October 09 Update - The Zoe Project and Information Empowers!

Hello Everybody
It has been a really positive and eventful month for both the Zoe Project and Information Empowers!

Thank you to the following contributors…

Alison Roberts, Arlene Johansson, Dr Lara Smith, Bronwyn Hopwood, Marlene Helfrecht, Hilton Franz and Brandon Weeavind from InterMet Africa, Lisa McNamara, Jane and Sebastian Dunn, Tara and Dave Dunn, Nikki Andrew, Antoinette Denis, Ronnie Morrison, Sandy Schuurmans, Sharon Wewege, Heather Mylne, Meg and Luke Carter, Rene Grimmbacher, Liam Grimmbacher, Samuel Grimmbacher, Donna Cobban, Luc Michot, Anna Johansson, Tracey and Sean Fraser, Thea Athina Kotsopolous, Thea Vessi Kotsopolous, Kirsten Hopwood, Annette Cowley-Nel, Johnathan Ackerman, Michael P., the anonymous friends at the New Beginnings clinic and the anonymous parents from Monterey Pre-Primary, Jo and Steve Thomas from Sothebys Real Estates Constantia and John Wesson from Bill Rawson Real Estates, Bergvliet.

Births at the clinic in October…
There were 180 births in October – 92 girls and 88 boys. Three of the babies were born prematurely with the smallest being a little boy called Liam, 1479grams at birth. He was born to a 16 year old matric student who is writing her English final exams on Thursday. The youngest mom was a 14 year old, and there were 14 babies born to 17-year old girls.

The pantry…
I cannot stress enough how important every food contribution is for the Retreat MOU. Every time I go to deliver the food, the cupboards are bare and the frozen soup is on its last little bowl. Thank you so much – we are nourishing young moms and inadvertently, their little babies.

A funny story – one of the night staff gave me a recipe that she cooks for the patients. She says, “And I put a little garlic and sometimes some curry powder in it…” Well, that would explain why the babies can’t sleep and are crying. Any spicy food will cause colic because it goes through the mother’s milk to the baby. I will give them a list of foods to avoid while breastfeeding, and they can pass it on to their patients. I have asked her not to put any garlic or curry in any of the food.

Mom and baby packs…
We have tried to increase the 20 mom packs and 20 baby packs that we supply each month by at least half that. Unfortunately, we don’t come close to that at all. But the ones we are giving are still being given to only those who most need it. The little items in the baby packs are so beautiful and it breaks my heart to think that this is probably the only new thing this child would ever get.

Zoe Project Sports Day…
We are hosting a soccer day on Saturday, 7th November at the Simonstown sports field. You may join and enter a 6-a-side team. Registration starts at 8.15 am and cost is R20 per person. The money raised on this day will be used to fund a team building day for the staff who work at the Retreat maternity clinic. This is an annual event and has proved to raise the spirit of the staff. We show our appreciation for the hard work they do under very difficult circumstances by organising the year end function.

Build-A-PC…
Donna Cobban who is a feature writer for CAPE TOWN’S CHILD MAGAZINE and an author had an idea that she put to her boss and the magazine has agreed to this initiative.

Donna arranged for a computer to be built from bits by a company called InterMet Africa. Hilton Franz and Brandon Weeavind built a pc and Donna delivered it to Place of Hope. CPT Child Magazine will do a call for companies and ask them to get their IT departments to build a pc from scrap, and they will be able to donate fully working computers to places of safety and clinics where they are very much needed. Please support this initiative if you are able. Have a look in the February 2010 issue of CPT Child magazine for further details.

Premier Helen Zille and Good News…
I attended a meeting where Premier Zille spoke on 23 October 2009. The lack of social workers in the field was heightened and the importance of NGO’s stressed. NGO’s play a vital part in communities as they supply a service where government [local and national] cannot. There are currently 1800 NGO’s who fall under the Western Cape government and get funding from government in order to do their work. Only 933 of these have proven to give results that would justify their financial support from government. Premier Zille has spoken about implementing a plan in provincial government whereby they change the accountability structure. NGO’s will no longer be able to apply for government funding and not produce accountable and consistent results. A Dashboard system will apply and NGO’s who receive funding will be regulated through this.

There are also 2 new drug rehabilitation clinics that will be opened by the Provincial Government next year. These clinics will only be for children just starting out on drugs. It will work on an out-patient basis. The research done indicated that if the children are helped at the outset, that there is a greater chance of rehabilitation and putting them on the right track.

Provincial government has also opened a new department to co-ordinate all the departments within government who deal with issues relating to women and children. The reason for this is to ensure that there is no duplication of work, that work is done and it is also a monitoring mechanism for the Provincial government. This is fantastic news as it will ensure that matters are dealt with timeously and effectively.

Mayor Dan Plato and good news…
I attended a meeting on 29 October where Mayor Dan Plato spoke to residents from ward 71. I indicated that child sexual abuse is not a justice issue as he mentioned, but an issue that touches all citizens in the Western Cape and indeed this entire country.

After his answer session to all the questions posed to him, he replied to me and pointed his finger, saying: “Let’s talk!” He has indicated that we will meet and I am preparing for this meeting with the mayor and trust that it will be fruitful.

We want the Information Empowers! workshops and workbooks to be introduced to all the schools in order to teach children about safety. We want to ensure that communities have access to practical information and implementation of their rights as far as reporting of abuse and other related issues go. We want to create awareness and prevention mechanisms for all our children. I will keep you updated as to the result of this meeting.

Our website and good news…
http://www.informationempowers.org.za/

I am proud and very excited to say that our website and blogspot is up and running. We have had fantastic feedback from people who have visited it. Please take the time to go through the website and if you have any questions or suggestions, please email me.

It is quite user-friendly and informative and even has fun pages and activities for children.

Kids2Kids (c) 2009…

Kids2Kids (c) 2009 is a pilot project this year, and I’m hoping it will become an annual event in Cape Town. The next couple of weeks will prove if we can deliver the Christmas gifts to the places of safety and children’s homes we have earmarked for this. It is all dependent on the support we receive from the schools. If your child received a flyer, encourage him or her to participate. This teaches our children who are very blessed, a valuable life-skill: compassion and thinking and acting for those who are less privileged than themselves.

Workshops….
Even though at outset I decided not to present workshops myself, I will be presenting a workshop next week, and it would appear as if next year will be quite busy for me in this regard.

I have made information freely available to counselors and Victim Empowerment Groups in and around Cape Town. They are to fund their own printing as we cannot.

I am appealing to anyone who has access to printing facilities and paper to assist me with this for next year. We need to give material to all the children who attend workshops, and at the same time, send home a ‘parent information pack’.

It would be of great help if we could get a sponsor for printing and paper for our workbooks and workshop material. Should you be in a position where you can help, please contact me to discuss.

As I said in the beginning of this newsletter, it has been a very busy month for both the Zoe Project and Information Empowers!

Thank you all for your wonderful support and encouragement – it is invaluable, not just to me but to all who work on these 2 projects. A little encouragement goes a long way!

Please remember to send our updates to your family, friends and colleagues. Visit the blogspots [ http://www.thezoeproject.blogspot.com/ and http://www.informationempowers.blogspot.com/ ]

And our website http://www.informationempowers.org.za/

Contact me with your feedback, questions and suggestions.

Lots of love to you all

Norah Papanicolaou