Bringing joy on Mandela Day
FUN and games will be the order of the day on Friday when POST will host its pre-Mandela Day festivities with the children of the Aryan Benevolent Home (ABH) in Chatsworth.
Clowns will keep the kiddies entertained with tricks, balloon animals, face painting and pony rides.
After a lunch-time braai, the children will be treated to cakes, and sweet hampers will be dished out.
This initiative has been made possible through our generous sponsors – B Nagiahs, The Baking Pan, Charles Electrical, the South African Hindu Maha Sabha, and the First National Bank KZN Volunteers Programme.
The ABH, which has become a beacon of light in the community, provides a safe haven for children who have been abused, abandoned or neglected.
It currently has about 90 children, aged between 2 to 21 living at the seven cottages on the property.
Each cottage has a childcare worker and an assistant who provide a nurturing environment.
After visiting the children’s homes recently, POST decided urgent repairs and refurbishing were needed to improve the children’s living conditions.
The homes, which have the basic necessities, are in a state of disrepair.
The toilets and bathrooms need renovation. The roofs need replacing. The walls need to be painted and the furniture replaced or upholstered.
POST readers and advertisers have opened their hearts and in the process we have managed to raise a whopping R65 000, which will be used to improve facilities.
Editor Yogas Nair said: “A big thank you to our sponsors, who have donated generously to our Mandela Day initiative. I am sure it will go a long way in brightening the lives of these children.”
Charles Naidoo of Charles Electrical said he wanted to become part of the initiative as this was his seva (service to mankind).
“Mandela stood for uplifting the lives of others and serving humanity and I want to play my part.”
Resh Naidoo of The Baking Pan said that by helping others, it kept Madiba’s spirit alive.
Taschmica Sharma, the youth co-ordinator at the SAHMS, said: “By celebrating the life of Nelson Mandela, we remind ourselves that we can co-operatively overcome our trials and tribulations hand-in-hand, not just as South Africans but as the world.”
Prega Govender of the FNB KZN Volunteers Programme said they wanted to play their part to uphold Mandela’s legacy.