Breadline Africa donated stationery schools packs

All the learners of Riebeek Wes Primary School received a huge surprise yesterday! We presented more than 170 learners with a stationery starter pack for 2012. Some of the learners will be fitted out with brand new uniforms too.

We were told that many of the parents are seasonal workers for about twelve of the surrounding farms in the Riebeek Valley area. Rural life is not easy and the parents find it extremely difficult to make ends meet. Many of the parents rely on their child’s grant which is not much and in some instances the grants are the only income for a family.

The Grade R teacher was so happy when we presented all the kids with a stationery starter pack. She said “now she could happily start with her teaching knowing that all the children have the same stationery that is required to do the necessary tasks for their grade.”

Grade R teacher and 2 learners that received a uniform

Thank you to all our friends and supporters for making such a huge difference in the lives of so many kids. We believe that education is the key to success.

Breadline Africa visits the end of year closing of the African Renewal Foundation

“Our aim is to unite our people especially the children from different background.  We have big dreams but are desperately in need of all the help we can get.

We started our organization in 2008 with the outbreak of xenophobia.

We found that there was a need to create a platform to do something for the community. Our biggest challenge was to unite one another.  This would be the best solution to prevent community problems.  We are proud to be connected with visitors in terms of arts and culture.  The challenges we have are big and we are here to encourage everyone to work together.  Capricorn is an informal settlement situated close to Muizenberg in Cape Town. It is a place of cultural people. The people that live here are from Zimbabwe, Malawi, Congo and the local coloured and black people.  This creates a mixture of culture.

We are all facing the same problems in this community irrespective of where we come from.  Hunger is the biggest problem that we all face in this community. Children have been driven to the extreme and they have gotten themselves involved in all the wrongs of society. Hunger has taught them to steal a loaf of bread from the local shop to still their hunger. In many instances they have been killed as unemployment is rife in this area.

This is why we felt that we have to approach all the role players in the community to bring about change and to solve problems together.  One of the projects that we launched was our art project. We felt it would teach the children a skill and draw them together from all different backgrounds.  But this venture has not been easy as they struggle financially to buy the various tools such as wire, beads, scissors and all the necessary equipment.

We have a powerful artist in our midst but we do not have the resources nor sufficient finances.  We do have a soup kitchen but it only operate when we have enough food for the kitchen.  We are desperately looking for support to start a much needed vegetable garden.  Most kids have been affected by  HIV and we feel that providing a nutritious meal for the kids and to teach them to grow their own garden will add great value to their lives and to the community as a whole.”

International Day for People with Disability

International Day for People with Disability is celebrated on 3^rd December around the world.

I immediately thought of a strong young boy whom I met at our seaside outing. He was an absolute bundle of joy and nothing stood in his way. He enjoyed jumping with his friends on the jumping castle. He loved splashing in the water and moved around with his crutches without any struggle. He had the most beautiful smile and  the most amazing courage that shone through all day long.

We were moved by his strength and his determination.  He would politely put his crutches down to join his friends.

His mom explained that he was knocked down by a truck when he walked down the road and in this event lost his leg. His mother spoke very highly of him as he moved around as if nothing was wrong with him.  She said that he has taught her great courage and confidence and that he does not want anyone to pity him.

His strength was indeed an eye opener for everyone.  And strange enough none of his friends noticed anything different about him.

A short moving story of one child with a disability who stood out amongst more than 150 other kids  at the seaside outing. He was truly an inspiration to us all as we observed his attitude toward life at such a young age.

Read more about People with Disabilities on   http://www.idpwd.com.au

Breadline Africa’s Annual Sea-side Event

“Happy Splashing; Happy days!”

This was the wish that I have received from a loyal friend who supports our work here in Africa.  I can assure you all that the kids who have been to the seaside have found the outing to indeed be a “Happy Splashing” day!

Breadline Africa’s annual seaside event has grown from 300 to now almost 1500 children from when it first started in 2000. It has now become a major event in our calendar.  The children came to enjoy a day of sunshine, fun, games, splashing in the water, entertainment and face painting.

This is a special outing for young children from impoverished communities around Cape Town such as Gugulethu, Lavender Hill, Delft, Mitchell’s Plain, Khayelitsha, Lavender Hill, Manenberg and Riebeeck Wes. We arranged transport for the kids and they were  collected at the various schools. On arrival each one received a snack for pack breakfast, followed by games on the beach until lunch time.  After lunch we arrange a surprise appearance by ‘Father Christmas”. This is a moment that the children simply love.  Each child then received a gift pack personally given to them by Father Christmas.

This is the best way to end our year – the children come from areas of extreme poverty and hardships and the seaside outing is our small gift to them. Many of them have never been to the sea before and this is real privilege for us to bring some happiness into their lives.

We are forever grateful to our group of hard working volunteers who give of their time, love and endless energy each year.  Last but not least, a big thank you to all our loyal supporters and friends who make this wonderful event possible every year.

Breadline Africa’s most memorable trip to the seaside…

It is the most exciting time of the year! Every year Breadline Africa plans this major event to invite as many children from the most impoverished areas to the seaside.

With this outing in mind we felt it would be good to get the children away from their normal school desks and to also get them out of the environment where they live.

To date we took a total of 1209 kids that we bussed in to the most beautiful seaside Silverstream Resort on the West Coast.

It has been an awesome event this year. Most of the children have joined us for the first time. Many of the parents were a bit hesitant in allowing their kids to come and spend a day at the seaside. But those kids, whose parents put their trust in us, had the most memorable time of their lives. We put together this event with great planning and careful consideration within a very tight budget as it was not easy this year with the world recession playing a huge role in our funding.

The Cape Town City Council’s Come and Play group, an enthusiastic group of young volunteers kept the kids entertained with face painting, the jumping castle, the slip and slide and lovely music.

Our most exciting event of the year ended with us heading to a rural town called Klawer up the West Coast from Cape Town and we will soon be telling you all about our trip and the kids that we have met.

‘Ubuntu’

Press Release

‘Ubuntu’
The Gallery, Dalkey Castle & Heritage Centre
Open: Wednesday 30th & Thursday 1st December 2011
11.00 – 16.30 daily
Tel: 01 285 8366
Admission Free

Breadline Africa is holding an exhibition and sale of original contemporary works of art in The Gallery, Dalkey Castle and Heritage Centre on 30th November and 1st December 2011. The theme of the exhibition is UBUNTU – an old African expression with many meanings: respect, helpfulness, sharing, caring, community, trust and unselfishness. 

It features the work of the following Fine Artists: Jo Callanan, Louisa Edwards, Denise Hussey, Lucinda Jacob, Padraig McCaul, and Gill Trapnell.

The opening reception is at 7.00 p.m. on Wednesday, 30th November. The show will be launched by Ms. Sue Tulk, Deputy Principal of Carmona Special National School. The exhibition can be viewed from 11.00 to 4.30 on that day also.

In addition a coffee morning will be held in the Gallery on Thursday, 1st December, at 11.00 a.m.

The Irish Advisory Committee of Breadline Africa is very grateful to the artists who are donating 50% of the sales value from the exhibition to buy physiotherapy equipment, a stove, a cooker and mattresses for the severely disabled children in Khuti’s Special Needs Centre in the Cape Town suburb of Khayelitsha. 

Breadline Africa is a charity based in Southern Africa that supports local initiatives by marginalized communities in order to help them to help themselves. It works with other well known charities; pioneering the conversion of disused shipping containers to provide facilities such as catering, libraries, classrooms and clinics for a whole range of community self-help groups.

Breadline Africa will be most grateful for your support in these hard times, and give you the opportunity of bringing home a work of Art.

‘Ubuntu’
The Gallery, Dalkey Castle & Heritage Centre
Open: Wednesday 30th – Thursday 1st December 2011
11.00 – 16.30 daily
Tel: 01 285 8366
admission Free

Press Release ends.

Life on a rubbish dump

I’ve just returned from a trip where I visited families who live alongside a local rubbish dump, scratching through the filth for the barest necessities of life.   

A few rags, empty cardboard boxes, dirty mattresses, glass bottles, are riches to these people, scraping out a living on the very margins of society. 

Their isolation is underlined by the strange beauty in the greenery of the forest,  but I can assure you that there is nothing beautiful about the sight of women, men and small children hunting for scraps of food, plastics, glass or scrap metal in a waste-dump. But this is the only way they can survive. They collect and sort these scraps so that they are able to sell it to the local recycling merchants.

Imagine relying on decaying rubbish for the next meal, the hopelessness and uncertainty of the future for these folk living in such harsh conditions.

Their strength is survival. Not knowing what tomorrow holds. They rely on the dirt trucks to see what value they will find in amongst the dirt that will be offloaded the next day and the next.

Breadline Africa visits Sibongile Day & Night Care Centre in Khayelitsha

I couldn’t contain my joy when I visited Sibongile Day & Night Centre in Khayelitsha.

The Sibongile project has grown from its humble beginnings and it made me feel proud to know that our Breadline Africa containers continue to provide so much happiness, growth and endless opportunities amongst many poor communities.  

Containers donated by Breadline Africa

 

Lunch time at the Sibongile Special Needs Centre

In 2005, Nomasango Xabanisa walked a distance of 30km from Khayelitsha to our offices in Cape Town city centre. She brought with her a letter saying “I’m running a centre for Mentally Challenged Children from my house. I don’t have enough space and there are a lot of parents who want to bring their children to me but I have no space. I don’t want the parents to leave the children alone in the house because some parents lock them up”. I am desperately looking for a container.

Since then Sibongile Day and Night Centre has received three converted containers from Breadline Africa into which the children from Nomasango’s home have moved.  This has given them a good start, a first step towards formal care.

Nomasango Xabanisa’s story is one of inspiration, dedication and perseverance.  A young mother who has learnt that while life isn’t easy, her dream of reaching out to the parents and children in her community could still be met.

Read more about Nomasango and her passion to help children with disabilities

Breadline Africa and our visitors from The Netherlands

Donor visit

“I love South Africa,” Nancy van Bilsen who hails from the Netherlands said during her recent visit to Cape Town. Nancy invited her friends who were visiting for a holiday to join us for a project visit. The visit included a guided tour through the well-known township, Khayelitsha.

Nancy who is a member of our Advisory Committee in the Netherlands said that when she first arrived in the city some years ago she learnt about the vast difference of affluence and poverty in our country. 

She felt that whilst she was enjoying the beauty of the country she could help Breadline Africa by making a contribution to the poverty stricken areas. She has subsequently funded a beautiful container to the Imbasa Educare Centre in Khayelitsha. “It gives me great joy to see how the container is still being used in the community,” she said during her visit.

Nancy’s friends, Bianca and Frank, were asked by the principal to assist with serving the children their lunch. “We were truly inspired by the friendliness of the teachers and the children,” they said.

We then set off to visit Emfundweni Educare Centre, which is in the same area. It was all fun and play as the kids sang lovely nursery rhymes and the national anthem for the visitors.

Opening of the 12th & 13th Mandela Day libraries at Qunu and Mvezo

The opening of the 12th and 13th Mandela libraries took place today in Qunu and Mvezo Eastern Cape.  The ceremonies were scaled down by SAA in order to rather spend the funds on upgrading the schools. However Chief Zwelivelile Mandela and the Chairman of Breadline Africa Louise Seligman as well as Sello Hatang and Frank Meintjies of the Nelson Mandela foundation were present.  The keys were handed by Frank to Tim Smith of  Breadline Africa who handed them to the Chief to open the door.  Books have been donated by the Foundation, by Breadline Africa and by the Parliament.