2009-07-01 - ABB South Africa has invested in a Starfish community project in the Western Cape to support 140 children orphaned or made vulnerable through HIV/AIDS.
Etafeni Day Centre Trust, a community-based organisation (CBO) that provides comprehensive support for the AIDS-vulnerable children and their caregivers in Nyanga, will receive R120 000 from ABB in 2009 for this project.
"ABB's contribution will help the children tremendously and, most importantly, will give hope and opportunity to the youth and their caregivers," says Andre Van Riensburg, CEO of Starfish. “It is in taking hands and reaching out that we can touch people and make a lasting difference.”
Starfish works with the Etafeni Trust as it provides wide-ranging services to orphaned and vulnerable children and has strong networks within the community and local and provincial government.
HIV prevalence stands at about 29% in Nyanga where unemployment is high and close to 70%.
Chesney Bradshaw, sustainability manager of ABB South Africa, said the contribution to the Etafeni Trust complements the company's corporate social investment reach to communities throughout South Africa to support youth development.
“We believe it is important to support community projects where the company has operations. Through Starfish we can assist in alleviating the impact of HIV/AIDS and contribute to youth development among the vulnerable and needy communities."
This project is one among several that ABB supports throughout the country to care for orphans of HIV/AIDS.
STARFISH
The Starfish Greathearts Foundation is a non profit organisation that strives to bring “life, hope and opportunity” to the children of South Africa that have been orphaned or made vulnerable through the HIV/AIDS pandemic the country faces. Starfish, formed in response to this unfolding tragedy, partners with community-based organizations empowering them to provide care by ensuring that the physical, educational and psychosocial needs are met. Starfish is currently supporting 120 community based organisations, in 9 provinces across South Africa, reaching out to over approximately 36,000 children. However, South Africa has more than 1,000 children that are being orphaned daily with a current estimate of 1 million children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS. This will increase to approximately 2 million by 2010 and in Africa, to over 40 million.
Fact box:
The Etafeni Centre offers the following services:
Preschool and infant care for OVCs from birth to age 6
Afterschool care and a holiday programme for OVCs from ages 6 to 18
Special groups of older OVCs in the afternoons and school holidays
Fit for Life, Fit for Work programme to find young people work and keep them from becoming infected
Income Generation programme for HIV+ mothers and grannies
Music therapy for centre’s clients, children and adults
Social worker and community development worker: counselling, access to social grants, recruitment, training and support for foster parents
Community Caregiver programme: home visits, food parcels, referrals to centre
Dietician: assessments, food supplements, education around nutrition, community food gardens
Food Garden: provision of fresh organic produce
Counsellor programme: health education, counselling and support groups
Mobile VCT and TB-screening programme
Assistance with replication of the model of a community-built, community-staffed community day care centre for AIDS-affected and vulnerable children and their caregivers
For further information:
Starfish Greathearts Foundation
Karen Loxton
Tel: +27 259 4031
sainfo@starfishcharity.org
ABB South Africa
Chesney Bradshaw
Tel: +27 11 236 7578
Fax: +27 11 236 7579
chesney.bradshaw@za.abb.com