude.For the breath the breathe, the life they have, the little comfort they enjoy.The little that the poor have is better than a feast at the rich with no gratitude or happiness.Gratitude is wealth. Gratitude is joy. Gratitude brings out the best in others and in us.Gratitude releases the negative and brings in the positive.We cannot be grateful without forgiving another.We cannot be grateful and hold grudges and thoughts of retribution or revenge.If someone has caused us to suffer loss or damaged us or our possessions to some degree and to this day cannot repay, should we be grateful?
Before we can experience gratitude in the face of wrong, we have to experience forgiveness. Of the event, the perpetuator, and of ourselves. Then we can go on and be grateful.
"When we harbor negative emotions toward others or toward ourselves, or when we intentionally create pain for others, we poison our own physical and spiritual systems….The challenge .. is to refine our capacity to love others as well as ourselves and to develop the power of forgiveness. Carolyn Myss, Anatomy of the Spirit
My 26th birthday must have been the turning point in my life ,but i am realizing that everyday i see changes ,changes everywhere ,in the world, in my life ,in my friends and in everything. But what i really like is, all the change that is positive.
Touching a life can be done in so many ways, there are some of you who, unknowingly touched my life, changed the way i see life and vice versa. It may take ages for every one of us to reach this point, a point in life where we realize that we are no better or worse than the next person. We all have made mistakes, we all have been offended, we all have had time when we thought we were going to give up. Some of us have walked bumpy dusty roads of loneliness, we lost friends as we made new friends, and we left old worlds and walked in completely new worlds.
I like the fact that I now have the strength to show my appreciation, through a rather humble way, just by writing a simple note that will be archived in my secret locker, for those who will come after me to know that once upon a time,Tendai had a minute to salute his friends,collegues and peers who ,through one way or another had influence in his future.
Toni Stuart,although I may not express it,I owe you so much for the shoulder you gave me when we needed to discuss all those challenging issues I could not deal with alone.A few people know you the creative genious behind most of Trail of Hope press releases.Inviting me to talk to your high school students in Hout Bay,Cape Town meant so much to me.
To my sisters and friends Belinda Mutinhiri ,Melissa Tswana ,Elizabeth Tswana ,Tendai Chakanyuka , Phindi Mngomezulu,Lusanda Mahlasela ,Jacqui Hurt ,Raquel Wilson ,Shibu P Mamokgere ,Tracy Lee Brown ,Mireille Blake ,Esther Jumbo ,Angela Luff ,Marvelous Nyahuye ,Marceline Mutikori you have proven what it means to be real friends.Lusanda ,you know our friendship has passed the ordinary mark, it would be no surprise if I change my surname to Mahlasela and we officially become siblings !Tendai Chakanyuka that interview at Power FM in Zimbabwe will always be in my memories as one of those defining moments in my life.Melissa you know what it means for us to be like siblings,I will take you to Mutoko when you come to Zimbabwe! Jacqui you know the promise!I always smile when I remember the first day when we met! Tracy and Mireille Cape Town would not be that lovely without you!Guys I know I may fail to mention you,you know my number call me if you realise you not mentioned.Andy Wilson ,Emmanuel Ivogba ,Robert Mukondiwa ,Brett Santillan ,Ephraim Chaparadza ,Thozamile Ganjana ,Albert Arcona
I might have not mentioned you but remember you have had an influence in my life.I thank God for letting us know each other.
Tendai
Whatever life holds for us, we are indebted.For life, for enjoyment, for happiness, peace, for well being.For everything that we have, are and are going to be. It is a privilege to be alive.To be able to live and enjoy and give.From the time of birth, we are in debt to a million influences.To our miraculous physical creation – a million chemical reactions, transformations and creative forces.To the people who fed us from the bottle, changed our diapers, cuddled us and gave us the physical touch that we needed, clothed us when we couldn't have done so ourselves …We could have perished otherwise….Clean water.Fresh air,Warm clothes and cuddly blankets.Clean hygienic surroundings.Roof over our heads. Those who have touched and supported us mentally emotionally when we did not know any better.No doubt, some experiences may have left emotional and physical scars- but for the most part there was some good.
The fact that we exist in this universe- makes us indebted to the creator who gave us life.Gratitude for not only the good things in our life, but also the problems, our mistakes.And when we realize there is a loving source behind everything, we can be grateful.Also for our surroundings, the wonder and beauty of nature that is immaculate.When we feel gratitude, and acknowledge the source, we allow ourselves to feel joy and peace. We feel complete. The circle is complete. We have been given, we receive and we appreciate in gratitude.
Even the poorest of the poor can be rich if they have gratitude.For the breath the breathe, the life they have, the little comfort they enjoy.The little that the poor have is better than a feast at the rich with no gratitude or happiness.Gratitude is wealth. Gratitude is joy. Gratitude brings out the best in others and in us.Gratitude releases the negative and brings in the positive.We cannot be grateful without forgiving another.We cannot be grateful and hold grudges and thoughts of retribution or revenge.If someone has caused us to suffer loss or damaged us or our possessions to some degree and to this day cannot repay, should we be grateful?
Before we can experience gratitude in the face of wrong, we have to experience forgiveness. Of the event, the perpetuator, and of ourselves. Then we can go on and be grateful.
"When we harbor negative emotions toward others or toward ourselves, or when we intentionally create pain for others, we poison our own physical and spiritual systems….The challenge .. is to refine our capacity to love others as well as ourselves and to develop the power of forgiveness. Carolyn Myss, Anatomy of the Spirit
My 26th birthday must have been the turning point in my life ,but i am realizing that everyday i see changes ,changes everywhere ,in the world, in my life ,in my friends and in everything. But what i really like is, all the change that is positive.
Touching a life can be done in so many ways, there are some of you who, unknowingly touched my life, changed the way i see life and vice versa. It may take ages for every one of us to reach this point, a point in life where we realize that we are no better or worse than the next person. We all have made mistakes, we all have been offended, we all have had time when we thought we were going to give up. Some of us have walked bumpy dusty roads of loneliness, we lost friends as we made new friends, and we left old worlds and walked in completely new worlds.
I like the fact that I now have the strength to show my appreciation, through a rather humble way, just by writing a simple note that will be archived in my secret locker, for those who will come after me to know that once upon a time,Tendai had a minute to salute his friends,collegues and peers who ,through one way or another had influence in his future.
Toni Stuart,although I may not express it,I owe you so much for the shoulder you gave me when we needed to discuss all those challenging issues I could not deal with alone.A few people know you the creative genious behind most of Trail of Hope press releases.Inviting me to talk to your high school students in Hout Bay,Cape Town meant so much to me.
To my sisters and friends Belinda Mutinhiri ,Melissa Tswana ,Elizabeth Tswana ,Tendai Chakanyuka , Phindi Mngomezulu,Lusanda Mahlasela ,Jacqui Hurt ,Raquel Wilson ,Shibu P Mamokgere ,Tracy Lee Brown ,Mireille Blake ,Esther Jumbo ,Angela Luff ,Marvelous Nyahuye ,Marceline Mutikori you have proven what it means to be real friends.Lusanda ,you know our friendship has passed the ordinary mark, it would be no surprise if I change my surname to Mahlasela and we officially become siblings !Tendai Chakanyuka that interview at Power FM in Zimbabwe will always be in my memories as one of those defining moments in my life.Melissa you know what it means for us to be like siblings,I will take you to Mutoko when you come to Zimbabwe! Jacqui you know the promise!I always smile when I remember the first day when we met! Tracy and Mireille Cape Town would not be that lovely without you!Guys I know I may fail to mention you,you know my number call me if you realise you not mentioned.Andy Wilson ,Emmanuel Ivogba ,Robert Mukondiwa ,Brett Santillan ,Ephraim Chaparadza ,Thozamile Ganjana ,Albert Arcona
I might have not mentioned you but remember you have had an influence in my life.I thank God for letting us know each other.
Tendai
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Organisations Helping Children in Johannesburg
You can either volunteer ,drop off goods thus clothes or food.You can even organise a visit with friends.Its the festive season and the needy children need us all
Christ Church Christian Care Centre
Shelter, schooling, computers, sport
The Berea church centre can take in 26 children. All are given shelter and must go to school. The children are also offered computer literacy training and sporting activities, including netball, cricket and volleyball.
Contact person: Mike Sunker
Tel: (011) 642 4420
Fax: (011) 642 4420
Address: 15 Mitchell Street, Berea 2198
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Cotlands
Sanctuary, hospice, day care, home care
Perhaps the best-known sanctuary for babies and children living with HIV/Aids, Cotlands also meets the needs of small children, whether HIV positive or negative, who have been abandoned, abused or neglected. Its place of safety at Turffontein takes in children whose parents are unfit, either temporarily or permanently; fostering and adoptions are made from here. Small children resident at Cotlands attend its Day Creche, but so do children from the wider community. There is a hospice which cares for children up to the age of six and terminally ill with Aids. And a home care project, begun in KwaZulu/Natal, has now been extended to Soweto, Orange Farm, Alexandra and Tembisa, to assist Aids orphans, child-headed and grandparent-headed families. Cotlands offers training, ranging from three-hour workshops to five-day courses, on HIV/Aids awareness and how to work with and care for the infected and affected. Courses and workshops are aimed at schools, care-givers, parents and learners as well as community workers.
Contact person: Kathy Volkwyn
Address: 134 Stanton Street, Turffontein
PO Box 74042, Turffontein 2140
Tel: (011) 683-7200
Fax: (011) 683-2609
Email: Jolene@cotlands.org This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Or cotlands@global.co.za This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Web site: www.cotlands.org
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Eldorado Park Early Development Centre
Creche, play, craft
This pre-primary school is supported by the Johannesburg Child Welfare Society and functions as an all-day crèche for working parents.
Contact person: Ingrid Okkers
Address: 52 Ametas Street, Nancefield, Eldorado Park
Tel: (011) 342-2935
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Hearts of Hope
Hearts of Hope is a voluntary organisation that started in December 2002 by the efforts of Rivonia Catholic Church and St Lukes Anglican Church members. It cares for vulnerable and abandoned children who are infected and affected by HIV/Aids. The organisation houses six children and two foster parents at a three-bedroom home called "Thabang".
"Thabang" is the first of many homes that Hearts of Hope would like to establish within local communities, however ongoing financial support as well as community involvement is needed to make this dream work. So far, "Thabang" provides a loving, safe and caring environment in which children can flourish and develop in a family environment. Hearts of Hope aims to facilitate adoption into families and to source foster parents.
For more information:
Contact: Paul Reid
Address: 102 Churchill Ave, Wendywood
Tel: 011 884 1536/ 084 955 9765
E-mail: info@heartsofhope.org.za This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: www.heartsofhope.org.za
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Jesus the Good Shepherd
Food, counselling, sport, home visits
The Berea-based organisation offers food to 80 children on Tuesday and Friday, as well as basic counselling on issues that affect them. Sport is laid on to draw them away from crime and begging: volleyball, soccer and netball. Those children who want to reunite with their families are offered home visits.
Contact person: B Curtis
Address: 15 Mitchell Street, Berea 2198
Tel: (011) 706 8519
Fax: (011) 886 1601
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Johannesburg Alliance for Street Children
Capacity building, research, policy development
The Alliance, which serves all of Gauteng and, especially, Johannesburg, is an umbrella organisation for groups dealing with street children. It engages in capacity building in these organisations. It also carries out research on trends and issues relating to street children and policy development. Results of its research are shared with local, provincial and national government and the United Nations.
The goal of the alliance is to promote the reintegration of children into the community through family reunification where possible. It is also involved in updating the databases of organisations and other stakeholders, advocacy and lobbying groups.
Contact person: Liebe Kellen
Tel: (011) 982-7609
Fax: 086 513 2767
Email: liebe.iyldp@wbs.co.za
OR
Contact person: Ivor Matshali
Tel: (011) 484-1590
Fax: (011) 484-6278
Email: janep@mweb.co.za
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Nkosi's Haven
Shelter, schooling, training, home-based care, outreach
There are two havens named after South Africa's best-known Aids patient, Nkosi Johnson, who was born HIV positive and died 12 years later from an Aids-related illness. The house in Berea takes in Aids orphans; the original establishment, in Berea, houses HIV positive mothers and their children as well as Aids orphans, both HIV positive and negative. In addition, Nkosi's Haven looks after the needs of a number of Aids orphans in Klipspruit West and Sebokeng, providing food, clothing, school fees and emotional support and counselling, coming through with crisis intervention as well when necessary. In all, the organisation looks after 69 children and 17 mothers. Its outreach programme includes talks on HIV/Aids at schools and companies, and training for companies, targeting the workforce; specialised packages are arranged, depending on the companies' needs.
Nkosi's Haven
23 Mitchell Street, Berea 2198
PO Box 403, Melville 2109
Contact person: Oscar Martin-Ngwenya, projects director
Tel: (011) 642-1733
Fax: (011) 642-0793
Also premises of Goodhope Home Based Care
Umnonhaneni location, Tembisa
Tel: (011) 925-0312
Email: nkosishaven@worldonline.co.za This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
And nkosiadmin@worldonline.co.za This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Web site: www.nkosishaven.co.za
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Orlando Children's Home
Shelter, schooling, adoption, fostering, creche
This venerable institution has been going since 1940, taking in abandoned or orphaned children, aged newborn to 18, sent there by the Children's Court. Orlando is linked to Johannesburg Child Welfare for adoptions, although they do some on their own and also try to place children for fostering. There are currently more than 60 children resident at the home. The younger ones attend a creche on the premises, along with many other toddlers who live in the community. The older ones are sent to schools in the vicinity. Cared for at the home are children abandoned for a variety of reasons: some because they are physically or mentally handicapped; others because of their HIV status or because their parents have died and their relatives cannot take care of them. The home carries out an outreach programme, addressing teenagers at schools and pregnant women in clinics, telling them of the effect of abandoning their babies and explaining that there are other options.
Contact person: Mirriam Mazibuko
Tel: (011) 935-1209
Fax: (011) 935-1144
Address: 6514 Mooki Street, Orlando East.
Postal address: PO Box 123, Orlando 1804
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Othandweni
Food, clothing, medical care, training
Soweto-based Othandweni, run by Johannesburg Child Welfare, has a range of projects which offer food, clothing, medical care and practical training to inner city street children as well as refuge for abandoned, abused or neglected babies. Under "basic care and human rights", it takes on everything from feeding and clothing children to family preservation activities outreach (the group last year declared war on glue-sniffing) and prison visits, and when necessary, guardianship at court. For older children, Othandweni offers cricket and soccer development and adventure camps as well as tuition in literacy and life skills, business training, catering and other skills, and tries to place the young people in jobs. For the babies, volunteers supply stimulation and TLC at playtime. A health care project runs a mobile clinic but also offers home-based care and health education as well as a care centre for terminally ill children.
Contact person: L Pienaar
Tel: (011) 725 6531
Fax: (011) 725 6572
Postal address: Private Bag X33, Hillbrow 2038 or JCW at PO Box 2539, Johannesburg 2000
•Othandweni selected to represent SA in a Best Practices competition
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Rhema Service Foundation
Shelter, training, sport, family reunion
Rhema's shelters in Hillbrow and the CBD take up to 50 children and all of them are required to attend school fulltime. Among extra-curricular activities is art-making; the products are sold at flea markets to help fund the programme. The church also tries to reunite the children with their immediate or extended families.
Contact person: Lance van Graan
Tel: (011) 336 0083
Fax: (011) 334 1206
Address: Private Bag X3062, Randburg 2125
Email: media@rhema.co.za This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Web site: www.rhema.co.za, then click on rsf
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Siyakula Early Development Centre
Creche, play, craft
A pre-primary school in Alexandra, supported by the Johannesburg Child Welfare Society, which functions as an all-day creche for working parents.
Contact person: Sheila Luvuno
Address: 62 2nd Avenue, Alexandra
Tel: (011) 443-3224
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Sparrow Schools Educational Trust
Specialised schooling, skills training, jobs initiative
This is a registered non-profit organisation that provides disadvantaged children and youth with learning and intellectual disabilities, with access to affordable, specialised education. The Sparrow Schools Educational Trust runs three different, yet interrelated, educational centres - a primary school, technical skills centre, and a job creation initiative - for children between the ages of 7 and 19. All the children who attend are disadvantaged and have varying degrees of educational backlogs, remedial problems, learning difficulties or intellectual disabilities. Situated in Johannesburg, the centres cater for over 850 learners annually, helping them, where possible, to overcome their learning disabilities and equipping them with the knowledge and skills needed to become independent and contributing members of society.
Contact person: Kathy Seals
Address: corner Gerty and Herman streets, Sophiatown
Tel: 011 673 3558/4410
E-mail: sparrow@mweb.co.za This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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Streetwise South Africa
Shelter, schooling, art, drama, sport
Up to 24 children are offered accommodation at the Streetwise shelter in Bertrams (there are also branches in Pretoria and KwaZulu-Natal) and an education at the New Nation School in Cottesloe. They are also given a chance to learn fine art, drama and gumboot dance. Sport is at the centre of the service, says Streetwise: soccer, athletics and basketball form part of their extra-mural activities. The organisation has been around since 1986; they try to serve as a link between the child and his or her estranged family, hoping for reunification; links continue even when the child has returned home.
Contact person: K Mogashoa
Tel: (011) 614 7883
Fax: (011) 481 5127
Address: 47 Terrace Road, Bertrams 2000
Email: streetwise@54.co.za This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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Thembalethu for Girls Project
Life skills, entrepreneurial training, craft, sport
This is a project of Johannesburg Child Welfare, located in Doornfontein. Thembalethu distributes food, clothing and blankets to children on the street, invites them to come to its drop-in centre and, when a girl wishes to come off the streets, arranges accommodation at Usindiso Shelter at Albert Street.
The drop-in centre at the corner of Noord and End streets in Doornfontein offers tuition in sewing and knitting to 30 girls between the ages of eight and 18, as well as lessons in basic life skills - conflict resolution, for example - and tries to work towards reuniting the girls with their families. Items made by the girls are sold at flea markets to help them earn an income. They are also encouraged to do gardening, which helps with food for distribution on the streets. Sport, including soccer, netball and athletics, is also offered to the girls
Contact person: T Mashiya
Address: corner Noord and End Streets, Doornfontein
Tel: (011) 402 8073
Fax: (011) 331 6192
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Twilight Children
Shelter, food, sport, art
Up to 80 children between the ages of eight and 18 are offered overnight accommodation in the Shelter in Hillbrow by this organisation, one of the first in the city to take on the plight of streetchildren. In addition, food is provided twice daily to children sleeping on the streets. Those in the shelter are required to go to school and expected to take part in organised sport. As part of its training for entrepreneurship, art classes are also on offer.
Contact person: Mildred Mhlanga
Tel: (011) 484 1590
Fax: (011) 484 1591
Postal address: PO Box 650843, Benmore 2010
•Giving hope to Hillbrow's children of the streets
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Usindiso Shelter
Food, accommodation
Run by Usindiso Ministries, the shelter in Albert Street currently houses 80 women with their children and 20 teenage girls. There's also a nursery school on the premises that looks after 55 children.
Contact person: Jay Bradley
Tel: (011) 334-1143/4 or 082-902-4611
Email: usindisomin@wirelessza.co.za This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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Workers Education Project
Developmental skills workshops
The Workers Education Project is an organisation geared towards the training of workers on issues relating to their rights. However there is within WEP a project for street children, called the Socially Excluded Project (SEP), which conducts workshops, through the Johannesburg Alliance for Street Children, for street children on their rights and on developmental skills such as assertiveness and conflict resolution. These workshops are also conducted at an annual Alliance camp for children from the streets.
Contact person: T Mdakane
Address: PO Box 10353, Johannesburg 2000
Tel: (011) 838-2181
Fax: (011) 838-2182
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Youth For Christ (Amakhaya)
Shelter, training, sport, Christian values
The organisation offers shelter in Lenasia South to 54 children and mixes in a strong emphasis on Christian values and beliefs. All are required to go to school. In addition, youths are given entrepreneurial training such as carpentry and welding, and the sale of the items benefits the youths. Sport, say organisers, is at the centre of the service: soccer, athletics and basketball.
Contact person: J Naicker
Address: PO Box 79473, Senderwood 2145
Tel: (011) 857 1742
Fax: (011) 615 8913
Email: amakhaya@yfc.jhb.org.za This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Read more: http://www.joburg.org.za/content/view/1022/168/#ixzz0VbAhE7OP
Christ Church Christian Care Centre
Shelter, schooling, computers, sport
The Berea church centre can take in 26 children. All are given shelter and must go to school. The children are also offered computer literacy training and sporting activities, including netball, cricket and volleyball.
Contact person: Mike Sunker
Tel: (011) 642 4420
Fax: (011) 642 4420
Address: 15 Mitchell Street, Berea 2198
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Cotlands
Sanctuary, hospice, day care, home care
Perhaps the best-known sanctuary for babies and children living with HIV/Aids, Cotlands also meets the needs of small children, whether HIV positive or negative, who have been abandoned, abused or neglected. Its place of safety at Turffontein takes in children whose parents are unfit, either temporarily or permanently; fostering and adoptions are made from here. Small children resident at Cotlands attend its Day Creche, but so do children from the wider community. There is a hospice which cares for children up to the age of six and terminally ill with Aids. And a home care project, begun in KwaZulu/Natal, has now been extended to Soweto, Orange Farm, Alexandra and Tembisa, to assist Aids orphans, child-headed and grandparent-headed families. Cotlands offers training, ranging from three-hour workshops to five-day courses, on HIV/Aids awareness and how to work with and care for the infected and affected. Courses and workshops are aimed at schools, care-givers, parents and learners as well as community workers.
Contact person: Kathy Volkwyn
Address: 134 Stanton Street, Turffontein
PO Box 74042, Turffontein 2140
Tel: (011) 683-7200
Fax: (011) 683-2609
Email: Jolene@cotlands.org This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Or cotlands@global.co.za This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Web site: www.cotlands.org
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Eldorado Park Early Development Centre
Creche, play, craft
This pre-primary school is supported by the Johannesburg Child Welfare Society and functions as an all-day crèche for working parents.
Contact person: Ingrid Okkers
Address: 52 Ametas Street, Nancefield, Eldorado Park
Tel: (011) 342-2935
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Hearts of Hope
Hearts of Hope is a voluntary organisation that started in December 2002 by the efforts of Rivonia Catholic Church and St Lukes Anglican Church members. It cares for vulnerable and abandoned children who are infected and affected by HIV/Aids. The organisation houses six children and two foster parents at a three-bedroom home called "Thabang".
"Thabang" is the first of many homes that Hearts of Hope would like to establish within local communities, however ongoing financial support as well as community involvement is needed to make this dream work. So far, "Thabang" provides a loving, safe and caring environment in which children can flourish and develop in a family environment. Hearts of Hope aims to facilitate adoption into families and to source foster parents.
For more information:
Contact: Paul Reid
Address: 102 Churchill Ave, Wendywood
Tel: 011 884 1536/ 084 955 9765
E-mail: info@heartsofhope.org.za This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website: www.heartsofhope.org.za
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Jesus the Good Shepherd
Food, counselling, sport, home visits
The Berea-based organisation offers food to 80 children on Tuesday and Friday, as well as basic counselling on issues that affect them. Sport is laid on to draw them away from crime and begging: volleyball, soccer and netball. Those children who want to reunite with their families are offered home visits.
Contact person: B Curtis
Address: 15 Mitchell Street, Berea 2198
Tel: (011) 706 8519
Fax: (011) 886 1601
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Johannesburg Alliance for Street Children
Capacity building, research, policy development
The Alliance, which serves all of Gauteng and, especially, Johannesburg, is an umbrella organisation for groups dealing with street children. It engages in capacity building in these organisations. It also carries out research on trends and issues relating to street children and policy development. Results of its research are shared with local, provincial and national government and the United Nations.
The goal of the alliance is to promote the reintegration of children into the community through family reunification where possible. It is also involved in updating the databases of organisations and other stakeholders, advocacy and lobbying groups.
Contact person: Liebe Kellen
Tel: (011) 982-7609
Fax: 086 513 2767
Email: liebe.iyldp@wbs.co.za
OR
Contact person: Ivor Matshali
Tel: (011) 484-1590
Fax: (011) 484-6278
Email: janep@mweb.co.za
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Nkosi's Haven
Shelter, schooling, training, home-based care, outreach
There are two havens named after South Africa's best-known Aids patient, Nkosi Johnson, who was born HIV positive and died 12 years later from an Aids-related illness. The house in Berea takes in Aids orphans; the original establishment, in Berea, houses HIV positive mothers and their children as well as Aids orphans, both HIV positive and negative. In addition, Nkosi's Haven looks after the needs of a number of Aids orphans in Klipspruit West and Sebokeng, providing food, clothing, school fees and emotional support and counselling, coming through with crisis intervention as well when necessary. In all, the organisation looks after 69 children and 17 mothers. Its outreach programme includes talks on HIV/Aids at schools and companies, and training for companies, targeting the workforce; specialised packages are arranged, depending on the companies' needs.
Nkosi's Haven
23 Mitchell Street, Berea 2198
PO Box 403, Melville 2109
Contact person: Oscar Martin-Ngwenya, projects director
Tel: (011) 642-1733
Fax: (011) 642-0793
Also premises of Goodhope Home Based Care
Umnonhaneni location, Tembisa
Tel: (011) 925-0312
Email: nkosishaven@worldonline.co.za This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
And nkosiadmin@worldonline.co.za This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Web site: www.nkosishaven.co.za
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Orlando Children's Home
Shelter, schooling, adoption, fostering, creche
This venerable institution has been going since 1940, taking in abandoned or orphaned children, aged newborn to 18, sent there by the Children's Court. Orlando is linked to Johannesburg Child Welfare for adoptions, although they do some on their own and also try to place children for fostering. There are currently more than 60 children resident at the home. The younger ones attend a creche on the premises, along with many other toddlers who live in the community. The older ones are sent to schools in the vicinity. Cared for at the home are children abandoned for a variety of reasons: some because they are physically or mentally handicapped; others because of their HIV status or because their parents have died and their relatives cannot take care of them. The home carries out an outreach programme, addressing teenagers at schools and pregnant women in clinics, telling them of the effect of abandoning their babies and explaining that there are other options.
Contact person: Mirriam Mazibuko
Tel: (011) 935-1209
Fax: (011) 935-1144
Address: 6514 Mooki Street, Orlando East.
Postal address: PO Box 123, Orlando 1804
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Othandweni
Food, clothing, medical care, training
Soweto-based Othandweni, run by Johannesburg Child Welfare, has a range of projects which offer food, clothing, medical care and practical training to inner city street children as well as refuge for abandoned, abused or neglected babies. Under "basic care and human rights", it takes on everything from feeding and clothing children to family preservation activities outreach (the group last year declared war on glue-sniffing) and prison visits, and when necessary, guardianship at court. For older children, Othandweni offers cricket and soccer development and adventure camps as well as tuition in literacy and life skills, business training, catering and other skills, and tries to place the young people in jobs. For the babies, volunteers supply stimulation and TLC at playtime. A health care project runs a mobile clinic but also offers home-based care and health education as well as a care centre for terminally ill children.
Contact person: L Pienaar
Tel: (011) 725 6531
Fax: (011) 725 6572
Postal address: Private Bag X33, Hillbrow 2038 or JCW at PO Box 2539, Johannesburg 2000
•Othandweni selected to represent SA in a Best Practices competition
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Rhema Service Foundation
Shelter, training, sport, family reunion
Rhema's shelters in Hillbrow and the CBD take up to 50 children and all of them are required to attend school fulltime. Among extra-curricular activities is art-making; the products are sold at flea markets to help fund the programme. The church also tries to reunite the children with their immediate or extended families.
Contact person: Lance van Graan
Tel: (011) 336 0083
Fax: (011) 334 1206
Address: Private Bag X3062, Randburg 2125
Email: media@rhema.co.za This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Web site: www.rhema.co.za, then click on rsf
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Siyakula Early Development Centre
Creche, play, craft
A pre-primary school in Alexandra, supported by the Johannesburg Child Welfare Society, which functions as an all-day creche for working parents.
Contact person: Sheila Luvuno
Address: 62 2nd Avenue, Alexandra
Tel: (011) 443-3224
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Sparrow Schools Educational Trust
Specialised schooling, skills training, jobs initiative
This is a registered non-profit organisation that provides disadvantaged children and youth with learning and intellectual disabilities, with access to affordable, specialised education. The Sparrow Schools Educational Trust runs three different, yet interrelated, educational centres - a primary school, technical skills centre, and a job creation initiative - for children between the ages of 7 and 19. All the children who attend are disadvantaged and have varying degrees of educational backlogs, remedial problems, learning difficulties or intellectual disabilities. Situated in Johannesburg, the centres cater for over 850 learners annually, helping them, where possible, to overcome their learning disabilities and equipping them with the knowledge and skills needed to become independent and contributing members of society.
Contact person: Kathy Seals
Address: corner Gerty and Herman streets, Sophiatown
Tel: 011 673 3558/4410
E-mail: sparrow@mweb.co.za This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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Streetwise South Africa
Shelter, schooling, art, drama, sport
Up to 24 children are offered accommodation at the Streetwise shelter in Bertrams (there are also branches in Pretoria and KwaZulu-Natal) and an education at the New Nation School in Cottesloe. They are also given a chance to learn fine art, drama and gumboot dance. Sport is at the centre of the service, says Streetwise: soccer, athletics and basketball form part of their extra-mural activities. The organisation has been around since 1986; they try to serve as a link between the child and his or her estranged family, hoping for reunification; links continue even when the child has returned home.
Contact person: K Mogashoa
Tel: (011) 614 7883
Fax: (011) 481 5127
Address: 47 Terrace Road, Bertrams 2000
Email: streetwise@54.co.za This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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Thembalethu for Girls Project
Life skills, entrepreneurial training, craft, sport
This is a project of Johannesburg Child Welfare, located in Doornfontein. Thembalethu distributes food, clothing and blankets to children on the street, invites them to come to its drop-in centre and, when a girl wishes to come off the streets, arranges accommodation at Usindiso Shelter at Albert Street.
The drop-in centre at the corner of Noord and End streets in Doornfontein offers tuition in sewing and knitting to 30 girls between the ages of eight and 18, as well as lessons in basic life skills - conflict resolution, for example - and tries to work towards reuniting the girls with their families. Items made by the girls are sold at flea markets to help them earn an income. They are also encouraged to do gardening, which helps with food for distribution on the streets. Sport, including soccer, netball and athletics, is also offered to the girls
Contact person: T Mashiya
Address: corner Noord and End Streets, Doornfontein
Tel: (011) 402 8073
Fax: (011) 331 6192
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Twilight Children
Shelter, food, sport, art
Up to 80 children between the ages of eight and 18 are offered overnight accommodation in the Shelter in Hillbrow by this organisation, one of the first in the city to take on the plight of streetchildren. In addition, food is provided twice daily to children sleeping on the streets. Those in the shelter are required to go to school and expected to take part in organised sport. As part of its training for entrepreneurship, art classes are also on offer.
Contact person: Mildred Mhlanga
Tel: (011) 484 1590
Fax: (011) 484 1591
Postal address: PO Box 650843, Benmore 2010
•Giving hope to Hillbrow's children of the streets
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Usindiso Shelter
Food, accommodation
Run by Usindiso Ministries, the shelter in Albert Street currently houses 80 women with their children and 20 teenage girls. There's also a nursery school on the premises that looks after 55 children.
Contact person: Jay Bradley
Tel: (011) 334-1143/4 or 082-902-4611
Email: usindisomin@wirelessza.co.za This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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Workers Education Project
Developmental skills workshops
The Workers Education Project is an organisation geared towards the training of workers on issues relating to their rights. However there is within WEP a project for street children, called the Socially Excluded Project (SEP), which conducts workshops, through the Johannesburg Alliance for Street Children, for street children on their rights and on developmental skills such as assertiveness and conflict resolution. These workshops are also conducted at an annual Alliance camp for children from the streets.
Contact person: T Mdakane
Address: PO Box 10353, Johannesburg 2000
Tel: (011) 838-2181
Fax: (011) 838-2182
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Youth For Christ (Amakhaya)
Shelter, training, sport, Christian values
The organisation offers shelter in Lenasia South to 54 children and mixes in a strong emphasis on Christian values and beliefs. All are required to go to school. In addition, youths are given entrepreneurial training such as carpentry and welding, and the sale of the items benefits the youths. Sport, say organisers, is at the centre of the service: soccer, athletics and basketball.
Contact person: J Naicker
Address: PO Box 79473, Senderwood 2145
Tel: (011) 857 1742
Fax: (011) 615 8913
Email: amakhaya@yfc.jhb.org.za This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Read more: http://www.joburg.org.za/content/view/1022/168/#ixzz0VbAhE7OP
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Trail of Hope Registers as a Section 21 and NPO
As we have been approaching different organisations both civil and corporate we have realized that we need to be properly protected and registered under South African laws.In so doing we will be able to fundraise and even receive international funds for our project.With that we are going to announce the new board of directors as soon as we are finished with registration.
RE: Trail of Hope Project – A Journey of Hope
Trail of Hope Foundation (“T.H.F”) is a non-profit organization based in Pretoria, South Africa that empowers orphaned and vulnerable children to develop critical consciousness within their context of living. It was founded by Tendai Sean Joe, former street child, now an international advocate for disadvantaged children and youths.
The “Trail” is a trail of human inspiration created to bring attention to the struggles of orphaned and vulnerable children in Africa and suggest sustainable solutions to help transform these children into future leaders of tomorrow.
Currently, T.H.F. is embarking on a three month motorbike journey throughout 16 countries in Africa and Europe collectively. The Trail of Hope journey will begin in Cape Town, South Africa and end in London, United Kingdom. The goal is to produce a documentary that highlights the struggles faced by many orphaned children and use this documentary as a tool for creating global awareness.
Our target is to raise ZAR500,000.00 (USD66,000.00). This will include the projected costs of motorbikes, living expenses for riders and cost of ride (excluding filming budget). For further clarification, budget is available upon request.
We invite Potential Sponsor to join us as a sponsor for this documentary. By being a sponsor, you will be creating a branding opportunity for your company/ organization while supporting a great cause.
We are offering various levels of sponsorships. Please see sponsorship form enclosed. Also, enclosed is the Trail of Hope Foundation business plan. For further information, please contact our New York Ambassador, Melissa Tswana-Daniels at (914) 813-1632.
Sincerely,
______________________________________
Tendai Sean Joe
Founder/ Director – Trail of Hope Foundation
RE: Trail of Hope Project – A Journey of Hope
Trail of Hope Foundation (“T.H.F”) is a non-profit organization based in Pretoria, South Africa that empowers orphaned and vulnerable children to develop critical consciousness within their context of living. It was founded by Tendai Sean Joe, former street child, now an international advocate for disadvantaged children and youths.
The “Trail” is a trail of human inspiration created to bring attention to the struggles of orphaned and vulnerable children in Africa and suggest sustainable solutions to help transform these children into future leaders of tomorrow.
Currently, T.H.F. is embarking on a three month motorbike journey throughout 16 countries in Africa and Europe collectively. The Trail of Hope journey will begin in Cape Town, South Africa and end in London, United Kingdom. The goal is to produce a documentary that highlights the struggles faced by many orphaned children and use this documentary as a tool for creating global awareness.
Our target is to raise ZAR500,000.00 (USD66,000.00). This will include the projected costs of motorbikes, living expenses for riders and cost of ride (excluding filming budget). For further clarification, budget is available upon request.
We invite Potential Sponsor to join us as a sponsor for this documentary. By being a sponsor, you will be creating a branding opportunity for your company/ organization while supporting a great cause.
We are offering various levels of sponsorships. Please see sponsorship form enclosed. Also, enclosed is the Trail of Hope Foundation business plan. For further information, please contact our New York Ambassador, Melissa Tswana-Daniels at (914) 813-1632.
Sincerely,
______________________________________
Tendai Sean Joe
Founder/ Director – Trail of Hope Foundation
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Conflict Fuels HIV/AIDS Crisis
Conflict Fuels HIV/AIDS Crisis
By Graça Machel (*)
Maputo- Over the past five years, HIV/AIDS has changed the landscape of war more than any other single factor. World- wide, HIV/AIDS has killed 3.8 million children and orphaned 13 million more. In many parts of Africa, HIV/AIDS is now the main threat to human survival: 18.8 million people have already died of AIDS, and in a number of the worst-affected countries it is estimated that up to half of all today's 15-year-olds will die from the disease.
The chaotic and brutal circumstances of war aggravate all the factors that fuel the HIV/AIDS crisis. War breaks up families and communities, creating millions of refugees and placing women and children in great peril of sexual attack or systematic rape used to terrorise opposing forces. It destroys the health services that might have been able to identify the diseases associated with HIV/AIDS or screen the blood transfusions that might transmit it.
And war destroys the education systems that might have been able to teach prevention and slow the spread of the disease. AIDS contributes to political instability by leaving millions of children orphaned and by killing teachers, health workers, and other public servants.
The relationship between AIDS and conflict is complex, but is mutually reinforcing. And both are compounded by poverty and the gender dimensions of conflict and the pandemic. Of the 17 countries with over 100,000 children orphaned by AIDS, 13 are in conflict or on the brink of emergency, and 13 are heavily indebted poor countries. Throughout the world, developing countries carry a debt burden of about USD 2 trillion and those countries also carry 95 percent of the HIV/AIDS burden.
Another factor accelerating the spread of HIV infection during conflict is involvement with military forces. In conflict situations, the main perpetrators of sexual abuse and exploitation are armed forces or armed groups. In addition, soldiers are typically young, sexually active men who are likely to seek commercial sex. Even during peacetime, they have sexually transmitted infection (STI) rates two to five times greater than those of civilian populations. During armed conflict their rate of infection can be up to 50 times higher. Under certain circumstances some armed forces already impose mandatory HIV testing, but voluntary testing, combined with confidential counselling, support and treatment, is far more effective-and almost nowhere available.
About half of the people with HIV become infected by age 25 and are likely to die with AIDS by age 35, leaving their children to be raised by grandparents or to fend for themselves in child-headed households.
More than 10 million people living with HIV today are between 10 and 24 years of age. At least 50 percent of all new infections occur in the 10-24 age group, with 7,000 new infections every day.
These statistics underline the imperative to include HIV/AIDS prevention and counselling in all programmes related to the reintegration of war-affected young people, especially ex-combatant and refugee children.
Over 90 percent of all HIV-infected children under the age of 15 started life as babies born to HIV-positive mothers. Recent studies indicate that the administration of anti-retroviral drugs can reduce HIV transmission at birth, but without access to these drugs or other interventions around one in three HIV-positive pregnant women will pass the infection on during pregnancy, at birth or through breastfeeding.
In conflict situations women have no choice but to breastfeed.
In refugee camps, there is little or no access to safe water, let alone formula or the money to buy it with, so that breastfeeding is likely to be the safest method of infant feeding, which makes even clearer the urgent need for women to have access to testing, counselling and anti-retroviral drugs. Yet that access does not exist for populations in developing countries even during times of peace.
Programming to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS must be vigorously pursued at the national and local level. In the absence of functioning health and education systems in conflict situations, humanitarian agencies and NGOs have provided health services for displaced populations that would be otherwise unreachable. All humanitarian responses in conflict situations should ensure, within the mainstream of health care, free voluntary and confidential counselling and testing for HIV/AIDS, proper screening of blood, and medical supplies to deal with the opportunistic infections that accompany HIV/AIDS. These services must be available throughout the whole population to avoid inadvertently creating a double standard.
No matter how difficult the circumstances, HIV/AIDS has to be confronted vigorously and resolutely. So far the response has been tragically inadequate. In 1998, only USD 300 million was spent by donor countries on the fight against AIDS. An estimated USD 3 billion is needed, half for prevention activities and half for basic care, excluding anti-retroviral drugs. Currently, no country in Africa spends more than one percent of its health budget on HIV/AIDS.
Drug treatment has become steadily more effective, but at present only a tiny minority of people in developing countries has any access to such treatments.
(*) Graça Machel, former Minister of Education in Mozambique, is a well-known activist on the rights of children, and has done extensive research on the impact of conflict on children.
By Graça Machel (*)
Maputo- Over the past five years, HIV/AIDS has changed the landscape of war more than any other single factor. World- wide, HIV/AIDS has killed 3.8 million children and orphaned 13 million more. In many parts of Africa, HIV/AIDS is now the main threat to human survival: 18.8 million people have already died of AIDS, and in a number of the worst-affected countries it is estimated that up to half of all today's 15-year-olds will die from the disease.
The chaotic and brutal circumstances of war aggravate all the factors that fuel the HIV/AIDS crisis. War breaks up families and communities, creating millions of refugees and placing women and children in great peril of sexual attack or systematic rape used to terrorise opposing forces. It destroys the health services that might have been able to identify the diseases associated with HIV/AIDS or screen the blood transfusions that might transmit it.
And war destroys the education systems that might have been able to teach prevention and slow the spread of the disease. AIDS contributes to political instability by leaving millions of children orphaned and by killing teachers, health workers, and other public servants.
The relationship between AIDS and conflict is complex, but is mutually reinforcing. And both are compounded by poverty and the gender dimensions of conflict and the pandemic. Of the 17 countries with over 100,000 children orphaned by AIDS, 13 are in conflict or on the brink of emergency, and 13 are heavily indebted poor countries. Throughout the world, developing countries carry a debt burden of about USD 2 trillion and those countries also carry 95 percent of the HIV/AIDS burden.
Another factor accelerating the spread of HIV infection during conflict is involvement with military forces. In conflict situations, the main perpetrators of sexual abuse and exploitation are armed forces or armed groups. In addition, soldiers are typically young, sexually active men who are likely to seek commercial sex. Even during peacetime, they have sexually transmitted infection (STI) rates two to five times greater than those of civilian populations. During armed conflict their rate of infection can be up to 50 times higher. Under certain circumstances some armed forces already impose mandatory HIV testing, but voluntary testing, combined with confidential counselling, support and treatment, is far more effective-and almost nowhere available.
About half of the people with HIV become infected by age 25 and are likely to die with AIDS by age 35, leaving their children to be raised by grandparents or to fend for themselves in child-headed households.
More than 10 million people living with HIV today are between 10 and 24 years of age. At least 50 percent of all new infections occur in the 10-24 age group, with 7,000 new infections every day.
These statistics underline the imperative to include HIV/AIDS prevention and counselling in all programmes related to the reintegration of war-affected young people, especially ex-combatant and refugee children.
Over 90 percent of all HIV-infected children under the age of 15 started life as babies born to HIV-positive mothers. Recent studies indicate that the administration of anti-retroviral drugs can reduce HIV transmission at birth, but without access to these drugs or other interventions around one in three HIV-positive pregnant women will pass the infection on during pregnancy, at birth or through breastfeeding.
In conflict situations women have no choice but to breastfeed.
In refugee camps, there is little or no access to safe water, let alone formula or the money to buy it with, so that breastfeeding is likely to be the safest method of infant feeding, which makes even clearer the urgent need for women to have access to testing, counselling and anti-retroviral drugs. Yet that access does not exist for populations in developing countries even during times of peace.
Programming to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS must be vigorously pursued at the national and local level. In the absence of functioning health and education systems in conflict situations, humanitarian agencies and NGOs have provided health services for displaced populations that would be otherwise unreachable. All humanitarian responses in conflict situations should ensure, within the mainstream of health care, free voluntary and confidential counselling and testing for HIV/AIDS, proper screening of blood, and medical supplies to deal with the opportunistic infections that accompany HIV/AIDS. These services must be available throughout the whole population to avoid inadvertently creating a double standard.
No matter how difficult the circumstances, HIV/AIDS has to be confronted vigorously and resolutely. So far the response has been tragically inadequate. In 1998, only USD 300 million was spent by donor countries on the fight against AIDS. An estimated USD 3 billion is needed, half for prevention activities and half for basic care, excluding anti-retroviral drugs. Currently, no country in Africa spends more than one percent of its health budget on HIV/AIDS.
Drug treatment has become steadily more effective, but at present only a tiny minority of people in developing countries has any access to such treatments.
(*) Graça Machel, former Minister of Education in Mozambique, is a well-known activist on the rights of children, and has done extensive research on the impact of conflict on children.
Monday, September 21, 2009
MAKE A DIFFERENCE NOW IN , AFRICA
Search Fotr charities on http://www.africaguide.com
Chauncy Maples Malawi Trust
‘Chauncy Maples’ is the oldest ship in Africa, being renovated to provide free health services to 2 million people around Lake Malawi.
RIPPLE Africa
whose mission is help young Malawians reach their potential through the development of local education.
Urban Poor Child Organization (UPCO)
a Community Based Organization (CBO) in Ghana that works to support urban poor children, brilliant but needy, to undergo any training of their choice.
STAR4Africa
is a UK based charity committed to developing Africa's resources and empowering its people. Now searching for funding for new projects and volunteers to help carry out specific work.
Livingstone Tanzania Trust
Community based cultural tourism, voluntourism, teaching opportunities, we are poverty alleviation in practice. Donors and visitors are urged to visit our projects and see what we are up to.
The Change Exchange
A nonprofit organization working to aid the academic and emotional development of children in Africa by supporting schools and implementing sustainable development projects.
Medical Benevolence Foundation
MBF provides hope & healing to those in need, including funding for medical services & supplies, nutrition, orphan care, community development, & medical mission workers.
Hope Missions Ministries
A Christian organisation working in education, advocacy, women's empowerment, child survival, youth development, agricultural and spiritual projects in the rural regions of Malawi.
Free lessons for Knysna Schoolchildren
Charity providing free lessons for poor schoolchildren in Kynsna, South Africa. No administrative overhead (all funds spent on tuition).
RIPPLE Africa
whose mission is help young Malawians reach their potential through the development of local education.
SOS Children: Aids Africa
Children charity helping orphans throughout africa with latest projects in South Africa, Zambia, Swaziland
Link Ethiopia
Link Ethiopia is the first full school link with an Ethiopian secondary school. The website tells of this link but also has plenty of information on Ethiopia, its culture and its people.
Achieve in Africa
We give children in Africa, starting in Tanzania, the ability to achieve in school by providing the facilities and supplies needed for a proper education.
The Mustard Seed Project
UK and Kenyan Charity supporting deprived Mombasa community through school for poor children, training unemployed adults, microbusinesses for single mothers, empowering community to improve environment.
Poverty In Africa. You Can Help
A place where you can learn more about poverty in Africa, and how to help
Self Help Africa
Self Help Africa works with thousands of farmers in rural Africa, helping them to feed their families, earn a living and become more self-reliant.
Transafrika Cultural Institutes
a non-profit organization based in the US dedicated to supporting schools, orphanages and medical facilities in Africa.
The Ufosa Foundation
Uniting aid in Education, Family Wellbeing and Health across South Africa in its far-reaching 5-year development programme.
Youth Alive
Youth Alive exists in Ghana to alleviate the plight of street and vulnerable children in the country. Through training and education it hopes to give children a better future
Orphanage Africa
We are an NGO that supports orphans, needy children and women in Ghana. We run a volunteer program to send volunteers to the orphanages we support.
IT Kidz of Africa
a small charitable organisation with the purpose of increasing computer literacy and knowledge of information technology amongst children and disenfranchised individuals in Africa.
Aid2Africa
A registered charity supporting Orphans and Vulnerable Children through work with schools. Paying fees and funding school based projects ranging from buying books to building classrooms.
Helps International (HINT)
a community development NGO situated in Buea, Cameroon whose mission is to improve the social and economic well-being and health of the poor and under privileged in our society through education, skill development and job creation.
Paper for All
a non-profit registered in the UK and France that provides academic resources (notebooks, pens, chalk) to several elementary schools in Burkina Faso, Africa. Please visit our website to know more about our actions and impact.
The Kanga Project
We support grassroots organisations in Tanzania that focus on women’s empowerment through education, training and microloans. We fund girls’ dormitories so they can attend secondary schools.
Temwa
Temwa's objective is to help build a sustainable future for the people of Malawi through community-based projects.
ICAfrica - International Charity for Africa
To relieve poverty by providing economic development assistance to impoverished communities in Africa, though working with small enterprises & farmers to create jobs, supported through skills training
Faraja Orphans Rescue Ministry (FORM)
a Tanzanian non-profit organization recognized by the government. We nurture the children's physical and spirtitual needs.
Orphanages for Africa (OFA)
a Christian multinational charity which offers humanitarian and development assistance to Africans caring for orphans.
Build A School
Help build a school in Malawi: Buy materials or labour to be a part of Africa's future
Tanzania Partners
A church-based organization in the US working directly with residents of Hedaru, Tanzania, to improve the quality of life in Hedaru through projects that benefit the entire community
Poverty Eradication Network Trust
(PEN Trust) is a non profit serving the needy of Dodoma and Singida regions in central Tanzania through education and nutrition programs.
The Goromonzi Project, Inc.
Sponsoring orphans and vulnerable children in Zimbabwe, Africa.
Develop Africa
Committed to developing Africa's greatest resource – people. We invite you to join us in empowering lives and creating opportunities. Come make a difference with us.
Women In Vision
An NGO which helps women by training and empowering them to have skills and also developing their businesses. By volunteering you will help change the life of an African woman.
For Life Onlus Charity
fundraising for the Combonian Fathers village in kotido, karamoja in Uganda
The Global Natural Healthcare Trust
Founded in 2001, the charity cares for and treats several thousand HIV/ AIDS patients holistically with medical herbs which are both safe and organic.
PDH - Lome, Togo
Small and committed local humanitarian project, committed to fighting the AIDS and poverty stricken inhabitants of Togo. We are desperate for volunteers.
EdUKaid
EdUKaid aims to enable the children of the developing world to gain dignity and future prosperity for themselves and their community by providing education.
Christ Cares Childrens Home
a caring and rehabilitation centre for orphans and needy children from the streets and poor families in Kajiado District in Kenya
Hope for Africa Intermational
A Christian Charitable Organisation providing humanitarian and social services to Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Africa through Community Schools.
African Society for Quality in Healthcare ASQH
We work in Africa training on Six Sigma TQM and CME All information about Health in Africa countries you need all services are totally free
A Self-Help Assistance Program
ASAP helps individuals in southern Africa to improve their own lives and become self-reliant with sustainable, community-based development.
African Children's Educational Trust (A-CET)
Small independent professional charity helping vulnerable young Africans through educational scholarships. Working through through local organisations we now support 1,000+ children and 2 primary schools.
MOP (Marylinn Orphan Project)
MOP is a Tanzanian organisation dealing with HIV/AIDS orphans and widows and actively looking for short-term or long-term volunteers of all types.
Sponsoring African Children in Kenya Africa Christian Charity
The mission of Pamoja Child Trust, Inc. is to promote, sponsor, and assist Kenyans in developing programs that would optimize the physical, emotional, spiritual, mental and social well being of children.
Street Child Africa
works with partner agencies to help the thousands of African Street Children find a way out of living on the streets.
SOS Africa
A UK registered charity, which funds the education and care of underprivileged children from the poorest areas of Southern Africa.
Nyuma Ya Thanzi
Nyumba Ya Thanzi is a charitable trust that supports Malawian led development initiatives. We hold parties in the UK to raise money for the work our partners are doing in Malawi.
TunaHAKI Foundation
Dedicated to caring for the neediest children of Tanzania, we are currently supporting a shelter for orphaned street kids who specialize in acrobatics! Volunteers welcome!
Make a Difference (MAD)
empower orphaned children and youth to become self sufficient and self confident citizens through education, healthcare, social development, and income generating activities at orphanages and community schools.
Ubumi Children's Project
Community based christian organization working with communities to address the needs of vulnerable children affected or infected by HIV/AIDS in a holistic and sustainable manner
Promoting Equality in African Schools (PEAS)
PEAS is a UK charity which aims to make a sustainable, long-term difference to the lives of African children through the foundation and development of low-fee secondary schools.
Fair Aid Society
working to support locally-run Congolese health care initiatives that serve the marginalized and vulnerable
Women in Progress
Women in Progress works to achieve economic independence of women and alleviate poverty at a grassroots level. Women in Progress also helps people volunteer abroad.
Childaid Voluntary work Ghana
Childaid organises voluntary work in Ghana. Volunteers can teach at schools in Africa. Childaid is nonprofit organisation and is located in Holland and in Ghana.
Hope Africa
Offers support for various projects throughout Malawi. Online donations available.
Tukae
We work towards the alleviation of poverty through better Health and Education provision, and the development of sustainable economic practices.
Harvestime Company Ltd.
We provide quality basic educational and health-care services for rural communities in Ghana, especially needy children of school-going age.
Star of Hope
Charity bassed in Cornwall UK looking to help street children in Nairobi with shelter education and health'
Biblionef
Biblionef South Africa is a unique NGO, which donates new storybooks in all eleven official South African languages to needy children’s organizations throughout the country.
African Support and Assistance Project
A new charity, based at Mid-Cheshire College, dedicated to the support of education and communities in Africa. We are working with Befole Primary School in northern Lesotho to help them re-build their school.
Fondation Maisha
Homepage of a non profit organization for street children in Lubumbashi, D.R. Congo.
Build the Future
Committed to help East African children reach their potential
ISOSS - International SOS Society
Free Medical Care and assistance for the disabled in Ghana, West Africa
Igbo Charitable Association Inc
A charitable organization delivering community level poverty alleviation support to people in Eastern Nigeria and creating employment opportunities for young people in all of Africa.
Stand Up For Africa
an independent, African-led, non-profit organisation. We support and create opportunities for all those who love Africa to help eradicate poverty and suffering across the continent.
Thatu
a new UK Registered Charity supporting self-help and home-grown food-related projects in poorly resourced communities in South Africa.
Helping Hands Healing Ministries, Inc.
A charity helping the poorest of the poor with educational, medical, social, and spiritual needs so that as they are empowered they can, in turn, help others as well.
Christian African Educational Services
Our mission is to improve the lives of those in need. Because children and youth are the hope of the future, we believe in investing in them by providing education, training and leadership.
Action of Solidarity for Scientific Knowledge and Research (ASK)
a nonprofit organization involved in assisting Developing Countries, particularly in Africa, to create an environment that promotes development of knowledge and scientific research.
Africatravelmart
Africatravelmart works with tour operators and safari companies to provide custom made tours and sales of curios in support of job creation for the unemployed
Somali Poverty Relief and Rural Development Organisation
a registered charity in England. The charity was established to give education to the Somali children in Somalia, to provide clean water and basic health care. Membership is open to any individual who is interested in furthering the objectives of the charity.
Zisize - The Heaton Lee Memorial Trust
a child-centred UK charity whose aims are poverty alleviation and educational advancement in rural areas of KwaZuluNatal.
VolunteerAfrica
Give young people the opportunity to spend up to three months working alongside villagers on locally initiated community development projects.
Abaana Ministries
Charity helping Children in Africa. Raising funds for Schools and Hospitals. Getting Youth to help Youth. Sharing God's Love.
International Reconstructive Plastic Surgery - Ghana
IRPS wishes to help Ghana become self sufficient in reconstructive plastic surgery provision within the next five years. To help achieve this, the IRPS requires to raise funds to pay for: new hospital equipment, training courses in Ghana, training doctors in Scotland, providing amenities for nurses and the expenses of consultant surgeons visiting Ghana.
BooksForAfrica.com
helps donors buy books for children in South Africa. Payments are made to existing online retailers. Books are dilivered directly to end users.
Beads for Education, Advancement, Development and Success
BEADS in conjunction with the African Conservation Center in Kenya has developed a two pronged effort to help the Maasai women and their families in Isinya, Kenya
Harambee Schools Kenya
Harambee Schools Kenya aims to improve the basic infrastructure of poor rural primary schools in Kenya, and to provide them with basic materials, especially textbooks.
Help an African Schoolchild Trust
The Aim of the charity is to improve the living conditions and the educational standards and facilities in a number of Zambian and Tanzanian communities.
The Voluntary Workcamps Association of Ghana
VOLU organizes 3-4 week volunteer workcamps helping poor communities in Ghana.
Messiah Ministries
The mission of Messiah Ministries is to care for orphans, street children, widows and other vulnerable members of society through education, skills training, shelter, health, spiritual guidance and reintegration.
The Life in Africa Foundation
Images, true stories and concrete ways to make a low-cost but lasting impact on the lives of the African poor.
Brotherhood of Blessed Gérard
We are the Relief Organisation of the Order of Malta in South Africa. We run 12 charitable projects: 1. A health care centre & Hospice, 2. A Children's Home, 3. A Pre-Primary School & Crche, 4. A Community Development Centre, 5. A First Aid & Emergency Service, 6. A Feeding Scheme for malnourished infants, 7. A social club for senior citizens, 8. An AIDS Education Programme, 9. A Poor-Sick Fund, 10. A Bursary Fund, 11. A Relief Fund, 12. A Disaster Relief Service.
Chauncy Maples Malawi Trust
‘Chauncy Maples’ is the oldest ship in Africa, being renovated to provide free health services to 2 million people around Lake Malawi.
RIPPLE Africa
whose mission is help young Malawians reach their potential through the development of local education.
Urban Poor Child Organization (UPCO)
a Community Based Organization (CBO) in Ghana that works to support urban poor children, brilliant but needy, to undergo any training of their choice.
STAR4Africa
is a UK based charity committed to developing Africa's resources and empowering its people. Now searching for funding for new projects and volunteers to help carry out specific work.
Livingstone Tanzania Trust
Community based cultural tourism, voluntourism, teaching opportunities, we are poverty alleviation in practice. Donors and visitors are urged to visit our projects and see what we are up to.
The Change Exchange
A nonprofit organization working to aid the academic and emotional development of children in Africa by supporting schools and implementing sustainable development projects.
Medical Benevolence Foundation
MBF provides hope & healing to those in need, including funding for medical services & supplies, nutrition, orphan care, community development, & medical mission workers.
Hope Missions Ministries
A Christian organisation working in education, advocacy, women's empowerment, child survival, youth development, agricultural and spiritual projects in the rural regions of Malawi.
Free lessons for Knysna Schoolchildren
Charity providing free lessons for poor schoolchildren in Kynsna, South Africa. No administrative overhead (all funds spent on tuition).
RIPPLE Africa
whose mission is help young Malawians reach their potential through the development of local education.
SOS Children: Aids Africa
Children charity helping orphans throughout africa with latest projects in South Africa, Zambia, Swaziland
Link Ethiopia
Link Ethiopia is the first full school link with an Ethiopian secondary school. The website tells of this link but also has plenty of information on Ethiopia, its culture and its people.
Achieve in Africa
We give children in Africa, starting in Tanzania, the ability to achieve in school by providing the facilities and supplies needed for a proper education.
The Mustard Seed Project
UK and Kenyan Charity supporting deprived Mombasa community through school for poor children, training unemployed adults, microbusinesses for single mothers, empowering community to improve environment.
Poverty In Africa. You Can Help
A place where you can learn more about poverty in Africa, and how to help
Self Help Africa
Self Help Africa works with thousands of farmers in rural Africa, helping them to feed their families, earn a living and become more self-reliant.
Transafrika Cultural Institutes
a non-profit organization based in the US dedicated to supporting schools, orphanages and medical facilities in Africa.
The Ufosa Foundation
Uniting aid in Education, Family Wellbeing and Health across South Africa in its far-reaching 5-year development programme.
Youth Alive
Youth Alive exists in Ghana to alleviate the plight of street and vulnerable children in the country. Through training and education it hopes to give children a better future
Orphanage Africa
We are an NGO that supports orphans, needy children and women in Ghana. We run a volunteer program to send volunteers to the orphanages we support.
IT Kidz of Africa
a small charitable organisation with the purpose of increasing computer literacy and knowledge of information technology amongst children and disenfranchised individuals in Africa.
Aid2Africa
A registered charity supporting Orphans and Vulnerable Children through work with schools. Paying fees and funding school based projects ranging from buying books to building classrooms.
Helps International (HINT)
a community development NGO situated in Buea, Cameroon whose mission is to improve the social and economic well-being and health of the poor and under privileged in our society through education, skill development and job creation.
Paper for All
a non-profit registered in the UK and France that provides academic resources (notebooks, pens, chalk) to several elementary schools in Burkina Faso, Africa. Please visit our website to know more about our actions and impact.
The Kanga Project
We support grassroots organisations in Tanzania that focus on women’s empowerment through education, training and microloans. We fund girls’ dormitories so they can attend secondary schools.
Temwa
Temwa's objective is to help build a sustainable future for the people of Malawi through community-based projects.
ICAfrica - International Charity for Africa
To relieve poverty by providing economic development assistance to impoverished communities in Africa, though working with small enterprises & farmers to create jobs, supported through skills training
Faraja Orphans Rescue Ministry (FORM)
a Tanzanian non-profit organization recognized by the government. We nurture the children's physical and spirtitual needs.
Orphanages for Africa (OFA)
a Christian multinational charity which offers humanitarian and development assistance to Africans caring for orphans.
Build A School
Help build a school in Malawi: Buy materials or labour to be a part of Africa's future
Tanzania Partners
A church-based organization in the US working directly with residents of Hedaru, Tanzania, to improve the quality of life in Hedaru through projects that benefit the entire community
Poverty Eradication Network Trust
(PEN Trust) is a non profit serving the needy of Dodoma and Singida regions in central Tanzania through education and nutrition programs.
The Goromonzi Project, Inc.
Sponsoring orphans and vulnerable children in Zimbabwe, Africa.
Develop Africa
Committed to developing Africa's greatest resource – people. We invite you to join us in empowering lives and creating opportunities. Come make a difference with us.
Women In Vision
An NGO which helps women by training and empowering them to have skills and also developing their businesses. By volunteering you will help change the life of an African woman.
For Life Onlus Charity
fundraising for the Combonian Fathers village in kotido, karamoja in Uganda
The Global Natural Healthcare Trust
Founded in 2001, the charity cares for and treats several thousand HIV/ AIDS patients holistically with medical herbs which are both safe and organic.
PDH - Lome, Togo
Small and committed local humanitarian project, committed to fighting the AIDS and poverty stricken inhabitants of Togo. We are desperate for volunteers.
EdUKaid
EdUKaid aims to enable the children of the developing world to gain dignity and future prosperity for themselves and their community by providing education.
Christ Cares Childrens Home
a caring and rehabilitation centre for orphans and needy children from the streets and poor families in Kajiado District in Kenya
Hope for Africa Intermational
A Christian Charitable Organisation providing humanitarian and social services to Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Africa through Community Schools.
African Society for Quality in Healthcare ASQH
We work in Africa training on Six Sigma TQM and CME All information about Health in Africa countries you need all services are totally free
A Self-Help Assistance Program
ASAP helps individuals in southern Africa to improve their own lives and become self-reliant with sustainable, community-based development.
African Children's Educational Trust (A-CET)
Small independent professional charity helping vulnerable young Africans through educational scholarships. Working through through local organisations we now support 1,000+ children and 2 primary schools.
MOP (Marylinn Orphan Project)
MOP is a Tanzanian organisation dealing with HIV/AIDS orphans and widows and actively looking for short-term or long-term volunteers of all types.
Sponsoring African Children in Kenya Africa Christian Charity
The mission of Pamoja Child Trust, Inc. is to promote, sponsor, and assist Kenyans in developing programs that would optimize the physical, emotional, spiritual, mental and social well being of children.
Street Child Africa
works with partner agencies to help the thousands of African Street Children find a way out of living on the streets.
SOS Africa
A UK registered charity, which funds the education and care of underprivileged children from the poorest areas of Southern Africa.
Nyuma Ya Thanzi
Nyumba Ya Thanzi is a charitable trust that supports Malawian led development initiatives. We hold parties in the UK to raise money for the work our partners are doing in Malawi.
TunaHAKI Foundation
Dedicated to caring for the neediest children of Tanzania, we are currently supporting a shelter for orphaned street kids who specialize in acrobatics! Volunteers welcome!
Make a Difference (MAD)
empower orphaned children and youth to become self sufficient and self confident citizens through education, healthcare, social development, and income generating activities at orphanages and community schools.
Ubumi Children's Project
Community based christian organization working with communities to address the needs of vulnerable children affected or infected by HIV/AIDS in a holistic and sustainable manner
Promoting Equality in African Schools (PEAS)
PEAS is a UK charity which aims to make a sustainable, long-term difference to the lives of African children through the foundation and development of low-fee secondary schools.
Fair Aid Society
working to support locally-run Congolese health care initiatives that serve the marginalized and vulnerable
Women in Progress
Women in Progress works to achieve economic independence of women and alleviate poverty at a grassroots level. Women in Progress also helps people volunteer abroad.
Childaid Voluntary work Ghana
Childaid organises voluntary work in Ghana. Volunteers can teach at schools in Africa. Childaid is nonprofit organisation and is located in Holland and in Ghana.
Hope Africa
Offers support for various projects throughout Malawi. Online donations available.
Tukae
We work towards the alleviation of poverty through better Health and Education provision, and the development of sustainable economic practices.
Harvestime Company Ltd.
We provide quality basic educational and health-care services for rural communities in Ghana, especially needy children of school-going age.
Star of Hope
Charity bassed in Cornwall UK looking to help street children in Nairobi with shelter education and health'
Biblionef
Biblionef South Africa is a unique NGO, which donates new storybooks in all eleven official South African languages to needy children’s organizations throughout the country.
African Support and Assistance Project
A new charity, based at Mid-Cheshire College, dedicated to the support of education and communities in Africa. We are working with Befole Primary School in northern Lesotho to help them re-build their school.
Fondation Maisha
Homepage of a non profit organization for street children in Lubumbashi, D.R. Congo.
Build the Future
Committed to help East African children reach their potential
ISOSS - International SOS Society
Free Medical Care and assistance for the disabled in Ghana, West Africa
Igbo Charitable Association Inc
A charitable organization delivering community level poverty alleviation support to people in Eastern Nigeria and creating employment opportunities for young people in all of Africa.
Stand Up For Africa
an independent, African-led, non-profit organisation. We support and create opportunities for all those who love Africa to help eradicate poverty and suffering across the continent.
Thatu
a new UK Registered Charity supporting self-help and home-grown food-related projects in poorly resourced communities in South Africa.
Helping Hands Healing Ministries, Inc.
A charity helping the poorest of the poor with educational, medical, social, and spiritual needs so that as they are empowered they can, in turn, help others as well.
Christian African Educational Services
Our mission is to improve the lives of those in need. Because children and youth are the hope of the future, we believe in investing in them by providing education, training and leadership.
Action of Solidarity for Scientific Knowledge and Research (ASK)
a nonprofit organization involved in assisting Developing Countries, particularly in Africa, to create an environment that promotes development of knowledge and scientific research.
Africatravelmart
Africatravelmart works with tour operators and safari companies to provide custom made tours and sales of curios in support of job creation for the unemployed
Somali Poverty Relief and Rural Development Organisation
a registered charity in England. The charity was established to give education to the Somali children in Somalia, to provide clean water and basic health care. Membership is open to any individual who is interested in furthering the objectives of the charity.
Zisize - The Heaton Lee Memorial Trust
a child-centred UK charity whose aims are poverty alleviation and educational advancement in rural areas of KwaZuluNatal.
VolunteerAfrica
Give young people the opportunity to spend up to three months working alongside villagers on locally initiated community development projects.
Abaana Ministries
Charity helping Children in Africa. Raising funds for Schools and Hospitals. Getting Youth to help Youth. Sharing God's Love.
International Reconstructive Plastic Surgery - Ghana
IRPS wishes to help Ghana become self sufficient in reconstructive plastic surgery provision within the next five years. To help achieve this, the IRPS requires to raise funds to pay for: new hospital equipment, training courses in Ghana, training doctors in Scotland, providing amenities for nurses and the expenses of consultant surgeons visiting Ghana.
BooksForAfrica.com
helps donors buy books for children in South Africa. Payments are made to existing online retailers. Books are dilivered directly to end users.
Beads for Education, Advancement, Development and Success
BEADS in conjunction with the African Conservation Center in Kenya has developed a two pronged effort to help the Maasai women and their families in Isinya, Kenya
Harambee Schools Kenya
Harambee Schools Kenya aims to improve the basic infrastructure of poor rural primary schools in Kenya, and to provide them with basic materials, especially textbooks.
Help an African Schoolchild Trust
The Aim of the charity is to improve the living conditions and the educational standards and facilities in a number of Zambian and Tanzanian communities.
The Voluntary Workcamps Association of Ghana
VOLU organizes 3-4 week volunteer workcamps helping poor communities in Ghana.
Messiah Ministries
The mission of Messiah Ministries is to care for orphans, street children, widows and other vulnerable members of society through education, skills training, shelter, health, spiritual guidance and reintegration.
The Life in Africa Foundation
Images, true stories and concrete ways to make a low-cost but lasting impact on the lives of the African poor.
Brotherhood of Blessed Gérard
We are the Relief Organisation of the Order of Malta in South Africa. We run 12 charitable projects: 1. A health care centre & Hospice, 2. A Children's Home, 3. A Pre-Primary School & Crche, 4. A Community Development Centre, 5. A First Aid & Emergency Service, 6. A Feeding Scheme for malnourished infants, 7. A social club for senior citizens, 8. An AIDS Education Programme, 9. A Poor-Sick Fund, 10. A Bursary Fund, 11. A Relief Fund, 12. A Disaster Relief Service.
Topia Children's Eco-Sanctuary Project in Central Africa
The eco-sanctuary is designed to provide immediate assistance to children left seperated, unaccompanied, or orpaned by the violence in Darfur Sudan, specifically the displaced population who have crossed the border into neiboring Chad. Families with children will become foster families upon residential entrance to Topia, and will be the primary caregivers to the children who are alone. Although Topia is aimed to decrease the suffering of the Sudanese refugees, there is no discrimination in acceptance into the Sanctuary, and it will be open and available to all regardless of race, religion, or nationality for the benifit of the region. There are five main elements to the Topia project: 1.) Housing- Assistance in the construction of homes within the Eco-Sanctuary for families , and children old enough to provide for their own self-care. We will also assist in relocation and reunification of seperated and unaccompanied children when and where possible. 2.) Education-We will be building a school open to the general public free of charge. In addition to children's primary classes, we will also provide adult literacy and continuing education classes as well. The school is designed to have a library with books in the local language, as well as computer and internet access at a later stage of development. 3.) Health-Care-Comprehensive full service clinic with integrated medicine blending the healing talents of both modern and traditional practitioners. Health services will be provided free of charge to sanctuary inhabitants, and accessible to the general public on a sliding scale or barter fee based on their income. 4.) Agreculture Development-environmentally restorative agrecultural development to provide for the communities nutritional stability. By using the concepts of permaculture and agroforestry to develop the Eco-Sanctuary's agreculture, we will be continuously building up soil components in areas of depletion, providing shade which in turn increases the soils humidity levels, and provides a place where natural flora can thrive. 5.) Renewable Energy-We will be using a combination of solar, wind, and turbine equipped playground equipment to provide for the energy needs of the community.
Description of innovation:
We are approaching the field of humanitarian aid in a way that strengthens the environment as well as the people in it. Particularly in the areas of environmental scarcity, compitition for limited resources creates local instability, which in turn leads to regional instability and possibly even war. The best way to either recover or prevent further incidence of crisis in the long term would be to teach the future generations to maintain the delicate balance of humans and nature. To design this project, we incorporated four distinct methodologies including concepts of humanitarian aid, disaster mitigation, sustainable development, and environmental stewardship to create what we have termed "holistic aid." The combination not only provides for the immediate needs of the sanctuary's inhabitants, but will also protect and empower the local area by providing access to education, healthcare, agrecultural stimulation, and a healthier environment. Current humanitarian aid available in the region of southern Chad is primarily focused on the refugee populations from Sudan and the Central African Republic while the people of Chad live in extreme poverty. The compitition for resources and frustration over the supplies deployed to the region for refugee aid increases tensions in the area. Similar ecological and racial makeup of Chad and Sudan increase the potential for the violence to spread from Darfur into Chad, therefore we are attempting to increase local stability in Chad before the crisis spreads. The children of the region are particularly vulnerable with little or no infrastructure to provide them with basic needs ranging from food and shelter, to education and future oppertunity.
Key operational partnership:
We are currently working alone as an organization on Topia because we are in such early stages of development. Part of the assessment process will be to connect and collaborate with local organizations in Chad and Sudan.
For more information visit
http://www.changemakers.com/en-us/node/11515
Description of innovation:
We are approaching the field of humanitarian aid in a way that strengthens the environment as well as the people in it. Particularly in the areas of environmental scarcity, compitition for limited resources creates local instability, which in turn leads to regional instability and possibly even war. The best way to either recover or prevent further incidence of crisis in the long term would be to teach the future generations to maintain the delicate balance of humans and nature. To design this project, we incorporated four distinct methodologies including concepts of humanitarian aid, disaster mitigation, sustainable development, and environmental stewardship to create what we have termed "holistic aid." The combination not only provides for the immediate needs of the sanctuary's inhabitants, but will also protect and empower the local area by providing access to education, healthcare, agrecultural stimulation, and a healthier environment. Current humanitarian aid available in the region of southern Chad is primarily focused on the refugee populations from Sudan and the Central African Republic while the people of Chad live in extreme poverty. The compitition for resources and frustration over the supplies deployed to the region for refugee aid increases tensions in the area. Similar ecological and racial makeup of Chad and Sudan increase the potential for the violence to spread from Darfur into Chad, therefore we are attempting to increase local stability in Chad before the crisis spreads. The children of the region are particularly vulnerable with little or no infrastructure to provide them with basic needs ranging from food and shelter, to education and future oppertunity.
Key operational partnership:
We are currently working alone as an organization on Topia because we are in such early stages of development. Part of the assessment process will be to connect and collaborate with local organizations in Chad and Sudan.
For more information visit
http://www.changemakers.com/en-us/node/11515
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
The Adonis Musati Project was named after a young Zimbabwean who died of starvation on the streets of Cape Town while waiting to get his asylum papers
The Adonis Musati Project was named after a young Zimbabwean who died of starvation on the streets of Cape Town while waiting to get his asylum papers. This organisation formed at the end of 2007 in order to ensure that no refugee died of starvation ever again in Cape Town.
Africa has many countries that are either in conflict or have economic situations that are so dire that people are forced to migrate in order to survive. A lot of refugees eventually make their way to the southern most tip of Africa. In South Africa, instead of the relief they had hoped to receive, they face many problems the least of which include persecution, oppression and xenophobia and the worst, rape and death. The majority of these refugees are from Zimbabwe, where since the year 2000 the political and resultant economic situation has deteriorated to an unprecedented degree, due to the devastating rule of the tyrant, Robert Mugabe and his party Zanu PF. However there are also refugees flocking from other impoverished countries whose poverty, suffering and struggles are often overshadowed by Zimbabwe's crises. These countries include Burundi, the DRC, Kenya, Mozambique, Malawi, Somalia and Tanzania.
In South Africa there is very little assistance given by the government for refugees. In fact they often face hostility from government officials. Therefore the little help that they get comes from existing NGOs and NPOs. Before the Adonis Musati Project was formed, there was no NGO or NPO that ensured that the refugees queuing for their papers received some form of nourishment on a daily basis.
The Adonis Musati Project has been granted NPO status. Our official NPO number is 068633NPO.
PROJECT ACHIEVEMENTS:
All Adonis Musati Project committee members are volunteers with jobs, family or study commitments. All storage facilities, places of distribution, telephone and computer facilities, and transport costs have been provided by the volunteers themselves at no cost to the organisation. Even a large amount of the funding has come from the volunteers themselves. Some large and small donations from caring individuals and groups have been of enormous assistance and have gone directly to the refugees themselves.
From November 2007 until June 2008, the Adonis Musati Project fed hundreds of refugees a hot meal several times a week. Hundreds of bags of second-hand clothing have been distributed, as well as thousands of blankets and sleeping bags. At Christmas time, hundreds of well-stocked toiletry bags were distributed, and since then toiletries have been handed out as they have been available. Many refugees have been assisted with transport to hospital, associated costs and basic medicines. Thousands of train and bus tickets have been purchased for refugees needing to renew their asylum papers in Nyanga + for those needing to get to job interviews etc. Some refugees have been assisted with transport to Zimbabwe to go and bury loved ones and comfort their families. Phone cards have been purchased from time to time to help refugees make contact with their families back home.
Adonis Musati Project volunteers have personally helped every refugee who has asked for a Curriculum Vitae to be made in order to find a job. This involves the compilation, typing up and printing of the Curriculum Vitae. Thousands of Curriculum Vitae's have been compiled for refugees.
In the 1st half of 2008, the Adonis Musati Project helped hundreds of refugees find accommodation in low-cost warehouses, shelters, flats and houses and paid for one to two month's of their rent. The Adonis Musati Project also provided some basic foodstuffs for these people so that they would not starve whilst finding a job. For the vast majority of these people, there is a tangible difference in them once they have the restored dignity and security of a roof over their heads. They are able to more easily seek employment and then take over their rentals. The aim is to help the refugees to become self sufficient so that we can then lend our support to other individuals and in the end help more people.
The Adonis Musati Project has also given financial assistance to many refugees for training in security, hospitality, sea faring, computer skills and driving This includes all the equipment or other needs that accompany the training for example safety boots, overalls, registration and admin fees, books and manuals and medicals just to name a few.
During the Xenophobic attacks in May 2008, hundreds of refugees were transported by Adonis Musati Project volunteers to the various camps in the Peninsula. Buses and taxis were also hired by the Adonis Musati Project to assist them with transport to and from the camps.
At present 800 sandwiches are being made and about 300 pieces of fruit donated by Adonis Musati volunteers each week. This is to supplement the hot meals that are now temporarily being provided on some days of the week by another refugee organisation. The sandwiches and fruit are provided at no cost to Adonis Musati Project funding as the volunteers involved purchase the bread and make the sandwiches themselves.
PROJECT NEEDS:
The Adonis Musati Project always desperately needs to raise funds in order to continue with this day to day provision of basic needs. An essential goal is to acquire a local building that will provide shelter for refugees who sleep and live on the streets. The Adonis Musati Project would also like to initiate "self-help" training projects where the refugees could learn entrepreneurial skills in order to start up their own small businesses.
Volunteers are always needed to:
· supply food
· transport goods
· collect and sort clothes
· provide blankets
· make “easy to make” sleeping bags (materials provided)
· distribute sandwiches etc in the CBD
· assist with job seeking
· assist those in need of medical help
· resource accommodation in the town/Woodstock/Salt River and nearby areas
· help with administrative functions
· raise funds
If you are available to help with any of the above then please contact Gayle who will incorporate you into our rosters.
http://www.adonismusatiproject.org/
Africa has many countries that are either in conflict or have economic situations that are so dire that people are forced to migrate in order to survive. A lot of refugees eventually make their way to the southern most tip of Africa. In South Africa, instead of the relief they had hoped to receive, they face many problems the least of which include persecution, oppression and xenophobia and the worst, rape and death. The majority of these refugees are from Zimbabwe, where since the year 2000 the political and resultant economic situation has deteriorated to an unprecedented degree, due to the devastating rule of the tyrant, Robert Mugabe and his party Zanu PF. However there are also refugees flocking from other impoverished countries whose poverty, suffering and struggles are often overshadowed by Zimbabwe's crises. These countries include Burundi, the DRC, Kenya, Mozambique, Malawi, Somalia and Tanzania.
In South Africa there is very little assistance given by the government for refugees. In fact they often face hostility from government officials. Therefore the little help that they get comes from existing NGOs and NPOs. Before the Adonis Musati Project was formed, there was no NGO or NPO that ensured that the refugees queuing for their papers received some form of nourishment on a daily basis.
The Adonis Musati Project has been granted NPO status. Our official NPO number is 068633NPO.
PROJECT ACHIEVEMENTS:
All Adonis Musati Project committee members are volunteers with jobs, family or study commitments. All storage facilities, places of distribution, telephone and computer facilities, and transport costs have been provided by the volunteers themselves at no cost to the organisation. Even a large amount of the funding has come from the volunteers themselves. Some large and small donations from caring individuals and groups have been of enormous assistance and have gone directly to the refugees themselves.
From November 2007 until June 2008, the Adonis Musati Project fed hundreds of refugees a hot meal several times a week. Hundreds of bags of second-hand clothing have been distributed, as well as thousands of blankets and sleeping bags. At Christmas time, hundreds of well-stocked toiletry bags were distributed, and since then toiletries have been handed out as they have been available. Many refugees have been assisted with transport to hospital, associated costs and basic medicines. Thousands of train and bus tickets have been purchased for refugees needing to renew their asylum papers in Nyanga + for those needing to get to job interviews etc. Some refugees have been assisted with transport to Zimbabwe to go and bury loved ones and comfort their families. Phone cards have been purchased from time to time to help refugees make contact with their families back home.
Adonis Musati Project volunteers have personally helped every refugee who has asked for a Curriculum Vitae to be made in order to find a job. This involves the compilation, typing up and printing of the Curriculum Vitae. Thousands of Curriculum Vitae's have been compiled for refugees.
In the 1st half of 2008, the Adonis Musati Project helped hundreds of refugees find accommodation in low-cost warehouses, shelters, flats and houses and paid for one to two month's of their rent. The Adonis Musati Project also provided some basic foodstuffs for these people so that they would not starve whilst finding a job. For the vast majority of these people, there is a tangible difference in them once they have the restored dignity and security of a roof over their heads. They are able to more easily seek employment and then take over their rentals. The aim is to help the refugees to become self sufficient so that we can then lend our support to other individuals and in the end help more people.
The Adonis Musati Project has also given financial assistance to many refugees for training in security, hospitality, sea faring, computer skills and driving This includes all the equipment or other needs that accompany the training for example safety boots, overalls, registration and admin fees, books and manuals and medicals just to name a few.
During the Xenophobic attacks in May 2008, hundreds of refugees were transported by Adonis Musati Project volunteers to the various camps in the Peninsula. Buses and taxis were also hired by the Adonis Musati Project to assist them with transport to and from the camps.
At present 800 sandwiches are being made and about 300 pieces of fruit donated by Adonis Musati volunteers each week. This is to supplement the hot meals that are now temporarily being provided on some days of the week by another refugee organisation. The sandwiches and fruit are provided at no cost to Adonis Musati Project funding as the volunteers involved purchase the bread and make the sandwiches themselves.
PROJECT NEEDS:
The Adonis Musati Project always desperately needs to raise funds in order to continue with this day to day provision of basic needs. An essential goal is to acquire a local building that will provide shelter for refugees who sleep and live on the streets. The Adonis Musati Project would also like to initiate "self-help" training projects where the refugees could learn entrepreneurial skills in order to start up their own small businesses.
Volunteers are always needed to:
· supply food
· transport goods
· collect and sort clothes
· provide blankets
· make “easy to make” sleeping bags (materials provided)
· distribute sandwiches etc in the CBD
· assist with job seeking
· assist those in need of medical help
· resource accommodation in the town/Woodstock/Salt River and nearby areas
· help with administrative functions
· raise funds
If you are available to help with any of the above then please contact Gayle who will incorporate you into our rosters.
http://www.adonismusatiproject.org/
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Human Trafficking and 2010 FIFA World Cup
Written by Charlotte Sutherland
As the 2010 FIFA World Cup approaches, attention is increasingly focussed on one of the most pervasive crimes expected to accompany the boom in the South African tourism industry: human trafficking. The trafficking of women and girls for sexual abuse purposes is likely to increase in order to meet the expected rise in demand for sex. Most authors argue that a positive correlation exists between the demand for sex work in one place (i.e. profit-generating opportunities) and the presence of large numbers of male tourists. There are, however, parties who disagree that such an increase will take place, most notably on the premise that the increase in police presence during the World Cup will render the environment too risky for traffickers to function as they wish. Focussed police presence may, however, not be the deterrent it is hoped to be. The police force’s current involvement in the sex work industry is questionable and the proposed decriminalisation of sex work before the World Cup contributes significantly to the complicated character of human trafficking.
Experts have warned South African authorities to take trafficking of women and girls more seriously and to ensure they are sufficiently prepared for the increase in trafficking that will presumably accompany the World Cup event. Ambassador Luis C deBaca, Director of the US Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons at the Department of State, addressed a conference on human trafficking in South Africa, Pretoria, on July 6, commenting that, “With the 2010 we might see an uptake of prostitution and brothels moving closer to the sites... pimping of children is also on the cards” (‘2010 attracts human trafficking’, The Citizen).
As stated earlier, some commentators believe that the increased presence of police during the event will force traffickers to maintain a low profile. They argue that the once-off nature of the event is not worth the while of traffickers (Global Alliance in Traffic Against Women, 2009). Contrary to this, The Mercury newspaper reported on July 16 that the South African Justice Department said it knows that more women are being trafficked into the country ahead of the World Cup. They are apparently being hidden away in residential areas until the World Cup tourists start flooding into the country.
Trafficking, police and the sex work industry
Shanaaz Parker, a researcher at the Institute of Security Studies (ISS), found that organised crime and trafficking are closely linked to the sex work industry (‘Call to legalise sex work before 2010’, Pretoria News). While arguments that the decriminalisation of sex work is necessary to protect sex workers rights are valid, we must also consider the impact of a legal sex work industry on the women themselves and connections between sex work and trafficking.
In April 2009, the Sex Worker Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT) called on the South African government to speed up the decriminalisation of sex work. They want sex work to be decriminalised before 2010 so that sex workers’ rights are recognised and protected by law. The group emphasised that it would like to see sex work decriminalised in the long run, for the women’s sake, not only for the World Cup period and for male tourists’ pleasure, as former National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi suggested earlier this year. SWEAT hopes that a decriminalised sex industry will help protect sex workers, but the opposite may be the case if the police force dedicates fewer resources to the industry, given that it would then be legal. The police force may well be inclined to commit its limited resources to actual criminal activities instead of protecting the regularly abused rights of sex workers.
Errol Naidoo and a group of local and international activists are developing a document that outlines why the South African government should not decriminalise sex work. Naidoo is the Chairperson of the Family Policy Institute in Cape Town. He points out that the Institute’s research shows that countries who had sex work decriminalised are now trying to reverse their decisions. “Child trafficking, prostitution and the drug industry have exploded in Australia, Germany and the Netherlands, where the industry was decriminalised more than 10 years ago,” he said. “The police and intelligence service in those countries are far more sophisticated than South Africa's, and yet they can't control it. How will we control it with corrupt police officers and with our political instability?” Naidoo asks.
The police force’s relationship with the sex work industry is turbulent and abusive. Policemen are free to abuse sex workers because their rights are not protected by law. Research undertaken by SWEAT found that sex workers fear abuse by police members. “Our experience indicates that the highest levels of violence against sex workers come from the police and law enforcement sectors,” said one of the researchers, Nicole Fick. Thirty percent of sex workers who have made statements to SWEAT have been forced to have sex with police officers (‘Sex workers fear abuse from cops – survey’, Independent Online). Is it thus very possible that the trafficking of women and children will increase as the 2010 World Cup approaches, and the nature of legislation against or for sex workers, as well as the police’s presence or absence and tendency to abuse sex workers, will all have impact on vulnerable women and children during the World Cup.
Can the trafficking of women and children be prevented?
South Africa is taking several measures to prevent an increase in the trafficking of women and children. Legislation that deals specifically with trafficking currently sits before the parliamentary portfolio committee. Police and non-governmental organisations launched a campaign - ‘Red Light 2010’ in July 2009 in an effort to create awareness amongst citizens of trafficking in persons. “During 2010, there will be a lot of visitors coming to our country. With so many people in South Africa, we will see women and children being trafficked. This campaign intends to give people knowledge about how trafficking happens,” said Child Welfare’s Assistant Director, Carol Bews.
It is the author’s opinion that what is most necessary is for the Government to pay more attention to this issue immediately. Why not criminalise the men who form the massive demand for sex work? They are, after all, one of the main reasons the sex work industry is flourishing. If the demand for sex work can be diminished, the supply of it is likely to decrease, too. The fact that sex workers are seen as criminals and stigmatised but those who pay for their services are not, is a ridiculous notion. The complexity of this issue cannot only be outlined in a few pages. Fundamentally, sex workers’ rights need to be recognised and protected in a way that will reduce their (and other women’s) vulnerability to exploitation and human trafficking.
Charlotte Sutherland is the Research Manager: Gender Issues in Africa, at Consultancy Africa Intelligence. The Augustl edition of the Gender Issues in Africa Newsletter is republished here with permission from Consultancy Africa Intelligence (CAI), a South African-based research and strategy firm with a focus on social, health, political, and economic happenings in Africa. For more information see http://www.consultancyafrica.com or http://www.ngopulse.org/press-release/consultancy-africa-intelligence. Alternatively, visit http://www.consultancyafrica.com/promo2 to take advantage of CAI’s free, no obligation, three-month trial to the company’s Standard Report Series.
As the 2010 FIFA World Cup approaches, attention is increasingly focussed on one of the most pervasive crimes expected to accompany the boom in the South African tourism industry: human trafficking. The trafficking of women and girls for sexual abuse purposes is likely to increase in order to meet the expected rise in demand for sex. Most authors argue that a positive correlation exists between the demand for sex work in one place (i.e. profit-generating opportunities) and the presence of large numbers of male tourists. There are, however, parties who disagree that such an increase will take place, most notably on the premise that the increase in police presence during the World Cup will render the environment too risky for traffickers to function as they wish. Focussed police presence may, however, not be the deterrent it is hoped to be. The police force’s current involvement in the sex work industry is questionable and the proposed decriminalisation of sex work before the World Cup contributes significantly to the complicated character of human trafficking.
Experts have warned South African authorities to take trafficking of women and girls more seriously and to ensure they are sufficiently prepared for the increase in trafficking that will presumably accompany the World Cup event. Ambassador Luis C deBaca, Director of the US Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons at the Department of State, addressed a conference on human trafficking in South Africa, Pretoria, on July 6, commenting that, “With the 2010 we might see an uptake of prostitution and brothels moving closer to the sites... pimping of children is also on the cards” (‘2010 attracts human trafficking’, The Citizen).
As stated earlier, some commentators believe that the increased presence of police during the event will force traffickers to maintain a low profile. They argue that the once-off nature of the event is not worth the while of traffickers (Global Alliance in Traffic Against Women, 2009). Contrary to this, The Mercury newspaper reported on July 16 that the South African Justice Department said it knows that more women are being trafficked into the country ahead of the World Cup. They are apparently being hidden away in residential areas until the World Cup tourists start flooding into the country.
Trafficking, police and the sex work industry
Shanaaz Parker, a researcher at the Institute of Security Studies (ISS), found that organised crime and trafficking are closely linked to the sex work industry (‘Call to legalise sex work before 2010’, Pretoria News). While arguments that the decriminalisation of sex work is necessary to protect sex workers rights are valid, we must also consider the impact of a legal sex work industry on the women themselves and connections between sex work and trafficking.
In April 2009, the Sex Worker Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT) called on the South African government to speed up the decriminalisation of sex work. They want sex work to be decriminalised before 2010 so that sex workers’ rights are recognised and protected by law. The group emphasised that it would like to see sex work decriminalised in the long run, for the women’s sake, not only for the World Cup period and for male tourists’ pleasure, as former National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi suggested earlier this year. SWEAT hopes that a decriminalised sex industry will help protect sex workers, but the opposite may be the case if the police force dedicates fewer resources to the industry, given that it would then be legal. The police force may well be inclined to commit its limited resources to actual criminal activities instead of protecting the regularly abused rights of sex workers.
Errol Naidoo and a group of local and international activists are developing a document that outlines why the South African government should not decriminalise sex work. Naidoo is the Chairperson of the Family Policy Institute in Cape Town. He points out that the Institute’s research shows that countries who had sex work decriminalised are now trying to reverse their decisions. “Child trafficking, prostitution and the drug industry have exploded in Australia, Germany and the Netherlands, where the industry was decriminalised more than 10 years ago,” he said. “The police and intelligence service in those countries are far more sophisticated than South Africa's, and yet they can't control it. How will we control it with corrupt police officers and with our political instability?” Naidoo asks.
The police force’s relationship with the sex work industry is turbulent and abusive. Policemen are free to abuse sex workers because their rights are not protected by law. Research undertaken by SWEAT found that sex workers fear abuse by police members. “Our experience indicates that the highest levels of violence against sex workers come from the police and law enforcement sectors,” said one of the researchers, Nicole Fick. Thirty percent of sex workers who have made statements to SWEAT have been forced to have sex with police officers (‘Sex workers fear abuse from cops – survey’, Independent Online). Is it thus very possible that the trafficking of women and children will increase as the 2010 World Cup approaches, and the nature of legislation against or for sex workers, as well as the police’s presence or absence and tendency to abuse sex workers, will all have impact on vulnerable women and children during the World Cup.
Can the trafficking of women and children be prevented?
South Africa is taking several measures to prevent an increase in the trafficking of women and children. Legislation that deals specifically with trafficking currently sits before the parliamentary portfolio committee. Police and non-governmental organisations launched a campaign - ‘Red Light 2010’ in July 2009 in an effort to create awareness amongst citizens of trafficking in persons. “During 2010, there will be a lot of visitors coming to our country. With so many people in South Africa, we will see women and children being trafficked. This campaign intends to give people knowledge about how trafficking happens,” said Child Welfare’s Assistant Director, Carol Bews.
It is the author’s opinion that what is most necessary is for the Government to pay more attention to this issue immediately. Why not criminalise the men who form the massive demand for sex work? They are, after all, one of the main reasons the sex work industry is flourishing. If the demand for sex work can be diminished, the supply of it is likely to decrease, too. The fact that sex workers are seen as criminals and stigmatised but those who pay for their services are not, is a ridiculous notion. The complexity of this issue cannot only be outlined in a few pages. Fundamentally, sex workers’ rights need to be recognised and protected in a way that will reduce their (and other women’s) vulnerability to exploitation and human trafficking.
Charlotte Sutherland is the Research Manager: Gender Issues in Africa, at Consultancy Africa Intelligence. The Augustl edition of the Gender Issues in Africa Newsletter is republished here with permission from Consultancy Africa Intelligence (CAI), a South African-based research and strategy firm with a focus on social, health, political, and economic happenings in Africa. For more information see http://www.consultancyafrica.com or http://www.ngopulse.org/press-release/consultancy-africa-intelligence. Alternatively, visit http://www.consultancyafrica.com/promo2 to take advantage of CAI’s free, no obligation, three-month trial to the company’s Standard Report Series.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
What Youth THink About Trail of Hope
I posted a question on facebook so that my friends would express how they see Trail of Hope and here are the responses
Tendai Sean Joe in your mind,describe Trail of Hope as you understand it.If it was a person ,how old would it be?If it was music ,what type it would be?If it was a picture how would it look like? If it was a country,where would it be?Get creative and write what you think..............
Wed at 2:09pm ·
Walter Skwed Mabunda
Uplifting.. N if it a country its mos def south africa wit da Gods window view n da table möuntain in da oposite..
Wed at 2:15pm · Delete
Oama Nokatyana
21yrs, deep house, south africa, a beautfl pic lyk beyonce z!
Wed at 2:24pm · Delete
Alice Pfute
If it was a person: hard worker, inspire, motivated, driven by passion, big/good hearted and an achiever. If it was music i'd say, gospel/ soul music. Why? It touches lives and changes it 4 the better. It gives hope and undestanding to life. Opens one's eyes to view life 4rm a diff perspective view. It has a massage that it is preaching. If i was a pic: i'd say a pic that draw my attension, touch heart and uplift my soul. It would be in Africa.
Wed at 2:24pm · Delete
Marceline Mutikori
Marceline Mutikori
if it was a person it would be btwn 21-30,cos its prepared to take a risk ,full of life , inspiring, undetered and focused on the positives never dewels on the lil stumbling blocks, if it was a country it would be without borders as its open to all children regardless of their origin, i bet the views will be serel beyond anyone's imagination and finally music it would just bring joy, hope, determination,and peace to anyone who hears it.(P.D.R) PRIDE ,DETERMINATION,RESILIENCE!
Wed at 3:10pm · Delete
Portia Rahaba Gobuapelo
If it was a country i wud say SA, mpumalanga @ Godwindow,its peaceful,4eva green. If it was a person i wud paint a mother/women with her hands open coz she undastands pain, sorrow, she lovs unconditional, warm heart n her smile gves asurity n security. If it was music it wud say oprah, it cums 4 the soul and if it was u,i wud say determination,lov, loyalty,perseverance, honesty n integrity
Wed at 3:46pm · Delete
Vimbai Mazorodze
If it was a person:some1 with a very big heart,motivator,inspirer,up lifter n a very gud role model.music:a bit of almost everything that has got a strong msg n inspirational,most importantly,something i can listen 2 n make me wanna c wat 2moro has 2 offer.picture:something that i cn luk at n say waal u reall came this far,it must have of lite n ful of lyf.country anywhere in the world,bt mostly in africa(charity begins @ home)
Wed at 6:25pm · Delete
Tendai Sean Joe
this is powerftul!
Thu at 6:51am · Delete
Tendai Sean Joe in your mind,describe Trail of Hope as you understand it.If it was a person ,how old would it be?If it was music ,what type it would be?If it was a picture how would it look like? If it was a country,where would it be?Get creative and write what you think..............
Wed at 2:09pm ·
Walter Skwed Mabunda
Uplifting.. N if it a country its mos def south africa wit da Gods window view n da table möuntain in da oposite..
Wed at 2:15pm · Delete
Oama Nokatyana
21yrs, deep house, south africa, a beautfl pic lyk beyonce z!
Wed at 2:24pm · Delete
Alice Pfute
If it was a person: hard worker, inspire, motivated, driven by passion, big/good hearted and an achiever. If it was music i'd say, gospel/ soul music. Why? It touches lives and changes it 4 the better. It gives hope and undestanding to life. Opens one's eyes to view life 4rm a diff perspective view. It has a massage that it is preaching. If i was a pic: i'd say a pic that draw my attension, touch heart and uplift my soul. It would be in Africa.
Wed at 2:24pm · Delete
Marceline Mutikori
Marceline Mutikori
if it was a person it would be btwn 21-30,cos its prepared to take a risk ,full of life , inspiring, undetered and focused on the positives never dewels on the lil stumbling blocks, if it was a country it would be without borders as its open to all children regardless of their origin, i bet the views will be serel beyond anyone's imagination and finally music it would just bring joy, hope, determination,and peace to anyone who hears it.(P.D.R) PRIDE ,DETERMINATION,RESILIENCE!
Wed at 3:10pm · Delete
Portia Rahaba Gobuapelo
If it was a country i wud say SA, mpumalanga @ Godwindow,its peaceful,4eva green. If it was a person i wud paint a mother/women with her hands open coz she undastands pain, sorrow, she lovs unconditional, warm heart n her smile gves asurity n security. If it was music it wud say oprah, it cums 4 the soul and if it was u,i wud say determination,lov, loyalty,perseverance, honesty n integrity
Wed at 3:46pm · Delete
Vimbai Mazorodze
If it was a person:some1 with a very big heart,motivator,inspirer,up lifter n a very gud role model.music:a bit of almost everything that has got a strong msg n inspirational,most importantly,something i can listen 2 n make me wanna c wat 2moro has 2 offer.picture:something that i cn luk at n say waal u reall came this far,it must have of lite n ful of lyf.country anywhere in the world,bt mostly in africa(charity begins @ home)
Wed at 6:25pm · Delete
Tendai Sean Joe
this is powerftul!
Thu at 6:51am · Delete
Friday, August 21, 2009
can we proudly hold our heads high as a child rights conscious world?
The reality of an estimated 12 000 Zimbabwe’s children living on the streets came to a head when some of them gang raped a 38 year old woman in February this year. An act that can not be condoned no matter from which angle you look at it. However, looking at this unfortunate incident in isolation will not direct one to the root of the problem nor will it inform on a lasting solution. The gang rape of the woman does stand out in its gruesomeness and its implications of gender based violence. It should be acknowledged, however, that crime by children living on the streets has become an everyday occurrence that is ignored and at times engineered by members of mainstream society. A case in point being the accountant who connived with two children living on the streets to steal $100 million from her employer. Recently five of these children were paraded before a Harare magistrate for stealing 12 cell phones. The above scenario points to the fact that business and indeed the man or woman on the street can at any time be prey to children living on the street. A number of questions however arise. What are our children doing on the streets? Where have we failed them? What informs crime by children living on the streets? How should we respond to the reality of children living on the streets? Unless we can honestly answer these questions the problem of children living on the streets will continue to haunt us unabated.
Why the streets
Children do not belong to the streets. How then have we managed to send 12 000 of our children to live on the streets. Many reasons have been offered by the children themselves chief among which are child rights violations at family level. Granted, the family system has been brought to its knees by HIV and AIDS and economic hardships. Divorce and death has increased the prevalence of step parenting. In dealing with these challenges adults have trodden on children’s rights by failing to fulfil rights to participation, survival and development and non-discrimination. The best interests of the child have not taken centre stage. While government has put in place policies that encourage communities to take care of children in need of care, there has been a huge gap in political will to support community based structures from the fiscas. Children have therefore not been able to access proper health care, food, love and family life, protection, education, clothing, psychosocial support, birth registration and inheritance in the homes and communities that they live in. Child abuse, including sexual abuse by people who are in loco parentis, has become common place in the children’s environment. Trust and faith in mainstream society’s willingness and ability to look after children has been destroyed and children have therefore headed for the streets in their thousands.
Current Responses
That children should not live on the streets is a matter on which everyone is agreed. Responses however have tended to be high handed, authoritarian, piecemeal and not in the best interests of the child. The authorities have responded by rounding them up using sheer force and dumping them in children’s homes and farming areas. In the process 2 year olds ended up in children’s homes while their parents were in farming areas, a clear case of family disintegration. A snap survey in the children’s homes showed that a majority of the children placed in these homes have since run away back to the streets. It is not difficult to understand why children would run away form these institutions. Most of the homes are operating beyond their capacity as most of their children have been placed by the Department of Social Welfare on a place of safety basis, a temporary arrangement that is supposed to last for two weeks while the state is either trying to locate the family or finding a permanent home for the child. As Mrs. Karadzandima, Center Manager of Chinyaradzo Children’s’ Home states “in most cases the home finds itself stuck with children who are supposed to be on transit because the Department of Social Welfare has no manpower to do probation work”. To make matters worse those institutions are barely managing since government only supports them with $3 000.00 per child per month.
Families of these children have responded by pretending they are not missing a family member. Mainstream society at large has responded by being indifferent, exploitative and outright snobbish. The concept of duty towards all children has been lost completely as is illustrated by the report in the press that the magistrate court guests in the public gallery laughed when the arrested children gave their home address, as a street in Harare. If we can laugh at the homelessness of our children, where is our sense of shame? The media has responded by calling them “street kids”, a “menace” that should be “cleaned up”. Often when a supposedly responsible citizen, connives with children living on the streets to engage in crime, the children make the headlines while the real criminal, the citizen is mentioned in passing. There has been refusal to address the question of why these children will run away from children’s homes or from their families. Authorities have been preoccupied with appearing to do “something” about the problem by hiding them from the face of our streets. The action has not been taken with the active participation of the children, they have therefore headed back for the streets. On the streets when they rape and steal from innocent souls, it seems convenient to forget the role everybody has played in informing that kind of behaviour.
The Best Interests of the Child
Zimbabwe not only has a moral obligation to all its children, but a legal one as well. By signing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Zimbabwe government committed itself to ensuring that its citizens uphold child rights. The CRC provides that a child has a right to be cared for by its family and if the family is unable or unwillingly to do so the state has an obligation to care for such a child. It is the same Convention that obligates all duty bearers to act in the best interests of the child. If the best interests of the child are to be the guiding principle in addressing the challenge of children living on the streets, Doreen Mukwena, a child rights practitioner prescribes the following steps:
An intervention oriented towards participatory family and community reintegration for both the child and family living on the streets.
Budgetary allocation for programmes aimed at building life skills for former children living on the streets.
Budgetary allocation for programmes targeting the strengthening of community based child care mechanisms so that children do not envy the streets.
Removal of the children from the streets would aim to assist the child to realise their full potential.
Mainstreaming of child rights in all planning and actions at family, community and national level.
Only when we have removed our children from the streets and assisted them in reorienting their lives towards being responsible citizens and made our homes chid friendly, can we proudly hold our heads high as a child rights conscious nation.
http://www.childprotection.co.zw/
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Trail of Hope-Zimbabwe visit
From the 13th to the 16th of August i visited Zimbabwe's capital city Harare together with a friend.The mission was to carry out an execise like we will be doing on the Trail of Hope and our chosen homes were Chinyaradzo and Upenyu Utsva Children Homes.All of them are situated in Highfields an old township west of the Capital City.
Well interesting is the fact that visited Upenyu Utsva just by accident in 2001 when i was in a UNICEF program that took us to Masiye Camp in Bulawayo and due to the death of one of the Ministers ,our trip was postponed by a day and we ended up sleeping at Upenyu Utsva,whoever might have had made that decision helped me to have a clear understanding of life in a children's home.Honestly i diod not sleep for the whole night as i heard one story after another of how the boys had ended up at the home.Another interestig fact is the Home[Upenyu Utsva] used to be a juvenile prison,but was later converted into an ophanage.However the tag seem to still remain upto this day ,as most of the infrastructure still in use dates back to 1962 when the institution was established.
But on my mission i needed to know more than just the priosn history.I wanted to know how the boys have been coping,i wanted to eat what they are eating and play with them all the games they play as well as watch with them the TV programmes they watch.How life is like at Upenyu Utsva,but most importantly dep down i knew i was going to adopt the home.So much may be written but the truth is,there is one man at the home ,who is referred to as father by the children,he told me something that will forever guide me in all that i do.He has been working with the institution since 1972 yes thats it 1972,since it was a juvenile institution then into transition to an ophanage.He knows no high living,but to me he said what matters to him are the children.He works for US$100 per month,but still he is there for the children when they need him.When we arrived at the ophanage he was coming from the Garden ,a self sustaining project that has helped the ophanage to weather the harsh economic climate that gripped the tiny beautiful country before the GNU government was formed.
I then had to visit where the boys sleep,as well as their toilets and bathrooms.If i say more i would be unfair,what i observed can be put into three simple words THEY NEED HELP.
Firstly the beds,blankets as well as their clothing are just but too old.Most of them were walking bare footed but what worried me was when we went to visit the bathrooms and toilets.THe facilities are rasty and old,with dirty water on the floor but still the children walk in and out of there with bare feet!I know its hard to do everything for them but something must be done to help them.I also wonder how many charities are in as much need as this particular one we visited?
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Trail of Hope is a 16 country ,three month motorbike journey through Africa and Europeto raise awareness on the plight of children around the world. The campaign’s goal is to activate the international community against deplorable conditions that millions of children endure daily. Conceptualized by Tendai Sean Joe, a former “street” child, Trailof Hope seeks to create a platform that highlights the desperate struggles our children face to survive against poverty, HIV/AIDS ,crime , addiction, war, human trafficking ,wars ,institutionalization and disease.
Partnering with different organizations ,corporations, foreign missions ,governments ,public figures ,professionals and individuals the campaign brings to the forefront the dire situation of those vulnerable ,as they try to access the basic human needs like adequate food, education, health care ,shelter and environments safe from traffickers , pedophiles ,criminals and other.
Using the power of motorbikes, film and photography to document the journey, theriders also plan to visit critical areas along the route to expand the general public’s knowledge of programs working to alleviate the obstacles vulnerable children face. HenceTRAIL OF HOPE can be broken down into[Trail of Goodwill][Trail of Inspiration][Trail of Humanity][Trail of Sustainability][Trail of Awareness][Trail of Smiles][Trail of Ubuntu][Trail of Peace]
Partners
SPIN Earth
http://www.spinearth.tv/
++++
Lars Russell
Africa Correspondent Coordinator
SPIN Earth
59 Grant Avenue
San Francisco, CA, 94108
lrussell@spin.com
BBItv
Rob Cipriano
Founder & Chairman
IllumAlliance International Humanitarian Group LLC
Beyond Borders Internet TV
http://www.bbitv.tv
http://www.illumalliance.org
http://www.myspace.com/rcipriano
robertcipriano@illumalliance.org
thelifelineTV
The Lifeline is a global network of people
and communities creating positive,
sustainable solutions for
life on Planet Earth.
www.thelifeline.tv
Firdaus Kharas
Tel: (1) (613) 820-6121
Fax: (1) (613) 820-4679
www.kharas.ca
Sponsors
CHAPTER SEVEN DESIGNS
Webdesign-Cape Town
iHostGreen-UK
Webhosting
Partnering with different organizations ,corporations, foreign missions ,governments ,public figures ,professionals and individuals the campaign brings to the forefront the dire situation of those vulnerable ,as they try to access the basic human needs like adequate food, education, health care ,shelter and environments safe from traffickers , pedophiles ,criminals and other.
Using the power of motorbikes, film and photography to document the journey, theriders also plan to visit critical areas along the route to expand the general public’s knowledge of programs working to alleviate the obstacles vulnerable children face. HenceTRAIL OF HOPE can be broken down into[Trail of Goodwill][Trail of Inspiration][Trail of Humanity][Trail of Sustainability][Trail of Awareness][Trail of Smiles][Trail of Ubuntu][Trail of Peace]
Partners
SPIN Earth
http://www.spinearth.tv/
++++
Lars Russell
Africa Correspondent Coordinator
SPIN Earth
59 Grant Avenue
San Francisco, CA, 94108
lrussell@spin.com
BBItv
Rob Cipriano
Founder & Chairman
IllumAlliance International Humanitarian Group LLC
Beyond Borders Internet TV
http://www.bbitv.tv
http://www.illumalliance.org
http://www.myspace.com/rcipriano
robertcipriano@illumalliance.org
thelifelineTV
The Lifeline is a global network of people
and communities creating positive,
sustainable solutions for
life on Planet Earth.
www.thelifeline.tv
Firdaus Kharas
Tel: (1) (613) 820-6121
Fax: (1) (613) 820-4679
www.kharas.ca
Sponsors
CHAPTER SEVEN DESIGNS
Webdesign-Cape Town
iHostGreen-UK
Webhosting
Friday, July 24, 2009
प्रेस Release
Press Release
23 July 2009
Trail of Hope,an epic motorbike ride from Cape Town to London by Tendai Sean Joe and fellow rider Albert Arcona has been postponed.
The 16 country ride ,which was supposed to take off in August and take three month to complete will be done soon on a date yet to be set.
During this extended period ,Trail of Hope will have some changes from partners involved as well as the route to be taken,however the countries the ride will pass through may not significantly change but there will be Rwanda,Burundi and Uganda added on the route.The planning and logistics Trail of Hope will also be stratergically relocated to Gauteng Province-Pretoria for easy liason with partners,sponsors and embassies.There will be also significant changes on our website so all updates will be on the blog http://trailofhope.blogspot.com until when the new website gets up.
Trail of Hope is also going to run independently,without the MYLIFE banner attached to it,this is a decision reached for the good of both projects .However the relationship will remain the same between the two organizations.But all communication concerning Trail of Hope will be passed only by the riders and or Tendai Sean Joe the ride concept founder.This is for the consistant flow of information to all stakeholders.
We apologize for any convenience caused .
For All Communication Concerning Trail of Hope
Call +27 71 971 5992
Email tendaijoe@gmail.com
http://trailofhope.blogspot.com
23 July 2009
Trail of Hope,an epic motorbike ride from Cape Town to London by Tendai Sean Joe and fellow rider Albert Arcona has been postponed.
The 16 country ride ,which was supposed to take off in August and take three month to complete will be done soon on a date yet to be set.
During this extended period ,Trail of Hope will have some changes from partners involved as well as the route to be taken,however the countries the ride will pass through may not significantly change but there will be Rwanda,Burundi and Uganda added on the route.The planning and logistics Trail of Hope will also be stratergically relocated to Gauteng Province-Pretoria for easy liason with partners,sponsors and embassies.There will be also significant changes on our website so all updates will be on the blog http://trailofhope.blogspot.com until when the new website gets up.
Trail of Hope is also going to run independently,without the MYLIFE banner attached to it,this is a decision reached for the good of both projects .However the relationship will remain the same between the two organizations.But all communication concerning Trail of Hope will be passed only by the riders and or Tendai Sean Joe the ride concept founder.This is for the consistant flow of information to all stakeholders.
We apologize for any convenience caused .
For All Communication Concerning Trail of Hope
Call +27 71 971 5992
Email tendaijoe@gmail.com
http://trailofhope.blogspot.com
Friday, June 19, 2009
Trail of Hope Gets On Mnet(TV)
Today is a historic day for Trail of hope.We have clenched a deal to be on Mnet.Now what is going to stop us?
I feel elated,i am planning a week long vacation with my family at home.
I feel elated,i am planning a week long vacation with my family at home.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Mayor of London Endorses Trail of Hope
Dear Sir/Madam
Thank you for your email of 13 May about the Trail of Hope organisation's plans for a fundraising motorbike ride through the UK later this year.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish Tendai Sean Joe, his colleague and the Trail of Hope organisation every success in their endeavours and hope they raise both awareness and funds for orphans, street children and those affected by HIV and AIDS.
Yours faithfully,
Boris Johnson
Mayor of London
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
The capacity for hope is the most significant fact of life. It provides human beings with a sense of destination and the energy to get started.Norman Cousins
This week has been the most exciting part of the Trail of Hope so far,having realised that a dream can be shared and become a platform for us to tell the world whats happening to our children.
Yesterday i met one of my role models,Judy Westwater Director of The Pegasus Children Trust and a best selling UK based author of two books Streetkid and the second one The Streetkid fights On.As she flies back to UK tonight,she has promised to make sure that UK authorities get to know of this cause.
Secondly award winning Producer and humanitarian based in Ottawa, Canada Firdaus Kharas has also pleadged to support the bike ride and make sure Canadian TV flights the documentary http://www.kharas.ca
South African bands Just Jinger and The Jack Mantis Band have also pledges to support us.
Zolani Mahola(Freshly Ground) is in the office as i write!We will keep on updating you as the plans develop.
And lastly we say thank you for joining this cause and group.Invite more friends so that together we will be a movement.
Tendai
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