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The Viva Village combines a familiar African concept with pragmatic and innovative service providing, thus creating a hub within an informal settlement that serves as a platform for community transformation.
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| VIVA NEWS |
SEPTEMBER 2010 |
In this issue:
- Update
- Fun Run
- Programs
- Virtual Adoptions
- Support
- Volunteering
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NEWS UPDATE
Dear Friends
We have much to be thankful for at Viva and also much to
look forward to for the next few months.
In three months time it is December and some organisations and companies
are already requesting detail about our orphans and vulnerable children, to
prepare Christmas gifts and parcels!
We are hoping to convince companies and organisations to
take on the Viva Village and our orphans and vulnerable families as their Corporate
Social Responsibility project for next year and trusting that we will be able
to attract the kind of investments needed to affect real change.
The Viva Village was started one year ago and it is great to
see what has been done in only 12 months.
However – we still have to do much more and we also want to duplicate
the Viva Village in other areas of the country.
Thank you for your support!
Please stay on board with us for the long haul! Photos: (Viva Day One - Echo Youth Volunteers clear bushes)
(Viva June 2010 - Buildings at Viva, surrounded by new shacks)
Leon and Meleney Kriel |
FUN RUN
We are having a Fun Run on the 11th of September
2010, starting from the Berakah Education Centre, through the township to the
Viva Village and back. The idea is to
raise funds for the two charities, namely Education for the Underprivileged
(Berakah) and assistance for Child- and Granny headed households (Viva). Many visitors from the city will join the
little children on the run and the day promises to be a lot of fun and very
meaningful for the community.
We need sponsors for the little children from Berakah and
Viva, who will do their share to raise money.
They will be asking friends and family in the township to support them,
per kilometre that they run, but we want to encourage others to do so too. The little ones will only run 5 km and there
are about 150 of them that will run. Anyone wishing to sponsor them per kilometre (R5 /R 10 per kilometre will
already make a big difference) can check in on the website and use the online
donation facility, or use the bank account.
(See detail below – pls use “Fun Run” as a reference)
meleney@viva-sa.co.za http://www.viva-sa.co.za/co.za Bank Account: Viva Foundation, First National Bank, Olympus Plaza Code 258155, Account number 62248
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VIRTUAL ADOPTIONS
We have 5 “virtual” adoptions of our vulnerable families and we now have 139 families in our care. We collect maize and any other donations and hand it out to all our families during weekly visits, but those who are “adopted” receive a proper food parcel, the children get new clothing (including undies and socks) and we can sponsor their day-care, school fees, or any other assistance that they need, including adult diapers and medical supplies for those who are
dying of AIDS and are bed-ridden. Depending on the size of the family and the challenges faced, it costs between R 600 and R1200 to take care of a family. The “Virtual Family” can be a group of friends sharing the cost, or a church or company. For more information about how to adopt a family, please send a mail, or take a look on the website. |
SUPPORT Anyone wishing to support the
programmes and projects of Viva, can get in contact with us per email, use our
online donation facility on the website or make donations to the Viva Bank
Account. (Details below) We need funding for our operational expenses
(about R 30 000 per month) and for our different projects in addition to
donations in kind (building material, furniture, food, vegetable plants, live
chickens, etc.) DONATIONS and CONTACT INFORMATIO
meleney@viva-sa.co.za For more information about the Viva Foundation, please visit our website:
www.viva-sa.co.za
Bank Account: Viva
Foundation, First National Bank, Olympus Plaza Code 258155, Account number 62248843270. There is a safe and convenient on-line donation facility available on the website. Donations to the Viva Foundation are Tax Deductible in South Africa Viva Foundation Postal Address: Postnet Suite 274, Private Bag X844 Silverton 0127, South Africa The Viva Village: Moshumi Street (Cul de Sac) Alaska Informal Settlement, Mamelodi East, Gauteng, South Africa
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VOLUNTEERING
The Viva Village is built with volunteer hands and the
programmes are largely operated by volunteers.
Even the management are volunteering most of their time and work for a
fraction of the market related remuneration.
Volunteering at Viva is a meaningful way of giving back to the community
and making a difference in needy people’s lives.
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PROGRAMS We are in the process of building classrooms for our Viva Kids Day Care and our skills development programme, where we want to teach women and young adults industrial skills in order to increase their chances of finding employment (beading, sewing, welding and embroidery etc.) · We also started building a kitchen, bakery and township restaurant to serve the Day Care centre and community with bread and raise funds for the centre by providing catering to groups of visitors. · Our vegetable gardens are coming on nicely, although we need tunnels to protect the plants against the harsh conditions. · We bought some day-old chickens and will soon be able to serve the community’s need for fresh meat (There are no fridges in the informal settlement and people need to buy live chickens on the weekends, which usually sell for much more than you and I can get a grilled chicken in a supermarket! We want to be able to provide fresh, free-range chickens at cost, to the community and for the restaurant.) · Family Care – as mentioned, we have 139 families in our care (child-headed, granny-headed and vulnerable through HIV/AIDS). Our care workers go into the community and visit the families weekly, bringing whatever support we manage to raise, such as maize-meal, clothing etc. · Resident OVC care – we are
able to provide interim shelter to orphans and vulnerable children in crisis and hope that we can expand the accommodation (wooden houses) to be able to have space for at least 20 children.
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