Jikeleza Reports 2013

We are planning to write more regular reports of project activity and news on our Greater Good South Africa portal.  We also publish them here and in briefer form on Facebook and link them into our Twitter account @jikelezadance.

Winter rains and fierce winds are starting to sweep through the Cape: Hangberg township at Hout Bay
Winter rains and fierce winds are starting to sweep through the Cape: Hangberg township at Hout Bay

The Social Media Fundraising Campaign June 6th 2013

We launched the social media funding campaign yesterday and by midnight UK time we had raised over R9,000 from domestic and international donors.

This is a fantastic response and we will be continuing our campaign over the next week.  Every Rand makes a difference in these difficult times as we search out new partners.

 

Individual giving is also particularly important for the project. It gives staff and the children and young people a real lift to know that people  across the world care about what is happening in their communities.

 

The winter rains are starting to arrive in the Cape with the fierce south-easterly 'Cape Doctor' winds. Its not much fun living in a shack at the best of times. But the rains bring frequent flooding and the winds increase the ever-present threat of devastating township fires as local people heat their shacks with paraffin stoves.

 

(See this link for the terrible fire at Kayamandi that killed two people and left 2,500 homeless in March 2013.)

 

Jikeleza met with the Ministry of Social Development for the Western Cape yesterday.  They are launching their new Youth Strategy and are interested to partner with NPOs working with young people. This looks to be a potentially fruitful are of development and we will be looking into it this week.

 

We are also working on an application to the new Motsepe Foundation who have responded positively to our initial enquiries and invited us to submit a full application.

 

To all those who have given, are thinking of giving and have taken an interest in the project we say a huge thank you. Come back and watch us progress.

 

PS: We have had five 'retweets' in the last 24 hours for our message:

 

Jikeleza Dance ZA in Hout Bay townships starts direct fundraising appeal today. Click link to access

 

A big thank you to the retweeters!