Monday, June 18, 2012

We dance for the kids!







On Saturday 16 June more than 300 dancers put their dancing shoes on, did their stretches, ran through some steps and then joined the Let's Go Shuffling Danceathon at Clearwater Mall. Although only a few danced the danceathon, many where there to show their style during 11 hours of non-stop dancing. They ranged from 2 years old to 70 years, from professional to "never danced before", from hip hop to the foxtrot - it was a great day of dance for children in need! Celebrities Eloise Cupido and Kyknet presenter Rianette Owitz joined in the fun. Roodepoort Round Table made a huge donation of good for the comfort pack project and Shellard Media joined the drive by donating an additional R2000. Clearwater Mall gave all the dancers a great gift and Roman's Pizza was there to keep the tummies full! We would like to thank all who participated, our sponsors for making this possible and the staff who worked (and danced!) for many hours!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

MAB opens child-friendly rooms in Vredenburg



MAB is proud to announce the upgrading of two important rooms on the Cape West Coast. On 11 June we showed the victim room at Vredenburg Hospital and the room of the forensic social worker at Vredenburg FCS (based at Saldanha SAPS) to our sponsors and the press.

We would like to thank the St Helena Church and Old Mutual Foundation for your support and for making this possible.

The St Helena Church as well as Akkerdyk Church in Vredenburg will adopt the hospital and FCS unit and give support to officials and children.




WC Child Protection week radio campaign

MAB secured the broadcast of a series for tips called "Straat Slim vir kinders" and "Straat slim vir ouers" on Radio Tygerberg for 5 days during Child Protection Week. These tips were written by Matla A Bana and went out during the peak morning and afternoon shows. Thank you to Radio Tygerberg for partnering with us.
(You can download these tips from our website).

Gauteng Child Protection week activities




The Linden Bible study group invited the Tembisa FCS unit to spend some quality time with them! The theme of the message by Helene Wessels was “ Taste and see that the Lord is good”! The members were treated with a scrumptious breakfast and tea treats!  They were also blessed with a container of biscuits to take to their families! Tembisa FCS did not let the opportunity go by to bless the ladies with their singing talents!! Matla a Bana is proud of this long term Adoption relationship! (watch the video on our You tube site!).

We would like to than Roodepoort Townlodge for hosting a special breakfast for our volunteers and supporters during Child Protection week. Amongst our guests were our training partners SAPS and Mosaiek Church (sponsor of venue and catering for our Serial Rape training)


 Wednesday 30 May was the time to acknowledge more dedicated volunteers, police members, media and other loyal sponsors assisting us to make an impact in the field of Child Abuse.   Clearwater Mall Centre Management Treated everyone with a nice goodie bag, and a fabulous breakfast with hot drinks at Cappuccino’s!  All the guests were surprised and felt very special with this “treat” sponsored by Clearwater Mall! Thank you to Cecile at Clearwater Mall who made this possible.


Roodepoort SOCA visit on 1 June
Mosaic Church visited the court staff during tea time with snack platters and reminded them of their importance to protect our children! Thank you Embark Foundation of Mosaic for making this treat possible!

On Wednesday, 7 June, Christian Heritage Church treated their unit with a home made Breakfast at the church hall! Lt –Col Segotta thanked Past Pat & Yvonne for always helping them when they need motivation and also for the special breakfast! She handed over a beautiful plant and card from the unit as a token of their appreciation!

12 June 2012
Matla a Bana and Krugersdorp FCS unit visited Knikkies @ Kenmare Laerskool to educate them on the importance of the Green Ribbon and their rights to be protected! Knikkies theme of the year is GREEN and they proudly wore the Green Ribbons during Child Protection week!  The school enjoyed the puppet show and thanked the SAPS for their time with a decadent chocolate!

Our oldest volunteer!


Never too old to make a differnce and we have proof of that! Oom Koos Myburg has been a loyal supporter and MAB since our very first beginning. From packing to painintg - nothing is too difficult for oom Koos. Thank you very much for your dedication and the great example you have set for all the other people out there.

Monday, June 4, 2012

 Matla A Bana is listed in several of the provinces as one of the charities where you can help in the Roman's Pizza Double Up Challenge. We need items for the comfort packs and help to create child friendly facilities. Visit www.doubleupsa.co.za to see where you can help!


Roman's Pizza does it again!



For many South Africans there is very little hope of bettering their socio-economic situation.  Unemployment, the ever dwindling government support for NGO’s and the growing need for services have resulted in many just barley surviving. Whilst on the other end, the rich just seems to get richer. Unfortunately, in South Africa, hundreds of thousands of children are also affected and are more at risk of becoming victims of neglect and ultimately violence.

This leaves one burning question? If the problem is so big, will any effort to help really make a difference?  Yes, if millions of South Africans can be motivated to take a stand, face the problem and actively start with community work. And this is exactly what the Romans Pizza Double Up Challenge hopes to do.  Based on the age old principle of passing on good fortune, Roman’s Pizza and the Callie and Monique Strydom Trust is now challenging ordinary South Africans to “double up” using  their skills and their talents in order to help millions of children in need.   The idea was inspired by Roman’s pizza store owners who, during the last two months, donated a percentage of their profit on sales in the  “wipe that smile on your face” charity drive.

During a media conference last night, Roman’s Pizza handed over a cheque for R 1 million to the Callie and Monique Strydom Trust, whose project Matla A Bana – a voice against child abuse, assists nearly 13000 abused children every year.  Aware of  dire situation of many abused and neglected children in our country, the charity decided to use half of this money towards a campaign that will make people aware of the need of children and inspire them to assist these children.

CEO of Strydom Trust and Matla A Bana, Monique Strydom, said the ultimate aim of this project is that long term relationships will be built and that the support will be ongoing, rather than a once off. If this can be achieved it will no longer be a double up, but rather triple or quadruple up. Monique Strydom is better known as the hostage who in 2000 survived a 4 month ordeal  in the hands of an Al Qaeda terrorist group. She stated that she is a perfect example of an ordinary South African who has been called to make a difference.  With a career that includes being a professional actress and media agency owner, she has no knowledge of social work and initially no pressing need to do any social work, but this has not stopped her helping thousands of abused children every year. “In fact, I can actually use my acting skills now when begging for money”, she joked.

When presented with the concept, Roman’s Pizza, fell in love with the idea. “It was exactly what we wanted to do – to wipe a smile on a face and with Double Up, it will not only be the faces of the children who will be helped, but also those who are doing the helping”, said Bonnie De Klerk from Roman’s Pizza.  She added  "Life is not worthwhile without a Smile and why not give to those in distress, when we have everything we need.  Making a difference is not only about handing over a R1 million cheque, but about giving your time and feeling it in your heart. Roman's Pizza really does care and we'll prove it be continuously getting involved and lending a helping hand!"

Double Up does not only call for individuals to “double up”, but the success of the projects will also rely on the participation of many businesses.  Of those there has been no shortage, even before the launch of the project. Community stations across South Africa has agreed to manage the marketing and updates on the projects in their provinces , the largest media group in South Africa has agreed to assist with spreading the message and already phone calls are streaming in from businesses to assist where needed.

The campaign will include a web site on which charities and causes can list their needs and blog sites for the participating community stations where the successes of the projects will be shared. In true “double up” spirit, Roman’s Pizza has also offered R 100 000 in prize money for the three best projects,  to be donated to the charity of these projects.  Now individuals not only will make a difference by helping, but if their project is a chosen, they can win additional money for the charity.

One of the projects already entered is that of a group of four 10-year olds in Cape Town who will, for the rest of the year, host birthday parties and give out birthday gifts at a crèche in an informal settlement. Another is that of hundreds of dancers who will participate in a 12 hour danceathon at Clearwater Mall to raise funds for comfort packs for child rape victims.

“With Double Up, we do not want money”, Monique Strydom said, “we want you!” .  This is truly a win win for all!
For more information visit www.doubleupsa.co.za

General Lamoer on Child Protection



“As the police we want to strongly urge everyone to get involved when it comes to the protection of our children.  When I hear how Friends of Child Protection are giving out comfort packs, I feel that it’s about time that we start giving out ‘discomfort packs’ to people who refuse to take the welfare of our children seriously. Yesterday we had 50,000 people at Loftus Versfeld for the rugby match between the Stormers and the Bulls. Why can’t we have 50,000 people standing up for the rights and protection of our children?
In our country and abroad, we are quick to follow sporting events, week after week, day after day, but when it comes to children we only have one Child Protection Week in this country.  It’s about time that we make it a 365 day initiative.
Men need to rise up because it is always women leading the way when it comes to child protection and children’s issues.  The perpetrators in 99% of the cases are men.  It’s about time that men stand up, take responsibility and lead the battle against child abuse.  When it comes to the 16 Days of Activism this year, men specifically will be called up to lead the event within the SAP ranks and be responsible for arrangements.
These are the kinds of outcomes that we would like to see as the SAPS.”

Lieutenant-General A.H. Lamoer
Provincial Commissioner: SAPS Western Cape