To: Cheryl and friends of BWA.

We, the management, staff volunteers and residents of USAA, wish to thank you all for your contribution towards our needs.

Our members and survivors are grateful and humbled at the concern and kindnesses displayed by all of you.  We are an organization who render a service by providing accommodation to abused women and children.

Your contribution certainly contributes to our ability to render these services to our survivors. You are most welcome to visit our organization at anytime.
As requested, please find below the way the money was spent. 

Thank you once again for your contribution towards our needs.

If you need any further information feel free to contact Magrieta or Howa Jaffer on 084 218 9407 at any time, or feel free to visit the office.
Best regards

Magrieta Ruiters.
(Centre Manager)

R2000.00 Dining room table chairs
R1500.00 Blinds for three windows
R3000.00 Christmas food for 6 women & 9 children
R1000.00 Maintenance of all breakage in and outside the building

The BWA Cape Town Branch assists a local charity, as listed below.

If you would like to find out more or contribute to our branch's efforts, please contact ct@bwasa.co.za.

Mama Afrika Ithemba

What they do:

They have been trained by FAMSA and they deal with domestic violence and abuse in their community. They also assist the sick and run a soup kitchen on Tuesdays. They partner with other groups in their area and are planning to build on a plot of land ? this will be a ?place of safety? / community center / church. They work with different groups in New Crossroads, Newrest, Pollsmoor, and Kuils River, working with children from all those areas (about 200 in total).

• They train and develop the community and help in motivating victims affected by violence, doing outreach, offering pastoral counseling to young and old.
• Prison outreach through restorative pastoral counseling (at Pollsmoor)
• Offer mediation between parents and children
• They have helped created jobs for more than 100 young and old to transform their lives
• Empower ex-prisoners with economic skills e.g. sewing, beading and pottery
• Offered spiritual upliftment to ex-convicts that have been involved in violent crimes

Interests

• Business Skills (they sell the things they make)
• Women's Leadership
• They are a service provider ? they train women from the community in the following: Baking, Sewing, Beading and art (e.g. fabric painting)
• They run a soup kitchen
• They provide counseling to the community relating to crime, HIV/AIDS and abuse.

Their biggest needs:
They have a plot of land where they hope to build a community center / church. The aim of this center is to be used for skills training and counseling for the community and a place for rehabilitation of ex-prisoners. They also work with people living with HIV/AIDS and offer support and counseling to them.

As mentioned Mama Afrika Ithemba does a lot of outreach in their surrounding communities and prison. Without transportation this is an obstacle. They are therefore in need of a car to facilitate this.

They also teach women to bake and sew and so their other big needs are an oven and more sewing machines (10 if possible). The oven would also be a big help for the soup kitchen.

Mama Afrika Ithemba not only teaches these women a skill (how to bake or sew etc) but they also learn how to become more self-sufficient by selling what they make.

The Wish List

General Needs:

• Toys
• Clothing
• Blankets
• Shoes
• Food
• Computers
• Toiletries
• Bottles
• Nappies

Soup kitchen:

• Anything that can be used for cooking and serving
• Pots
• Gas stove
• Plates/bowls
• Serving spoons

Baking:

• Oven
• Any baking items e.g. measuring cups/spoons, bowls, wooden spoons etc

Sewing:

• Material
• Fabric paints and brushes
• Rails for when they sell their clothing
• Zips, buttons etc

Grandmothers Against Poverty & AIDS

GAPA NPO number 019-642

GAPA is a non profit organisation that:

• Offers educational workshops about AIDS and related problems in geographical areas where grandmothers are affected by the disease
• Offers skills training in order to alleviate poverty
• Offers business skills training
• Facilitates the formation of small businesses
• Has an ever expanding volunteer workforce of trained grandmothers who counter stigmatisation and isolation of affected families in areas where they live

The gifts that the children received for Christmas were donated by BWA Members & Guests, Pegasus Toys & Alcolin Permoseal.

A huge thank you to all those who contributed to this magical day!

GAPA is for grandmothers whose families or communities are affected by HIV/AIDS and are suffering from the effects of poverty.

The organisation is managed by a volunteer committee of grandmothers, a social worker and an occupational therapist.

Workshops are facilitated by local experts from NGO's active in the area where grandmothers live. The language of instruction is Xhosa. The content of the workshops is thus relevant to the lives of the participants.

A group of three grandmothers are available to run workshops at seniors' clubs and other organisations for older people about coping with all aspects of HIV/AIDS.

Support groups of five to a maximum of nine people are run by trained grandmothers in their homes once a week. The groups use the medium of handicraft to initiate interpersonal relationships and also assist members to make a little money for themselves through selling manufactured goods. The group leader educates the members about HIV/AIDS. They pray together and offer peer counselling.

GAPA has erected a trading store in Mandela Park, Khayelitsha, which is run by one of the grandmothers. This provides an outlet for manufactured goods, second hand clothes and a tourist destination. The shop sells goods made by the grandmothers for 10% commission. The shop is a valuable networking centre.

GAPA has been allocated a piece of land in J section, Khayelitsha and is now awaiting approval of the relevant authorities so that work can commence on the building of an office and hall from which to further expand the activities of GAPA. 

GAPA values the support of other organisations such as the ARP&P , service clubs and church groups in the acquisition of materials, clothing and equipment for grandmothers who do handwork.
In order to grow and reach more grandmothers who are affected by poverty and AIDS, GAPA needs continued support from the public for resources and cash donations. Cash is needed for transport, meals at workshops, reimbursement of workshop facilitators, running costs of the shop and administration. 

Cheques should be made out to GAPA or deposited in our savings account:

Acc. No.: 40 555 455 38
Bank: ABSA
Branch: Mitchells Plain

or sent to

GAPA
43 Alma Road
Rosebank
7700

Thank you for your kind assistance.

HISTORY of Grandmothers Against Poverty & AIDS

A study was conducted by the Institute of Ageing in Africa, University of Cape Town, between 1999 to 2001 in four townships on the Cape Flats (Guguletu, Nyanga, Crossroads and Khayelitsha) to understand the situation of older women who lived in households that were affected by HIV/AIDS. The main findings were that the older women all suffered from chronic poverty which was made worse by the presence of a sick person in the house. Furthermore the stigma associated with having a person infected by HIV in a household led to isolation and exclusion from community support systems of the older person.

As part of the intervention phase of the study, in accordance with the findings, a series of workshops and support groups were held from July 2001 to October 2001. At the conclusion of the workshop series a group of concerned grandmothers pushed for the continuation and spread of the work which they perceived to have been of immense value. To this end a committee was formed and the way forward of an independent body was mapped out. 

In January 2002, a constitution was drawn up and GAPA applied for registration as a non profit organisation. Registration was received and application for funding was made to the Department of Social Services. Funding for activities was received from the private sector in response to publicity talks at seniors' organisations and churches. Some funding was received from the government in January 2003.

Eighty six grandmothers over the three months were reached during the initial workshop series. A further thirty at the second series and at the third workshop held for one week in October 2002 a daily attendance of 76 older persons was recorded.

There were seven weekly groups held in seven different areas of Khayelitsha in 2002. This number has increased to ten in February 2003. There is one handicraft group held in one of the seniors clubs. A support group for all the home trainers is held weekly. Two seniors clubs, in 2003, have had workshops run by the group of three trainers. 

Expansion continues almost weekly!