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Back in 2006 Ilse Put from Belgium and Kate Bray made their first visit to South Africa to visit the townships outside Johannesburg. In March 2007, Kate returned to South Africa with Jane Bracewell from BELRON® and visited once again the townships of Orange Farm, Alexandra and Diepsloot, which are located on the outskirts of Johannesburg.
They had the opportunity to revisit the communities one year on to see for themselves what the project teams from MaAfrika Tikkun are involved with. It was an incredible experience. In this section they share their findings and thoughts on the visit.
 
About the Trip
One again we managed to spend some time with the caregivers, participating in daily duties, talking through the methods and processes that are now in place and making house visits. By seeing the extent of the issues and activities that MaAfrika Tikkun and the communities have to face together on a daily basis, it gave us a huge insight into the different programmes that MaAfrika Tikkun is developing and implementing.
 
How will our money help?
We learnt that one of MaAfrika Tikkun's key strategies is to develop community leaders as it is a role that is critical to the way in which their work is implemented. Most of the money raised this year will go to supporting this initiative.
Community leaders are carefully selected along with volunteers from the community who are trained to manage caring programes. By using people from the community there is a greater buy-in to the changes that MaAfrika Tikkun need to make. It also makes individuals accountable and take ownership by being directly involved.
A great example of this is the Home Based Caregivers programme that BELRON® has chosen to support this year. The money that we raise will go a long way to saving and improving hundreds of thousands of lives.
There are currently 120 homebased Caregivers who visit up to six houses a day collecting information, identifying needs and referring people to clinics, hospitals or simply where to get a meal!
There are not enough. With the money that BELRON raises MaAfrika Tikkun will be able to increase the number of caregvers as well as ensuring they receive a monthly salary for a period of one year. This ensures the caregivers are rewarded in some small way for their unselfish devotion in caring for people affected/infected by HIV/AIDs.
What else will our money do?
Our money will also provide medical kits for every caregiver, food parcels and enable MaAfrika Tikkun to continuously upgrade the skills of each caregiver in order to benefit their community.
In addition, MaAfrika Tikkun will be able to employ a nurse and train a number of caregivers in specific counselling topics such HIV/AIDS and deal with dying patients.
 
The Communities
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Orange Farm Tjhebelo Pele- means " looking Ahead" is MaAfrika Tikkun's flagship. In Orange Farm there is currently 90% unemployment and an 80% rate of infection (HIV/AIDS and TB).
MaAfrika Tikkun has bought a large piece of land which has been fenced off and BELRON money will be put to great use to build a community centre which will include a clinic, a creche, administrative facilities for social and care workers, creche teacher salaries, food and clothing - with the help of BELRON® money this project will be completed this year.
In Orange Farm alone, MaAfrika Tikkun has 690 orphans registered with them. We joined the caregivers on several house visits where the head of the household was a child. MaAfrika Tikkun encourages children to learn through fun activities and play schemes such as the "LESEDING" Project where the children are not just offered a place to meet and socialise but they are given emotional support, daily food and lessons in life. The children are taught to be children again! |
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Alexandra - Phuthadichaba means - "Gathering of Nations" - this is one of the oldest townships established in 1905. There are approximately 45 thousand people per square mile. Houses are built on houses. It is actually the closest township to Johannesburg but it is one of the poorest areas in the Gauteng Region. The population is very young with an average age of 23 years.
 
It is quite hard to believe that so many people are living in such poverty. It's true. However, the resilience and determination of the people living here is incredible. During heavy rains shacks are washed away but are quickly rebuilt. There are so many shacks popping up that some pavements and roads are not accessible. The conditions of overcrowding are serious which leads to problems with sanitation, crime and disease.
Diepsloot - Pamodzi means - "together we can make a difference"
Although both Alexandra and Diepsloot are incredibly impoverished areas MaAfrika Tikkun has joined forces with a great team of Community leaders who are really starting to address the issues.
We saw enthusiasm and determination from everyone. MaAfrika Tikkun is turning people around, changing attitudes and empowering communities to take charge.
 
"When you see and experience something with your own eyes the reality of the situation becomes so clear. However, we really hope that this brief summary has helped to highlight the problems that the communities face. MaAfrika Tikkun by working in partnership with the communities is making a huge difference."
Our money will make a difference!
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