Some steps forward for Hamburg Artist Retreat

On the 8th of March, Aspire organized a fun day for the families of Hamburg community together with volunteers from the Keiskamma Trust.

From Aspire blog:

Hamburg’s ‘old’ community hall was all hustle and bustle on a beautiful Saturday morning. Hordes of children gathered to tackle a treasure hunt that would lead them around the small town. 10 groups were sent on their way to master 6 stations that would lead them to the finish line.

Each station requested the kids to complete a task before revealing the answer to one of the 6 Artists Retreat questions. The final station was back at the hall were each child left their foot print on a tile.

As a reward for the hard work and the successful mastering of the Artists Retreat treasure hunt, every participant received a T-shirt.

The Keiskamma Music Academy kids blessed us with their talent, and the Hamburg Capoeira group performed before everyone dug into a well deserved meal.

Now as you can see the Children of Hamburg have left their footprints…

Now come and leave yours !!!

Visit Aspire blog:

http://www.artistsretreat.co.za/blog

Season's Greetings

Warm wishes from all of us at the Keiskamma Trust during this Christmas season, and many thanks to you, our friends and supporters for your ongoing generosity and partnership during the past year.


We are pleased to announce that it is now easier to donate directly to the Trust than ever before!

Please visit our webpage at http://www.keiskamma.org/ click on “donate/help out” at the top of the page, or follow this link.

Donations are made via GivenGain, a non-profit organization that we are registered with, that connects causes and donors worldwide.Through them it is possible to set up monthly giving and to direct your donation to any of our programmes -Health, Art, Music or Education- and all funds are donated directly into our account each month.




Thank you for helping us continue to promote healthy and hope-filled communities in the Eastern Cape.

With best wishes for 2012 from the Keiskamma Trust Management Team.

Photographs: wire and bead Christmas stars and candle holders by Thobisa Nkani (Keiskamma Art Project - Ref WIRE011 - R29 and WIRE012 R49) - available in our shop in Hamburg and by special order at enquiries@keiskamma.org

Discover our new catalogue on the right side bar of this blog.

Carol Hofmeyr Wins Prestigious Award from University of Johannesburg

The University of Johannesburg (UJ) recognises, on an annual basis, alumni who excel in their respective fields. This year was no exception.
The University honoured two successful alumni, with the UJ Alumni Dignitas Awards on Friday, 25 November 2011.

At the same event, the Council of the University honoured four recipients with the Ellen Kuzwayo Award, for their outstanding contribution to the higher education sector.

The Ellen Kuzwayo Council Award recognises outstanding contributions beyond the confines of teaching and research by individuals over an extended period of time, to promote the well-being of the higher education sector, as well as the well-being of society in respect of matters in which the University has a particular interest.

Ellen Kuzwayo Council Awards

From left to right : Prof Roy Marcus: Chairperson of Council, University of Johannesburg, Ms Sibongile (Bongi) Mkhabela (recipient) , Dr Duduzile Rosemary Mkhize (recipient), Mr Thomas Louw De Beer(recipient), Prof Ihron Rensburg: Vice-Chancellor and Principal, University of Johannesburg and Dr Carol Hofmeyr (recipient).

Dr Hofmeyr combines the skills of two very different genres in order to empower and enrich hundreds of people's lives in South Africa's Eastern Cape.

In 2000, she, as a medical doctor and a profoundly talented artist, initiated the Keiskamma Art Project with the aim of alleviating poverty and promoting self-esteem through art and creativity in this rural community.

While engaged in this project, she became intensely aware of the huge problem of HIV/AIDS in the area and of the many people dying without a diagnosis or any form of medical care.

Although she had been out of clinical practice for many years, she went back to work as a primary care medical officer in the Peddie South District clinics. Because people were either too ill or too poor to access the health system, she established a residential HIV programme in Hamburg on the Keiskamma estuary, by converting an old house into an AIDS treatment facility, which she named the Umtha Welanga (Rays of the Sun) Centre.

Dr Hofmeyr went on to train a team of over 30 village health workers to cover the entire area with support and advice on HIV/AIDS. She introduced antiretroviral therapy, initially using her own limited funds, and has established a model programme for the prevention, treatment, palliation and care of people with HIV/AIDS.

The Keiskamma Trust has been highly successful. The Trust believes that the battle against HIV/AIDS in rural South Africa cannot be won by medical intervention alone. The Keiskamma Trust exists to foster hope and health as well as pride and self-respect among the people living by the Keiskamma River, a desperately poor area of the Eastern Cape. By combining AIDS treatment, art projects such as the Keiskamma Altarpiece and the Keiskamma Tapestry and education initiatives, the Trust has been able to take the fight against Poverty and HIV/AIDS to the very heart of the community.

My School - My Village - My Planet

Good news!

The Keiskamma Trust has just been provisionally accepted as a Woolworths/MyVillage partner.

For those of you in South Africa, this means each time you shop at Woolworths (and other shops) , you will have a chance to swipe your MyVillage card to support the programmes of the Keiskamma Trust.

More info on how this works below.

(If you do not live in South Africa, please send this on to contacts you have in SA who would be willing to support us in this way).

Before we can issue MyVillage cards to our supporters we need to manually sign up 1000 supporters.

This is where we need YOUR help.

Please download the application form here:

MySchool_MyVillage_MyPlanet_Application_Form_May2011.pdf

or find the link on our website: http://www.keiskamma.org/

Make the beneficiary Keiskamma Trust, address :
PO BOX 483, Peddie, Eastern Cape, 5640

At this preliminary stage we are not registered on the MyVillage site so our supporters cannot apply on-line.

Until we have 1000 supporters we have to use snail mail!

Please do not fax your form to the number listed on the form.We have to gather all 1000 hard copies and deliver them to the MyVillage at one time, with the signed contract.

Please mail your form marked : KEISKAMMA / My Village c/o PO BOX 91095 Auckland Park, Johannesburg, 2006

If you have friends and family who would like to support us in this way please forward this mail to them! We will let you know as soon as we have reached our target of 1000 !

Thank you for your support from all of us at the Keiskamma Trust

(questions? let me know at annette@keiskamma.org)

More info from MySchool website:

What is MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet?

The MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet fundraising programme is South Africa’s number one community support programme that raises essential funds for schools, charities and environmental organisations. Funds are used to improve education and social development in South Africa. You can make a difference to a worthy cause without costing you a cent!The MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet programme raises more than R2.2 million per month for the schools, charities and environmental organisations it supports. Help us to help the community.

How does MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet work?

More than 600 000 community minded South Africans carry MySchool cards. Supporters apply for a MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet card for free and nominate their favourite school or charity as the beneficiary. When they purchase items from participating retailers they swipe the card with the purchase. A small percentage of their transaction is then allocated to their beneficiary school or charity. All these transactions are recorded and a statement is sent to individual supporters on a monthly basis. The partner stores pay the donation on your behalf!The supporter card is not a credit or debit card but simply tracks your transactions and your funds raised.MyVillage beneficiaries: charities that provide upliftment to communities and individuals in various ways other than the education school environment, such as SOS Children’s Villages, CHOC, Noah and National Hospice. These villages actively seek to improve the lives of our fellow men, women and children.

Where can I swipe my MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet card?

The success of the programme depends on the number of times you swipe your card! Supporters can use their cards at a range of national, regional and local retail partners on the MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet system. Some of the national partners include Woolworths, Engen QuickShops, Waltons, SupaQuick, kalahari.com, Jack’s Paint, Toys R Us, Reggie’s, Altech Netstar, Club Travel, MySchool Travel, Toner Town and many more.

Benefits of being a cardholder

You can raise funds for your favourite school or charity without costing you a centIt is so convenient using one card at many different stores. There are over 11 national partners and over 2000 partner stores where you can use your card across the country.Cardholders get exclusive discounts and special offers. For example, you are automatically part of WRewards from Woolworths (which includes 10% or more off on over 200 items in their stores and other tiered benefits), you get R40 off every GetAhead or MathPro educational software item that you buy, and you get exclusive discounts on vehicle recovery from Altech Netstar.You will receive a monthly email statement showing exactly how much your beneficiary has raised.

Support options

Once you have received your supporter card, you can manage and change your support as follows:

- Support your chosen beneficiary school or charity

- Change your support to another beneficiary or

- Split your support between two or three beneficiaries.

Partnership with the Sustainable Seas Trust by Mike Vilimek and Julie Cook

When I first embarked on my internship as a Marine Biologist in South Africa with the NGO the Sustainable Seas Trust, I was hoping to find a magical piece of paradise by the coast where I could work and be surrounded by amazing people. I finally found my paradise when I landed in Hamburg, and encountered those amazing people as I met the community members and those wonderful folks working with the Keiskamma Trust. Though working for an environmental conservation organization and not directly with the Trust, another Canadian colleague (Julie Cook) and I were immediately accepted with open arms by the Trust, which is truly integrated and involved in every part of the community, from health to education and art, and even to my NGO’s domain, the natural environment and its conservation. My role whilst in Hamburg was to try and assess the utilization and dependence upon the shellfish resources by the community. During my stay, the Trust provided me with invaluable assistance and shared freely in their experiences and knowledge of the people and the region, accumulated over 10 years of working alongside community members and striving to uplift those in dire circumstances. We were also given the opportunity to share our knowledge and experiences, and one of my most cherished moments during my six months in South Africa was interacting with the children while we gave a presentation at the after-care program at the primary school in Hamburg, and seeing the pride in their eyes as they told me “Hamburg is beautiful!” and took pledges to keep it so in the future.

I was often amazed over the 2 months that I lived in Hamburg at how much was taking place within this little, hard-to-reach community, from current and future development of the town centre, to the wide-ranging and exciting initiatives that are currently run by the Trust. These things could only happen thanks to the passion and dedication of the members of the Keiskamma Trust. Another of my fondest memories of South Africa was participating in the Capoeira classes. I can remember being very intimidated at first by the intensity and high skill level of the capoeiristas, as they were clearly passionate about what they do, and felt even more intimidation after I learned that most of them have been doing it for nearly 10 years! But I could not have been more wrong, their kindness shining through once you looked beyond those tough-looking exteriors, and I could not have asked for better friends during my stay in Hamburg.

Given the positive nature of many in Hamburg and the beautiful surroundings, it is often easy to forget that many people in the town and the surrounding areas live with high unemployment, little income and face a whole host of other challenges on a daily basis. The Trust and its members work extremely hard to help to sustain the community, but they face a lot of challenges as well. Working for a NGO for six months, I learned that one can never have too many resources at your disposal, and often it’s a lack of resources that’s the rule rather than the exception, and many good projects suffer for that lack. I would encourage anyone reading this to lend a helping hand in any way they can, whether it is through donating time or resources to the Keiskamma Trust, or helping to spread news of the good work they do. The people there are truly exceptional and I witnessed first-hand the positive impacts of their programmes within the community. I plan to return to Hamburg when I am finished with my studies and I assure you that you would have the experience of a lifetime spending several months there!

Sincerely,

Michael Vilimek

(Intern for the Sustainable Seas Trust and Master of Science, Candidate at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada)

During her stay, Julie Cook (Community Education Officer) did the following Blog:

Mundo of Julie

Sustainable Seas Trust's website:
www.sst.org.za

Biking for a Bakkie

In April last year, 4 bicycle riders from Kidzpositive covered a distance of 1000 kilometres from Hamburg in the Eastern Cape Province, to the Children’s Ward at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town. They raised one hundred and fifty thousand rand (nearly $ 20 000) in support of the Keiskamma Trust and its projects.

This year the bikers will ride the Freedom Trail and we are enormously excited and hope to raise the profile of this event. The dates this year are April 21st through to May 2nd with stops in Cambria, Studits, Willowmore, Rondawel, Prince Albert, Gamkaskloof, Vleiland, Anysberg, Montagu, Bainskloof.

Check out the Freedom Challenge Project http://www.freedomchallenge.org.za/

The aim is to raise funds via sponsorships from individuals and corporations and to demonstrate the connections between Cape Town and Hamburg, a city and a rural health district and the challenges we share.
THIS YEAR WE HOPE TO RAISE FUNDS FOR A NEW VEHICLE FOR THE COMMUNITY HEALTH WORK PROGRAMME.

We are looking for individual sponsors, who will be able to follow the progress of their ‘champion’ or ‘champions’ via our blog and Facebook.

As well we will acknowledge donations from business and corporate organizations on our Web sites and through our blog and Facebook, as well as in the Kidzpositive and Keiskamma Newsletters.

PLEASE CONSIDER HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT
THIS EXCITING EVENT IN YOUR COMMUNITY.

2010 Christmas Activities - Photo Galleries

Children Christmas Party

Christmas Concert

Official opening of Ceramics Studio and Clothing shop

New Organic Garden at the Treatment Centre

Dear Friends and Supporters,

On behalf of all of us at the Keiskamma Trust in South Africa, greetings and thanks for your continued generosity and good-will for our community workin Hamburg, Bodium, Ntilini, Lover’s Twist, Mgabaga, and 40 more villages in the Peddie South District.

Hundreds of families, orphans, HIV infected and affected women and childrenhave benefited this year from our programmes and interventions and we wouldn’t have been able to do it without you.

While we have struggled to make ends meet at the end of this year— like many not-for-profit organizations around the world— we have much to be thankful for,and much to look forward to in the new year.

Some of the highlights of 2010 have been as follows: a newly expanded board of Trustees, the addition of an operations director, a re-vamped and re-trained team of village health workers, a major and highly acclaimed art exhibition at the National Arts festival, increased support of the Education and OVC (orphans and vulnerable children) programme so that almost 500 children are included, the spread of organic community gardens to Grandmother groups, access to health services for over a thousand people, and the transfer of nearly 200 patients on ARVs into the government system.

And coming up in the new year we look forward to : spreading our expertise in paediatric HIV prevention and treatment to public health clinics, nurses and doctors; a joint- exhibition between our artists and those from Botswana to celebrate indigenous plant life in the Eastern Cape; another Kidzpostive Bike Tour from Hamburg to CapeTown along the freedom Trail; and a new IT centre for the youth of Hamburg opening in mid-year. There will of course be much more: for those of you who have spent any time in Hamburg, you know there is always something exciting happening.

We will of course need your help and support, especially in the next few months as our financial year draws to a close and we begin budgeting and planning for our programmes for next year. We are grateful to the South African organizations that have partnered with us this year, as well as groups in Norway, the UK, USA and Canada. We are also happy to announce that we have a new partner in the USA that has approved our NGO for support: the American Fund for Charities will now accept donations from Americans and issue tax receipts for all funds raised. (http://www.americanfund.info/).

Warm wishes to all of you for the holiday season and for 2011 on behalf of the management and staff of the Keiskamma Trust,

Carol, Thabang and Annette,

Directors of the Keiskamma Trust

Recent Board of Trustees Meeting and Changes in Our Organization

Board News:

On Saturday the 17th of July we had our annual Board of Trustees Meeting with the entire board in attendance. We spent the day reviewing the year as well as approving the organizations budgets and new Trustees were added onto the Board. Alan Velcich has joined us, a very experienced NGO and non-profit auditor from Johannesburg, and Mpumi Fundam, one of the Programme Heads of the Eastern Cape Development Programme who has been associated to us via the art programme for many years. Thabang Meslane will also be joining us on the Board in his new capacity as Director—see below. We are grateful for their willingness to serve on our Board.

Mrs. Mei, one of the founding members of the board of Trustees, a local business woman, and a long-time advocate of the Trust’s work, has asked to be retired from the board and we thank her sincerely for her many years of support.

Remaining on the Board is John Kincaid, Paul Roux, Andrew Hofmeyr, Novuyani Peyi, Annette Woudstra and Carol Hofmeyr who was elected Chair.

Carol’s New Role:

At the board of Trustees meeting Carol announced that she would be stepping down as a Director of the Trust. Carol began her work in Hamburg 10 years ago and founded the Trust in 2005. Her work-load has been enormous as the driver and creative force behind all of the craft work and all the major artworks the art project has create-- most recently the Guernica-- as well as the sole doctor in huge rural area with many urgent and unrelenting health needs.

She will of course remain very involved in the art project, and our most valuable advisor in terms of our health programme. She is also Chair of the Board.

Carol is taking a 6 month break from her clinic work as well and then will re-evaluate her role after that time.

As a trust we would like to partner with the government to recruit another doctor to this area. We are also in the process of interviewing nurses to work both with our village health workers and in our hospice inpatient unit.

New Director:

Thabang Meslane has been asked to join Annette as a Director. He has been working in various capacities over the past year, and increasingly called on to be involved in day-to-day operations management as Annette has had to be away in Canada for half of the year. This process had begun several months ago when Thabang accepted the role as Operations Manager. He has been doing an excellent job and has agreed to co-direct with Annette. This will ensure continuity of leadership in her absences and further free Carol to pursue other interests.

Their roles and responsibilities are as follows:

Annette: Trust Director

Donor Liaison
Reporting and Fundraising
Programme Development
Financial Planning
Maintaining Vision/Mission of Trust
Communications

Thabang: Managing Director

Responsible for daily operations management
Implementation of budget
Human Resources Head
Policy and procedures implementation
Chair Trust Management Team meetings
Volunteers

April 2010 Fundraiser

Pedalling for Peddie: ‘One Thousand kilometres from Hamburg to Cape Town'

HIV and AIDS – We are all in it together...

On Friday 23rd of April 2010, we welcomed Kidzpositive’s Director and Dr Paul Roux and five members of the Kidzpositive team in Hamburg. We invited them to the Heritage Site where over a hundred community members had gathered to attend the launch of the Pedalling for Peddie fundraiser.

From the Kidzpositive Website:

'We are riding from Hamburg in the Eastern Cape Province to Cape Town to connect the needs of a rural service with the resources in a city and to symbolize a link between sister enterprises: The Keiskamma Trust and the Kidzpositive Fund’ Click here

to read more.

AIDS councillor Eunice Mangwane was the MC that evening. She scheduled a nice programme for the Kidzpositive team with the Traditional Dance Group, the Music Academy, the Capoeira group and the Gospel Choir.

At the end of the ceremony, the Art Project handed the fundraiser’s banner over the Paul Roux’s team: a 2m long tapestry designed by Nozeti Makhubalo depicting the road that the team was going to ride on from Hamburg to Cape Town.

After a well-deserved quiet Saturday, the Kidzpositive team departed from Hamburg on their bikes on Sunday 25th of April at 8am, supported by Keiskamma Trust’s Founding Director Carol Baker-Hofmeyr, and other members of the community.

Go to our Facebook Fan page to view the entire portfolio of the event!

We are so excited to have such strong supporters in the Kidzpositive Family fund and we wish them well for the journey ahead...