Speaker 1: A reminder once again that it's Mandela Day next Friday,
Speaker 1: the eighteenth of July, and we're continuing with our interviews,
Speaker 1: just highlighting projects that you might want to consider if
Speaker 1: you are still looking for a way to offer your
Speaker 1: sixty seven minutes of service. Today we focus on an
Speaker 1: initiative to raise awareness and funds to help change the
Speaker 1: lives of the elderly living in township environments. We've spoken
Speaker 1: before to both Ikamva Labantu and to Relate Bracelets and
Speaker 1: they've joined forces to organize an event where participants will
Speaker 1: join a group of Gorgo's to breed bead bracelets and
Speaker 1: at the same time have an opportunity to share their stories,
Speaker 1: to share their memories of Nelson Mandela and to have
Speaker 1: a different kind of experience of one another. With me
Speaker 1: on the line is Ikumba's head of Programs, Barbara Stemmett.
Speaker 1: It's wonderful to have you with us again. Barbara, Welcome,
Speaker 1: Hi Papa.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me on your show.
Speaker 1: It's a pleasure. You're using Mandela Day to really try
Speaker 1: and highlight the struggles that elders go through and that
Speaker 1: are often overlooked. Barbara, maybe let's start there just give
Speaker 1: us a brief reminder of some of the major challenges.
Speaker 2: So with our older people, they experience so much abuse
Speaker 2: within the communities, which is this arrange from physical, emotional, sexual,
Speaker 2: financial abuse. And at the cumber Labuntu we offer them
Speaker 2: services through a club based model and through frail Home
Speaker 2: the home based care. At our club based model, we
Speaker 2: have them coming in five days a week where we
Speaker 2: transport them to and from the club. We provide them
Speaker 2: with nutritious meals. We also give them a range of
Speaker 2: activities and access to health care and psychosocial support. So
Speaker 2: in saying that, we also conducted a bit of research
Speaker 2: last year around older abuse and that highlighted a range
Speaker 2: of abuse. And this Mandeli Day initiative has a two
Speaker 2: fold approach. It is to create awareness raise awareness around
Speaker 2: the challenges older people experience, especially within the home environment.
Speaker 2: Financial abuse is a huge challenge for them. Many of
Speaker 2: them have to take care of their children their grandkids
Speaker 2: due to the high unemployment rates. And then also many
Speaker 2: of our older people actually now have parental roles and
Speaker 2: responsibilities where their children have left their kids in their care.
Speaker 2: So besides creating awareness of the difficulties that older people
Speaker 2: are experiencing. We also want to use this event to
Speaker 2: raise further funding so that we can support and service
Speaker 2: the older people.
Speaker 1: Okay, so absolutely essential work with our question Barbara, tell
Speaker 1: us more about the events and how people can get involved.
Speaker 2: So on the eighteenth of July, we have various corporates
Speaker 2: that have book time slots for sixty seven minutes to
Speaker 2: come indeed with our goggles and do the course bracelets,
Speaker 2: they can have chats with them. Unfortunately that event has
Speaker 2: been fully booked, but you can still assist that if
Speaker 2: you have not pledged your sixty seven minutes for Mandela
Speaker 2: Day through either donating non cherishable items and it can
Speaker 2: be delivered to our woodstock offers. To get to arrange
Speaker 2: a drop of time and to get the address, you
Speaker 2: can contact two one four six one eight double three
Speaker 2: eight and then we can arrange a time with you.
Speaker 2: And if you can't do that and you're more interested
Speaker 2: in actually donating you're giving us a cash donation, you
Speaker 2: can go to our website which is www dot ECAMVA,
Speaker 2: which is I K A M for Mary, B for bars,
Speaker 2: A for Apple, dot org, dot ZEDA, and then you
Speaker 2: can do a financial contribution there and I just.
Speaker 1: Want to mention that my colleague Tracy Langa from KFM
Speaker 1: is going to be broadcasting live from the event next Friday,
Speaker 1: and she has personally put out a plea to please
Speaker 1: consider bringing along some gently worn beanies or new ones
Speaker 1: of course always welcome, as well as blankets and scarves
Speaker 1: such a cold, wet winter. Barbara, I would imagine that
Speaker 1: the need for those is bigger than.
Speaker 2: Ever, one hundred percent. We would really appreciate that, especially
Speaker 2: with older people living within the shack community, their places
Speaker 2: are flooded with the range and it's extremely cold. We'd
Speaker 2: really appreciate that.
Speaker 1: Okay, So, Barbara, cash donations welcome, donations of non perishable
Speaker 1: items to be dropped off at the Woodstock head office,
Speaker 1: or if you're able to, please consider supporting traces appeal
Speaker 1: for those warm winter woollies to make a difference. Barbara,
Speaker 1: this is a day where we ask particularly for people
Speaker 1: to help. But let's just finish by talking about ways
Speaker 1: of being a longer term helper and supporting this work,
Speaker 1: because from what you've said, the scale of the problem
Speaker 1: is huge. That means the need expands well beyond Mandela
Speaker 1: Day itself. How do cape talk listeners support this work
Speaker 1: on a longer term, so you.
Speaker 2: Could go to our website and like I said, make
Speaker 2: a financial donation because we serve older people, but we
Speaker 2: also work within the field of early child development. We
Speaker 2: work with childish and parenting as well, so there might
Speaker 2: be another area that you're interested in for your long
Speaker 2: term support. You could also arrange you would like to
Speaker 2: come out and do some scie visits with us. We
Speaker 2: can actually show you the work that we're doing and
Speaker 2: then that take it from then you can decide really
Speaker 2: something that you want to align yourself with. This is
Speaker 2: a particular area.
Speaker 1: Barbara Stemmett, thank you so much for your time this afternoon,
Speaker 1: and we hope that you have a very very fruitful
Speaker 1: Mandela Day event with lots and lots of support from
Speaker 1: the public as well as those corporates who've already pledged
Speaker 1: their space. How wonderful to hear that the event is
Speaker 1: already fully booked. That's fantastic. If you'd like to know
Speaker 1: more about their work, that website again is Kumva dot
Speaker 1: org dot Seda spelled ika Mva Kumva dot org dot zeda.
Speaker 1: There is a click through to their Undela Day page
Speaker 1: when you land on that landing site. The number to
Speaker 1: dial if you'd like to organize a dropoff of donations
Speaker 1: of non perishable goods or of some winter woollies. Two
Speaker 1: one four six one eight double three eight. That's two
Speaker 1: one four six one eight double three eight. If you're
Speaker 1: in the car and couldn't drop down those details, If
Speaker 1: you're welcome to send me an email when you're next
Speaker 1: at your computer, pipa h at Cape talk dot co
Speaker 1: dotz A, and I'll gladly pass on those details.