Dear Friends and Supporters
It is great to be able to let you know what
we are achieving with your support. There has been lots of
progress over the past month and great things to report. Also a
number of ways you can get involved and assist us.
GOOD
NEWS STORIES
DONATIONS
OF FOOD, MONEY, CLASSROOM AND MUCH MORE:
- The
Lottery has agreed to fund Qhamani Educare Centre
with a grant of R106,000 (R50,000 towards running costs and
the balance for much needed equipment such as a fridge,
stove, washing machine, mattresses, a computer and much
more). This is going to give the creche a real boost and
enable staff salaries to be raised to a more realistic level
than the current token of about R300 per month!
-
- Work
is about to start on a big new classroom
for Noncedo Educare Centre - organised and funded by Tracy
le Roux, Shelley Hindmarch and their JDI group. This is
going to make a significant difference to the creche which
now has only one room which has to cater for up to 100
children, and incorporates the kitchen. The new room will be
built of concrete brick, on a concrete slab and will have
the luxury of a ceiling and covered stoep, features almost
unknown in this area. Gina Wilken (architect from Band Aid)
has kindly drawn up plans for the new building and
other extensions which will be built as money becomes
available.
-
- Band
Aid, the group which has already done a number of
deliveries of food and big items (such as stoves and
fridges) has again been extremely generous with much needed food
which was delivered in bulk to our house in Rosebank. There
it was shared out amongst the principals who each took away
large black bags of goodies for their children. They had to
`charter' their own taxi to take them all home because
there was so much to carry!
-
- The
Red Hat Renegades visited Philippi on
Wednesday 14th, with the first supply of very nutritious
porridge called e-pap. We caused great
excitement arriving in 6 cars, including the ladies in their
purple regalia and red hats, a reporter and photographer
from the Cape Argus (watch out for the article), a group
from Alexander Forbes, and other visitors. Nicky Lancellas
of Miracle Meals demonstrated how to prepare the e-pap and
we all tried it. E-pap was developed for HIV/ AIDS patients
but is now being used more widely to address the serious
malnutrition needs in our country. The Red Had brigade are
hoping to supply the e-pap on a regular basis to the
creches so that each child will at least get one very
nutritious meal every day.
-
- Thanks
to the generous Quaker donation we reported
on last month, each creche has been given R3000 for their
most pressing needs. Many spent at least part of this on
salaries for staff who had not been paid due to a lack of
income. The rest went to buy essential equipment, food and
building materials to improve the very leaky roofs. We still
have R3000 on hand for a joint project.
-
- Alexander
Forbes staff delivered a very generous donation of
food and other goods to the creches and is planning to make
this a monthly contribution - from staff in their personal
capacity and the company.
-
- We
have just received a cheque from my friend Robyn
Riddle in Hamilton, New Zealand and her book club
members, for R982!
-
- Gillian
Abrams and staff of First National Bank Wynberg
visited Noncedo Educare Centre with
wonderful donations of food and toys, and will be making a
monthly donation towards the creche.
-
- My
niece and nephew, Georgie and Tim Higgins,
in Perth Australia, have donated R300 received for their
16th birthday to the creches and we have been able to buy 15
lovely warm new blankets for the children.
-
- We
have become registered with the Woolworths My School
Card Programme which will help to support my work
with the creches. Please read details below of how you can
assist without it costing you a cent.
VOLUNTEERS,
STATE SUBSIDIES, AWARDS, AUDITING AND OTHER GOOD NEWS:
- Ros
Emanuel has continued to be an absolute stalwart
volunteer, assisting in a hundred different ways. I could
not do without her!
-
- Robert
Oostveen, a volunteer from Holland has come out to
spend a two week working holiday with the creches via an
organisation called Commundo. He has spent every day in
Philippi, playing games and doing other activities
with the children, and has been in great demand. We hope to
host a whole group of volunteers through Commundo in
October.
-
- We
had a very good meeting with the Department of
Social Services in June regarding state subsidies
of the creches. We were informed that the food
subsidy had been reinstated temporarily (albeit at a lower
rate of only 80c per day per child) and that concerted
efforts were being made to have all creches registered by
the department within the near future in order for them to
qualify for the subsidy of R5 per day. There is a long way
to go but we really appreciate the support of the department
in resolving these matters.
-
- Two
of the creche principals we work with (Nobuntu
Mkhencele and Nomsa Manxiwa-Nqeza) were nominated
for the Cape Times Waterfront Women of Worth Award.
Nomsa made it to the top 10 semi-finalists and will attend
the award ceremony on August 5th. We are very proud of them
both! See Nomsa's nomination attached to give you an idea of
the quality of person you are supporting.
-
- Nobuntu's
daughter Joyful Mkhencele who
is studying Internal Auditing at the tech, has spent her
holiday (with some assistance from a fellow student Sibongile),
in preparing the books of all the creches
for the auditors. This is a major task for which we are all
very grateful.
-
- Thanks
to Helen van der Rede for following up on our need for auditors,
Joshua van der Rede (her father in law) has
offered his services. Without audited financial statements
it is very difficult to obtain funding, but it is a hard
decision for creches to spend what little money they have on a
dry looking financial report when there seem to be more
pressing needs such as food and staff salaries. We are
therefore extremely thankful to be offered these
services free of charge!
-
- June
Fourie has completed another pile of 32
mattress covers for the creches, and we have more
in the making!
-
- Anne
Kidd has come to the end of a marathon sewing
session, making beautiful aprons for 53 staff
members at the various creches. She is now going to work on
trying to get donations for the creches.
-
- We
have had many visitors to the creches,
and many offers of goods (TV, video,
masonite, fridge, freezer, washing machine, sinks, fencing
and more, some of which still needs to be collected and
delivered to Philippi.
THANK YOU SO SO MUCH TO ALL OF OUR
DONORS AND SUPPORTERS!!! Please don't think that because we have
had such a good month that your contributions are no longer
needed. Far from it. We are trying to support 774 children and
so all these donations have to stretch a long way. If you are
unsure whether we still need certain goods or services please
drop me a line or give me a call 685.3431.
IN
PROGRESS:
- We
are in the process of applying to the Lottery again
for all the creches - in the hope that other creches might
benefit too. Liza Semler, a Davis Fellowship volunteer from
the US is assisting in putting together the mass of
paperwork required.
- Bulelani
Futshane, one of SAEP's gap year interns during 2003, has
just completed a course in web design and is working on a webpage
for the creche work which will be published on the
SAEP website.
- We
are planning a meeting (in conjunction with the Children's
Institute, Ithemba Labantwana and Yabonga) with the Department
of Education in the near future to follow up on
problems being experienced with the subsidisation of Grade R
classes.
- We
have been asked to give further input on the new City
Council policy on early childhood development and
look forward to contributing towards a better deal for the
poorest of the poor.
- Gina
Wilken is working on plans for Qhamani and Ruth
First Educare Centres. We have looked for over a
year for a willing architect and so grateful for this help!
- Mia
Gibson, a conveyancing attorney, is assisting
Qhamani with the transfer of the property
into the name of the creche so that funding for the building
will be easier to obtain.
ONGOING
NEED:
An easy way for you to help
keep the project going - Get a Woolworths My School Card
As many of you know, I have been
working full time for the last year and a half, entirely as a
volunteer, and have been absorbing all the costs involved in
working with the creches. I can no longer afford to do so and am
making concerted efforts to raise funds for the project so that
it becomes sustainable.
When I was first asked if I had or
wanted a My School Card, I said no, presuming it was only for
those parents of school going children, which did not involve
me. However we have now discovered that any educational
project can register and benefit from the scheme. To explain for
those who do not already have one, 1% of the value of every
purchase you make at Woolworths goes to the organisation or
school of your choice. You pay no extra and it costs you
nothing. It is already included in the price so you might as
well decide who is going to benefit from your purchase. We have
registered SAEP as a recipient and all funds that come in
will go towards our work with the creches.
So, we are appealing to everyone
who has not already got a card to apply for a card, and to
specify SAEP as the recipient. Even if you already have a card
and a school listed, you can always split your contributions
between your existing organisation and SAEP. To register you can
complete an application form at any Woolworths, or phone 0860
100 445 or email enquiries@vmp.co.za
. You will need to specify the organisation's name and bank
details and will then be sent a card which you will show every
time you make a purchase. If you have any questions or
difficulties please let me know.
The name of our account is SAEP-SA
Standard Bank Rondebosch (Code:
025-009)
Current Account: 072961554
If you have got this far in
reading the newsletter, congratulations! It was a marathon to
write, but so gratifying seeing how much progress we are making.
Please pass this on to your family, friends and colleagues
and ask them to support a good cause. Every little bit helps.
Best wishes,
Jane Keen, Social Worker
SA Education and Environment Project - SA
10 Surbiton Road
Rosebank
7700
South Africa
Tel and fax: (021) 685.3431
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