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Breadline Africa’s Facebook Campaign: Help us build a soup kitchen

If you want to eliminate hunger, everybody has to be involved
– Bono

Whilst I don’t usually begin a blog post quoting Bono, I think our latest FB campaign calls for it. One of Breadline Africa’s main projects is converting containers into soup kitchens, clinics, Educare centers and libraries and placing them in impoverished communities that will utilize these containers in order to improve their quality of life.

Now YOU can help convert a container.

Now YOU can help eliminate hunger.

We are launching our Facebook campaign today. Just become a fan of our Facebook page, check out the uploaded images and tag the part of the container you want to help donate. You can choose from donating towards an air vent or helping paint the container or making sure there are windows or even assisting with the flooring.

The names of those that helped convert this container into a soup kitchen will be placed
on a plaque inside the container.

So help us build a soup kitchen and be immortalized for life…it doesn’t get better than this.

Winter Food Parcels

It was an unusually warm winter’s day in Cape Town when we drove into the heart of Kalkfontein. The Kalkfontein community is steeped in poverty and desolation and their soup kitchen is one of the projects that Breadline Africa supports. This was the day that we were going to bring some much needed joy to this impoverished community. The community leader, Moses, helped us deliver 100 winter food parcels to 100 hungry families. As we drove deep into this desolate village, the heartbeat of the hunger was tangible in the air.

The starving crowds were waiting for us. Their faces were shiny with excitement and anticipation of satisfying their hunger. Their necks craned as the food parcels were being unloaded off the truck. It gave me such great happiness to be able to contribute and help these people feed their families. I spoke to Moses and he told me that it gives him such great pleasure to be able to witness the handing out of the food parcels. It also heartens him that we cannot satisfy all of the people in the community…but one day hopefully we will be able to do just that.

The Breadline Africa Comedy Show

“He has a wild wacky energy.  He looks like he’s the rep for red bull. It’s nice to see somebody that breaks the boundaries and is not scared to go forward.  We all have our own genres and hopefully our genres make us different and that is one of the reasons that John is so special. He is so fast and so up to date. It is nice to see a young man who still has the same energy he started with 10 or so years ago and this makes him always a pleasure to watch. He is proud that he is South African and that shows that we have world class acts in this country.” Barry Hilton praising John Vlismas

“Whether it’s on a rock stage in front of thousands, or entertaining a small audience in The Underground, Don Packett is more than comfortable on stage.

A likeable enough guy, Don MCs and speaks at events, breaks bones doing extreme downhill sports, and you can catch him on the SA comedy circuit. He thinks he’s funny. And that’s all that matters.” Don Packett praising Don Packett.

We are excited to announce the Breadline Africa Comedy Show on the 2^nd of September featuring these two outrageously funny comedians. These two are true gurus of the comedy world and they have kindly donated their time to entertain us and our guests. Joining them as the MC for the evening will be the impressive Richard Hardiman (the multi talented presenter, writer and comedian).

John and Don will not be the only entertainment, as one of Breadline Africa’s funded projects, Clowns without Borders, will also be performing. Clowns without Borders-South Africa is an artist-led humanitarian organization dedicated to improving the psychosocial condition of children and communities in areas of crisis through laughter and play. They will be joined by the Conscious Marimba Band to show off their African musical skills.

For our adventurous guests, Cape Xtreme Adventure Tours have sponsored an auction prize package including a sandboarding trip at Atlantis sand dunes for two people.

The Breadline Africa Comedy Show will take place on 2^nd of September from 6.30pm onwards at the swanky Grand Daddy Hotel. Guests will be greeted with welcome drinks, followed by the comedy show at The Venue and culminating in a scrumptious finger food dinner. Tickets cost R250 per person and as this is an exclusive event, ONLY 60 tickets available. Not only does this include the comedy show, performances, dinner and a welcome drink but R250 will go towards sending 2 underprivileged children to the Breadline Africa’s annual seaside party. These kids have never seen the ocean and each guest’s contribution will cover the bus, lunch, gift and t-shirt costs for two children. So help send 2 children to the seaside party by buying the ticket:

1) You can make an EFT deposit directly into our bank account with the ref being Comedy. This will immediately place you on our exclusive guest list. To keep track, we would rather you called Lizo on 021 418 0322 or email him  (accounts@breadlineafrica.org.za) to find out our bank account details.

2) You can pop by our offices in Green Point and pay in cash or by credit card (just ask for Lizo and he will process your payment). Our address is: No 2 Somerset Road Cape Town South Africa 8001

The Great Tweet Off : Win an Ernie Els signed cap

The Great Tweet Off is back! One redesign later, we are launching our second Tweet Off competition in August.  It’s good news for our loyal Twitter followers, especially the golf fanatics, as Ernie Els (yes the man, the legend, the ultimate golf pro) has donated a signed cap to us as the prize for this competition.

For those that missed our first announcement about this competition, these are the rules:

Once a month, 10 of our followers on Twitter will be picked to enter this exclusive competition.

If you are lucky enough to be chosen, you will need to follow these easy steps to win the prize of the month. The competition lasts 48 hours from the moment the 10 people are chosen so act FAST!

1. Recruit as many of your followers as you can to help you raise donations for the projects that Breadline Africa supports.
2. Send them a link to this website and get them to sign up
3. Once signed up, they need to make an once off donation before the 48 hour time limit is up.
4. The top 5 raisers will be displayed on the home page (you can donate in your own name)
5. If you are the person who recruited the top raiser, you win the prize.

All money raised will go towards supporting ground level African charities!! (so do it to help others get a chance they deserve!)

Follow us on Twitter and let us know if you want to be picked for this competition.

Breadline Africa launches ‘Photos of Poverty’ contest

We are pleased to announce that we have launched our new ‘Photos of Poverty’ contest.

Poverty means something different to all of us.

Breadline Africa wants to find out what poverty means to YOU.

Submit a photo depicting poverty, how you view poverty and what it means to you.

The person who submits the winning photo will win the much coveted prize of a one day photography course with Cape Town’s legendary professional photographer, Andre van Rooyen.

Check out the contest here and on our Facebook Fan page…and start submitting those photos!

*Competition open only to South African residents and those able to claim the prize in Cape Town.

Breadline Africa celebrating World Cup Fever

The Soccer World Cup fever has hit South Africa. Our Breadline Africa offices are located in the Salesians institute building in the heart of Cape Town, right next to the Green Point stadium. We have decorated our offices with festive World Cup memorabilia, flags, soccer balls, posters, brochures and even Breadline Africa themed balloons.

The Breadline Africa staff is also getting into the festive spirit. We want to encourage the tourists to learn more about our organization, and the projects that we help. Those in the vicinity of the Salesians Institute in Somerset Road, Green Point are invited to view the exhibition of the Isonka ceramic plates (Isonka is Xhosa for bread). These delicate plates are also for sale with all proceeds benefiting nutrition projects. Another must see exhibition is that of the letter carvers’ project and Phinias Chirubvu will be demonstrating letter carving on stone.  The exhibitions are open from 9am until 4pm throughout the duration of the World Cup.

We welcome all tourists and any locals that are interested in visiting our projects to come by our offices or phone us to schedule a project visit. For those hungry fans that will come by our offices on the way to the games at the stadium, one of our most ardent soccer supporters Lizo, will be making and selling sizzling boerewors rolls and hot dogs every Friday from 10am.

Diary of a Project Visit: Bev visits Hlanganani Ngothando (HNO)-Bulwer

HNO is an amazing organisation serving the communities of Bulwer and has now expanded some of its work to Pietermartizburg, Ixopo and Centocow. Our allocations lady, Bev Gillespie visited this organization recently.

She was impressed by the database of all the people in the area, they know that the have over 2500 OVCs (Orphans and Vulnerable children) being cared for by “granny” clusters. They are also assisting with support and training of 36 creches/preschools. At the moment this support includes training and getting grants for decent toilets and sanitation. Unemployment amongst the youth is a great problem so they run a volunteer programme: for the first 3 months the work is unpaid; the successful volunteers can then move onto receiving a stipend of R 300 for the next 3 months. Thereafter, if you move to the next level you receive a stipend of R900 per month plus access to supplementary benefits such as: additional English lessons; joining computer training classes; assistance with learners licence etc. All this plus the actual working experience mean that many young people can find jobs in the formal sector. The volunteers go out every morning to the surrounding villages; doing basic home care, first aid, distributing food, assisting with letter writing and filling in forms  and collecting data, which is added to the database in the afternoon. In this way they can monitor the sick and vulnerable children.

How a sandbox can help to heal a child

Breadline Africa is often asked for funds for psycho-social help for vulnerable children. I thought it may be useful to talk a little about what this is. Children in poor areas are often exposed to many things that they should not be exposed to. Overcrowding means one lives cheek by jowl with strangers and may witness acts of violence. Children and youth are also prey, particularly in areas of high unemployment, to abuse. An added ingredient is that young people are now having to nurse seriously ill parents as the HIV pandemic ravages through their parent’s age group . Eventually children witness their parents dying . They have to bury them and try to carry on with their lives.

The emotional and psychological burdens on these young people are enormous and many of the organizations we support find that on- going counseling and various therapies assist children in coming to terms with their past, integrating the experiences and gaining a resilience in order to carry on with their lives. One of the tools which staff use is a sandbox: with various figures: adults, teachers, parents and items: guns, knives, bottle of tablets etc . Under careful supervision and guidance, children can play out their experiences (and maybe their future) at a distance which helps with making the issues visible and which can then be addressed without too much trauma.
Audrey from Usizolwethu In KwaZulu Natal, an organisation working with children and youth ,demonstrates to us how one uses the sandbox, in her organisation.

Container Football Club Appeal

Breadline Africa has joined the World Cup frenzy…with our special container football club appeal.  I have been so impressed by an incredible organisation called Phakamini – which means “empowered to inspire”. They have set up a children’s football club on a vacant community land in New Crossroads, a huge township outside Cape Town. Here local volunteer coaches work with the little ones, including a girls’ team. When I chatted with the dynamic volunteers who run Phakamini, they pointed out their urgent need for locker-rooms, somewhere to keep their equipment and clothing safe, and where the little ones can change and wash in privacy.

So our football club appeal is aimed at  helping  the football-mad children of New Crossroads receive a double container. We’ll fit it out with proper lockers, storage for their equipment, and a safe, clean place to change and shower. Check out our appeal site and help however you can!