Mandela Day 2011 @ SizaBantwana

There is not a more rewarding way to “Live this Life”, than to sow into another person’s life. Especially if that person is in desperate need of your help. Mandela Day made it possible for people to step out of their comfort zones into other peoples’ (often less comfortable) worlds around them. From all 600 kids of Sizabantwana, we would like to say a big thank you to all the individuals and companies that made Mandela Day memorable. SizaBantwana is a non-profit organisation in the surrounding area of Hazyview. They provide care and support for children orphaned or made vulnerable as a result of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Thanks to the help of the community, there were a couple of projects that took place on Monday:

SAFM radio broadcast

SAFM dedicated their whole day for SizaBantwana! They did a broadcast at Summerfields Rose Retreat & Spa about the origin and way forward of SizaBantwana. They also went to the SizaBantwana Impilo project, where they painted the buildings. SAFM also collected boxes of contributions from their listeners, including blankets from SPAR and Pizza’s from Debonairs Hazyview that they donated to the children and their caretakers. Their donation gave a big smile to the children, as they played and played… ”They Radio broadcast is just what we need to make the listeners aware of SizaBantwana. We need everybody and anybody’s help to ensure a better future for these children and everybody in South Africa.” – says Frank Mashego CEO of SizaBantwana.

Painting at the Reading project

The Pine Lake Lifestyle Resort team spend the whole morning painting the frames of the doors and windows at the SizaBantwana Reading Project. The team also wind and dust proofed the building to ensure a better experience for the learners. “These children are all going through rough and difficult times, and easily feel rejected. When they see there is other people caring and supporting them it makes them feel special again.” – says Kobus Visser from SizaBantwana. “This was a great experience and a good opportunity for us to see that every bit you give to those less fortunate gives them more happiness then you can ever imagine.  It was a privilege to put helping hands together and help Kobus Visser on this project.  I could see that everyone in the team showed extra heart and extra hand during Mandela Day.  The children’s smiling faces was reward enough to do this anytime again. ”- Cindy Pretorius from Pine Lake Lifestyle.

Food for the 208 children @ Impilo project

Sarah Neethling and her team from Sabie River Sun prepared and handed out lunch for each of the 208 children at the Impilo project. Lunch consisted out of boerewors roles, 2 different fruits and cold drinks with sweets chips as a desert. They and the team from Induna Adventures played soccer with the children, as they waited for the last children to arrive from school. The social interaction proofed beneficial to the children and the Sabie River Sun team alike, as both got an insight of different cultures and ways of live. The Induna team handed out branded T-shirts to the caretakers as a token of appreciation, since it is their voluntary effort that make sure the children are healthy, fed and schooled every day.

Renovation and implementation @ Impilo project

Induna Adventures renovated the dilapidated swings on the playground. “From the moment the last swing was fixed, until we left at 16:00, the swings never stopped. They say this is the standard operating procedure every single day. They actually need more obstacles on the playground, like a jungle gym, see-saw’s and tyres, to improve their orientational awareness. Kids love to play…” says Jurgens Lubbe from Induna Adventures. Hennie Kriek provided soccer balls, and everybody present had to kick and defend as they played as hard as they could. Some of the tables also needed some TLC by the team of Induna before they could be used as proper tables again.

The need doesn’t stop and ongoing support from anybody is welcome. Thanks to everybody that contributed in the lives of these children. We CAN make a difference!

Thanks Mandela

Thanks South Africa