SERVICE OF HOPE AND BLESSING

Luc & Ninah tying the green ribbons

On 31 May 2009 a special Service of Hope and Blessing was hosted at Gardens Presbyterian Church.  During this service three candles were lit by VIP guest, Commissioner Ntobela, one for the children of the world, one for the children of South Africa and the Western Cape and one for all those people who work to protect them. After the service guests took part in a Green Ribbon Ceremony, during which green ribbons and prayers were tied to trees and fences in the street.

 

This service was a joint initiative of Friends of Child Protection, Connect Network and Matla A Bana, in celebration of Child Protection Week.

Doctors and police celebrate

Congratulations!!!

FCS Detectives with VIP guest, Commissioner Ntobela

Child Protection Week brought more celebrations when the doctors and police officers who recently completed the Forensic Medical Examination Course received their certificates. MAB hosted this course in April for doctors of the Paarl Hospitals and FCS members to assist them to understand the forensic examination of rape and abuse victims better.

We would like to thank Dr Tromp Els, Adv Mark Kenny, Dr Jacobus Louw and our sponsors, HCI Foundation, AVIS, Oude Herberg and Lorraine Feuw Interiors for making this possible!

A Calendar day with Bosch

Above: Cornelius Bosch with Deon Roux(Business man)

For those who had the privilege to be at Clear Water Mall on the weekend of 23 May 2009, would have been proud to see Cornelius Bosch display his art work on his Birth day. This happened during the day at the piazza by the CNA entrance. He was there along with his Mother (82) showing support to the malls adopted charity Matla a Bana.

Matla a Bana (MAB) was there to exhibit and also selling their Child’s Rights calendars and key rings to raise funds and awareness for the work they do with Child protection week from 26 May 2009 to 01 June 2009. The calendar was launched in December and show cases the artwork of 12 artists, including Bosch, donated to this specific project.

Lynette from Art Window supplied the exhibitors with 3 of the most beautiful chairs and a Persian carpet to complete their little spot. Hansie Hofmann of the Meat Co sponsored a meal for Bosch and his mom. Deon Roux, owner of the furniture shop in Clearwater and Classic Baroque Flowers, showed his support to Matla a Bana and has now joined the ranks and become a friend of MAB.

Life saver!

Let me tell you one thing about working for charity – it is beyond challenging! You have to make budgets meet with no funding, you have to help people without having the resources and saying NO to anyone in need is not remotely an option. Well, what makes up for all those challenges are the moments when you discover the greatness of a kind and good heart. When amazing people appear from nowhere ready to save your day!

Last week it was the Welgemoed Community who came together to help four abused children. Today it was Pieter (Cape Garden Centre) who came to the rescue. Mr Price Kids Store in Canal Walk donated more than R 70 000 worth of goods to MAB. When we arrived there (with our little vehicles), we realised how much you can buy for R 70 000! We were stuck with no storage space and a without any means to move the goods! But it took one phone call and Pieter, not only offered one of his trucks, but also warehouse space!

A very special thank you to Pieter and his staff for making our day!

Monique Strydom

Giant green ribbons hit Wynberg!

Photo supplied by : Die Burger

MAB WC was privileged to attend the first of many “Go Green for our children” ceremonies in the Western Cape. Primary school, Simon Van Der Stel (Wynberg) was the first school to host a special ceremony in celebration of child protection week. This was followed by the tying of giant green ribbons around trees as a visual reminder of our children at risk and our responsibility to protect all children.

We would like to thank Mr Jacques Pratt, staff and children of Simon Van Der Stel Primary School for taking part, the media who covered the event and the Child Protection Unit Steenberg for your valuable contribution.

Help! We need offices or storage facilities

MAB WC urgently needs storage space (or new offices) for all the fantastic donations we are receiving. If you have an office or space in Belville/Durbanville area, please contact us on matlawc@mweb.co.za.

Wear a green ribbon this week!

In SOUTH AFRICA a green ribbon represents the hidden bruises and scars which are carried by abused children for a lifetime. We would like to encourage all South Africans to wear a green ribbon this week to celebrate Child Protection week.

By wearing a green ribbon we hope:

• to create awareness of the high incidence of child abuse in our communities
• to make the community, all parents, child educators and carers aware of child abuse that may be taking place in their own environments.
• to encourage them to familiarise themselves with the signs of abuse and the steps they should take in those circumstances, where to go to report the crime and where to go for help.

Abused children need our love, care and support.
We, as a nation, need to unite behind them to
SAY NO TO CHILD ABUSE
SAY YES TO CHILD PROTECTION!

Thank you Welgemoed Community!

On Friday, 22 May 2009, MAB WC received a request from Delft Child Protection Unit to assist with securing food and clothing for four children who were removed from a dangerous situation. These children had no clothing and the place of safety not enough food to feed them. An email was sent out to a small group of indivuduals in the Welgemoed Community and within hours, bags of food and clothing were delivered to our office.
We would like to thank all these individuals for caring and making a difference where it is most needed!

Child Protection Week – Art Workshop for Child Protectors

CREATIVE COPS!!!

MAB Gauteng kicked off Child Protection Week by hosting a relaxing art workshop for nine senior members of the Child Protection Units and community sponsors. Although the aim of the workshop was to enhance creative thinking, this breakaway session also motivated and inspired the members.
We would like to thank the sponsors of the day – Alice Art Gallery, The Green Bean Roastery, President Hyper.

Do men care about rape?

It has been a week since we have posted the interview with the mother of the baby who was raped. Many people were told about this video. Our statistics however show that only women subscribers have watched this interview. That brings us to a really serious question. (The same question Charlize Theron asked in a TV campaign many years ago, and got many men highly upset!). Do men care about women and children getting raped? One would think so, especially seeing that in most of the cases the perpetrator is male. Even more the alamring fact that in 80% of cases the rapist is known to the victim. We have decided to run a poll to get your views on this issue.

So share your views by taking part in our poll at the bottom of this blogspot.

To view the interview, click on the link in the right hand column.

Delft Baby Rape

A 16 month baby was raped recently. A mother tells her story....

To watch this video, click on the link list.

Welcome

We would like to welcome Lerato to the Matla a Bana staff!
Lerato will be assisting Ingrid and you will see (and hear!) a lot of her in the future..

GAUTENG INCENTIVE AWARDS

Photo : Commissioner Taioe, Kotie Geldenhuys and Lizel Van Eeden

MAB would like to congratulate the MAB Gauteng Incentive winners April - Nov 2009). These are the SAPS FCS members who has gone beyond duty to help our children.

Top FCS members:

Constable Langa (1st) , Inspector Manthata (2nd), Constable Molapo (3rd)

Outstanding Achievement Award:

Inspector Motloutsi. Sergeant Nkosi

Best Station Commissioner:

Commissioner Maphanga (Moroka)

Best FCS Commander:

Captain Pillay (Vereening)

Best FCS Unit:

Vereeniging FCS
Special Recognition award :

Ms Kotie Geldenhuys (Servamus magazine) and Gert Jonker (Bethany House Trust)

Thank you to all our sponsors for your continued support (read more about this in our newsletter coming out soon!

Expert training - Paarl doctors

During April, MAB hosted a specialised training program for doctors in the Paarl on the forensic medical examination of rape and abuse victims. The need for this training was identified by MAB and was made possible with the assistance of Dr Jacobus Louw (Paarl Hospital - Head Casualty Department).

As with the police, the doctors working in the casualty departments, are exposed to severe trauma, especially with child rape and abuse cases. It is often expected from them to establish a relationship with a child, gain the trust of that child and do a extremely traumatic medical examination of the rape victim – all of this within ten minutes. It is therefore essential that they need to be aware of what they are looking for, how to identify sexual abuse wounds and ensure minimum trauma to the child. The casualty unit at Paarl Hospital sees up to 13 rape cases on a weekend and this training will have a massive impact on the community.
Included in this group was also senior members of the SAPS FCS Units from Cape Town and a representative of Miqlat. The course was presented by one of South Africa’s top forensic experts, Dr Tromp Els, as well as Adv Mark Kenny, National Prosecuting Authority) who assisted with the legal aspects of reporting crimes.
Looking forward, MAB hopes to assists with establishing a one-stop centre close to Paarl Hospital, which will include private waiting areas, dedicated medical staff to conduct examinations and follow-ups, and facilities for the Child Protection Unit and NPA. The aim is to include many of the local role players, like the NPA, SAPS and other NGO’s.

We would like to thank the following sponsors for making this possible:

Lorraine Fieuw Interiors

Thank you - Mr Price!

MAB would like to thank Mr Price Home stores in Canal Walk, Cape Gate & Northcliff for the donation of many goods that will be used at the child-friendly facilities.