"Not quite 5 km fundraising run/walk for Simangele"

April 22/07

SASsy presented the "Not quite 5 km fundraising run/walk for Simangele" on Sunday April 22nd, 10:00am-12:00pm.

The goal of the run was to support Simangele, a patient advocate at TB Care, a well-established grassroots charity in Cape Town, South Africa. As a patient advocate, Simangele gives one-on-one support to HIV patients on anti-retroviral drugs and works closely with medical staff at the clinic. Her dream is to become a social worker, which will make her an even stronger advocate for the children and families in her community who are affected by TB and HIV. The total cost of her training and transportion costs is R5000 (~$900CAN). Simangele already had partial sponsorship for her course, and the run was planned to raise the remaining $500CAN she needed.

In fact, we managed to raise $1,105 for Simangele and TB Care!!! Thanks to everyone who supported the run, enjoyed one of the zillion muffins and made a donation.

Further information on TB CARE ASSOCIATION:

TB Care Association was founded in 1929 and is the only fully functional TB organisation in Cape Town. We operate throughout the City of Cape Town and provide the following programmes and projects:

· Health Promotion – TB and HIV awareness programmes in the community, at schools and workplaces.

· Community based Anti-retroviral treatment Support – providing support and promoting adherence to HIV patients on treatment.

· Community based TB Care makes TB treatment accessible to patients on the street where they live.

· Workplace TB Care provides support for patients choosing to take their treatment at work and offers health information sessions on TB and HIV for employees.

· Rehabilitation – counselling and support groups for TB patients.

· Early Childhood Development – Brooklyn Chest Hospital – providing educare support for the 50 children admitted to the hospital and creating the link between the community and the hospital.

· TB Administrative Support – 40 unemployed youth trained to assist with administrative tasks at health facilities to provide them with workplace skills to improve their chances of meaningful employment.


Our programmes provide regular monthly stipends ranging from R100 to R1500 per month and ongoing training and support to about 650 people in the community.

Feminist/Women's Movement

May May 16/07 meeting at Colleen's

In attendance: Colleen, Katherine, Lisa, Alison, Clemence, and Kirsty.

Discussion:
We talked about the ways that women’s issues have changed in the last 3 ½ decades, the social changes that have been accomplished, and what has recently happened – both in 2001 with major provincial cuts, and recently with federal cuts to Status of Women. On both levels the cuts have meant that there are no operating funds available to women’s organizations, and all that remains funded are piece-meal programs and services (i.e. violence programs, victim assistance, etc) that put the women running them in a constant state of re-applying for funds because they’re all contract and need to be renewed annually or bi-annually. The SWC cuts mean that there is no longer any capacity for acting as the government watch-dog vis-à-vis gender issues. All that remains funded are some of the direct programs that were in place. On both levels the cuts were rationalized because of “inefficiencies” and infighting in the women’s movement.

At this meeting we discussed how policy is made, how change happens in the government, and Alison had a lot to share from her own experiences about having ongoing conversations around a particular topic to the point that someone (who exactly?) decides that something needs to be done, and then the wheels are set in motion. We thought it may be interesting to devote a full meeting to this very topic.

Action: letter.

Food Security

Jan 30/07 meeting at Rika's

Topic: Food Security

Discussion: Local and international issues around food production and the right to food. Locally, the concern is many are living in poverty and do not have the funds for food despite our social security net. Meanwhile there is much wasted food as well as land that could be used for growing food. Organizations that address these issues include Quest and Loving Spoonful.

Actions: Volunteer for few hours at Quest or donate to Loving Spoonful.