Wow! Look at Michael Croghan GO!

Talk about a fundraising legend! .... Michael has received over $3,000 in donations for Afrika Tikkun - in less than a week. He's well on his way to achieving - if not blasting - his fundraising target. Have a look at the support he's receiving in preparation for his South Head Roughwater BIG SWIM on Sunday 20th May - and enjoy the comments from his family and friends. Thank You again Michael! 

http://makingadifference.gofundraise.com.au/page/MichaelsOceanSwim

Feel tempted to enter a sporting event and support Afrika Tikkun while you're enjoying what you love to do? Contact me! gaelm@afrikatikkun.org I will create a fundraising page for you. All you have to do is participate in your event and send out the link to your fundraising page to all your family and friends. It's so EASY!

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South Head Roughwater 12 km Swim

 

Look what supporter Michael Croghan's doing for Afrika Tikkun! On May 20th 2012 he's swimming (with the sharks, jellyfish and bluebottles) from Bondi Beach, out to sea, heading north up the coast past what is a long stretch of steep cliffs, into Sydney Heads and then south finishing at Watsons Bay. 12 kms and 3-5 hours in the ocean without a wetsuit is keen indeed! You can be part of this huge effort too. Michael's set himself a fundraising target of $5,000. Please help him achieve it by donating and leaving him a message of support: 

http://makingadifference.gofundraise.com.au/page/MichaelsOceanSwim

     Go Michael. You're a legend! The team at Afrika Tikkun are right behind you :)

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Sydney Urbanatholon

Today TEAM AFRIKA TIKKUN conquered the Sydney Urbanathalon! A big big thank you to David Shubert, Ryan Shepard and Murray Palmer for taking part and for helping to raise funds. We had a great morning running, climbing, leopard crawling and hurdling around Sydney.

A big big thank you also to Bev Bermeister, Simon Buckingham, John Otterson and Scott Philips for their generous support.


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UK SPRING/SUMMER NEWSLETTER

Posted April 19, 2012 in UK

READ OUT LATEST NEWSLETTER FROM THE UK HERE

Click here to download


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LAS VEGAS USA - GOOD LUCK GUYS

 


 
Our three triathletes leave for the Safelite Triathlon in Las Vegas USA today.
 
Please join me in wishing our sports manager Thomas as well as our three triathletes: Abongile, Tshepo and Thembinkosi good luck for the event.
 
More info and photos are attached.
 
Bon voyage!

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Afrika Tikkun Triathlete Report - Safelite USA


In 2010 Safelite USA invited the winning side of Belron sprint London triathlon, the young team from Arekopaneng Orange farm – (Mduduzi Mshibe cyclist, Tshiamo Phutagae runner and Tebogo Shibambo the swimmer) to the USA. These young South Africans who conquered London the year before in 2009 where once again excited to be headed to Las Vegas USA.

It was a life changing experience for the young people from the dusty street of Orange Farm Gauteng South Africa. Yes they continued like champions at Las Vegas and made a great impression in another fund raising event for Afrika Tikkun. Part of the mission to the States was to promote our triathlon and cycling programme. We came back with R600,000 to our cycling programme from Safelite.

At the time we had only ten bikes that were being used by Arekopaneng youth. We needed to take this programme to the other Centres like Alexandra Phutaditjhaba and Diepsloot Wings of Life. So with the funds from Safelite we were able to buy and maintain new bikes for each of the Communities as well as attend sporting events.  

Since this investment, we have not only been training hard to be better cyclists but also started competing in local Tri and Duathlon events. 

From ten youths in Orange Farm our numbers has doubled. We now have 27bikes and 77 participants in the programme. We are hoping to reach 220 participants by the end of the 2012/2013 financial year.

We believe that the relationship with Safelite will even became closer when they visited our communities in 2011.  The Safelite team saw with their own eyes the impact that their contribution has made.

What they could not see due to the shortness of the visit and due to improvements in the programme over time is that when we attend sporting events or competitions, we are the biggest development programme in Gauteng province, South Africa when it comes to the sports of Duathlon and Triathlon.

The last event we attended which was the Jo’burg Tria at Germiston, 44 participants represented Afrika Tikkun and we again were the highest number of black people in this sport in South Africa in one event.

Please note that our development in this sport has also been largely due to our partnership with  Central Gauteng Triathlon (CGT) who has helped us on many levels including entry fees.  For example through our association with the province, the Gauteng province paid 50% of the entry fee for all our participants at the last event to the event organiser saving us a huge amount of money.

This year we plan to participate in 4 local events. We have already participated in two of these events in February and April and the next one is in September.


 

Key Developments to Note

1.     Last Year Central Gauteng Triathlon introduced us to Michael Moriarty the most respected developmental coach in the country to work with our teams. For the first time in 4 years we actually had a Tri coach. Michael experience was a breath of fresh air to me and the team. The team started to train the way a triathelete needed to train. It is because of the benefit of this development that we now have a pool of athletes that we can choose from at any given time to go and participate at an event where we get invited. We are now even confident of the team that will go to London in September.

 

2.     In our first Duathlon last year in Pretoria, the Afriman Duathlon, we attended the competition with thirty participants. This competition was the trials for participants for provincial selection to represent the province in Cape Town and subsequently if successful the country in Spain in September 2011. On the bike that Safelite bought for us Jan Ledwaba, Colleen Sompane and Eugene Baloyi conquered the events as Jan  and Collen made the provincial team with their times, Eugene came close and won a medal. This was all made possible by Safelite.

 

3.      Not only have our athletes been recognised but the management of the team got noticed as well. I was chosen to be the (PDI) Previously Disadvantaged Coordinator for the province in 2011. I was also selected to go and do Level one Triathlon Coaching Course of which I did well for a first timer.

 

4.      In 2012 I was also officially selected by the Gauteng Province executive committee as their developmental officer for the province.

 

5.     On the 5th of February 2012, Central Gauteng Triathlon (CGT) invited 15 Afrika Tikkun beneficiaries from Phutaditjhaba Alexandra for another community development initiative.  During this event 15 of our youth  were taught how to put a triathlon field together and how to be marshals.  They did this  in two days and  got compensated by the Central Gauteng Triathlon and Tria Organisers Company called Mayhem Sports Trading and event. The purpose of the exercise is to empower these individual that comes to our centres every day for food so that they can begin to take control of their lives and destinies.  Mayhem sport has promised to continue to teach and empower our beneficiaries to make them able to do this kind of work and get paid for it...thereby giving them a career. We believe that this initiative has the capability to improve the sustainability of the programme...... as they say teach a man how to fish then you have fed him for life.

 

 

6.     In 2012 March, I was appointed the Developmental Commissioner for the Central Gauteng Cycling. Now Afrika Tikkun indeed plays a pivotal role in the development of these two sports that has been a challenge to get young black athletes to participate in previously. Now, we are having many kids coming to our centres every day who want to take part in these sports. We have to turn them back or try to convince them to go to the other programmes because we don’t have enough bikes.

 

7.     We are now with CGT developing a beginner coaching for our experienced athletes who are now 24-28. We have now people, who love the sport, know and enjoy it. We commenced this initiative in order to   teach these older athletes and use them to develop young participants from 10 to 19 years old.

 

8.     We believe that over the last four years, we have achieved our first task which is to  get the people in our communities interested in the sport. We have since grown the number of participants and we believe that the next step is to use our experience to grow a much  bigger programme which also targets the very young in the communities.  

 

9.     Without the partnership between Safelite, Afrika Tikkun and Central Gauteng Triathlon, it would have been impossible to have had the massive development that has taken place which has produced athletes, coaches and management and principal players in this sport in black communities. It is crucial to re-emphasize that all this began from a few bikes that Safelite has bought for us and it is amazing how far we have come ...... although there is still so much to be done.

 

10.  Happy Sizane at training Ellis Park: On the 1st April 2012 at Germiston, the young Happy Sizane from Inner City Hillbrow Centre took his space amongst 50-60 swimmers all of them white. Afrika Tikkun again demonstrated its leadership  in giving black disadvantaged youths a chance to become something in life. He did not finish the 750M swim, he did 100-120m. Please however note that Happy practised in a 1200m pool.  We know that with more training and exposure, he will be able to complete a 750M competition. We have now taken his training to another level. We now want him to commence training  on open water. Sue, Michael and Derrick from CGT are happy to work with him on the weekends to achieve this. So come September we are hoping to take a fully-fledged open water swimmer to the Jo’burg Tria. I must say that I was standing next to some spectators looking at Happy as he commenced the biggest race of his life, someone from the crowd was asking: who is that black kid representing Afrika Tikkun and Central Gauteng?  Even though I didn’t say anything in response, I made a mental note that people are recognising the empowerment that is taking place.


 

Our Needs

We would really appreciate if we can be blessed with 40 additional bikes:  20 top advanced level bikes and 20 entry level bikes. Our dream is to put together a team of 100 strong cyclists. In our opinion this will be milestone in the history of this sport in the country. We definitely are pioneers in this sport in the country

 

 

 

2012 Safelite Las Vegas Participants


Tshepo Serumula: runner

Tshepo is a youth intern in the computer centre programme  at Arekopaneng Orange Farm. He is also a JAG running programme assistant coach. Tshepo is  a hardworking and intelligent young man, articulate and good leader, very reliable.

He raised R3500 for the trip to Las Vegas

Thembinkosi Nxumalo

Cyclist Thembinkosi Nxumalo is a sports intern at Wings of life Diepsloot. He is a calm and very good soccer coach for the Wings of Life, won the two tournaments in 2011 and won the American school tournament already in 2012. He is a qualified soccer referee under (SAFA) South African football association. This young boy has an  amazing talent. 

  Abongile Mvunyiswa

Swimmer Abongile Mvunyiswa is the younger of the two and is a bit shy. He is  the sport intern and an assistant journalist at Phutaditjaba Alexandra Centre. He is hardworking , very polite and  great with children. I would like to believe that the training with Sue Penrose our volunteer swimming coach has done wonders for Abo’s confidence.  He trains very  hard cycling to Ellis Park, Sydenham and back three times a week.  I’m not expecting him to finish a cycling race yet but I’m positive that he is in the right direction when it comes to the development of his  swimming abilities.  

We now have between 8 to 16 swimmers swimming two times a week with a coach. These determined young people also  practise their swimming on other days within the days even without the help of a coach.  

I would like to conclude by sending out my sincere thanks to the  CEO of Safelite Mr Tom and  Mr Matt Weger and his team.  

THANK YOU FOR BEING THERE FOR US. 

The developments we have witnessed in the last couple of years is a testimony to the fact that SAFELITE YOU ARE CHANGING LIVES.     

 

 

 


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Who do we support?


Through our holistic community development model, we now support over 15,000 children in South Africa, be it in their homes, our ECD Centres, our Child and Youth Programs or through schools. Of these, nearly 1,000 at-risk pre-school children are receiving care through our centres.

As you might be aware, here in Australia we are currently raising funds to support the development of our newest Early Childhood Development in Hillbrow. Nearly 90 years after it was opened as a modern, dedicated children’s hospital in Johannesburg, a neglected five-story wing of the iconic Transvaal Memorial Institute building is getting a new lease on life. From May 2012 onwards it will once again bring the promise of a better life for children in the surrounding community as an Afrika Tikkun Centre of Excellence.
 

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Whats Happening in our projects?

 

What's happening in our projects?

I’ve just returned from South Africa and Wow! What a difference 4 years makes (since I was last there).

The progress is quite incredible and our reach is growing in the townships month by month. I felt completely inspired by seeing the solid infrastructures that are being built and by meeting with our competent and dedicated teams on the ground. Yet what humbled and inspired me even more was the focus, the discipline, the exemplary social skills of the children being supported and educated through our programs. It’s as if they know already, some of them only 2 or 3 years old, that they are fortunate in comparison to the millions of children yet to receive help in South Africa. They seem to fully respect the centres, the teachers, the facilitators, their play mates ….. our programs are peaceful, empowering havens of creativity and opportunity. How proud I feel to be here in Australia, raising awareness and funds on behalf of such dedicated and deserving kids.


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A Peaceful Procession

As part of the 16 Days of Activism Campaign, children, parents and staff from Arekopaneng, as well as people from 5 local disability-related organisations participated in a peaceful procession. They walked from the Centre to the police station through the streets of Orange Farm.

At the police station a sign-language interpreter and a local disability activist, Mr Vilakhazi, addressed the crowd. He explained that children with disabilities are extermely vulnerable to sexual abuse, and that their stories are difficult for the police to record in a statement when they come to report. Despite this it is vital that we work together to enable children with disabilities  to tell their stories and seek justice.

Brigadier Manala, of Orange Farm SAPS received a memorandum from children with disabilities that are attending the Learning Support, Special Needs and Early Childhood Development programmes. The memorandum detailed how we at the Empowerment Programme will endevour to help the police when children with disabilities come to report a crime.

The memorandum was well received, and Brigadier pledged his full support and cooperation.

The day was a wonderful success, and we hope the beginning of a good partnership.

Well Done Afrika Tikkun


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Early Childhood Development

Hi there, we have recently changed the focus of donations via our Gifting Site from our Shack Building Project to our Early Childhood Development Centre Project in Hillbrow. Johannesburg. All items now purchased/ donated will contribute to the new ECD facility in progress. Thank you so much for your generosity ....

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Wow! Look at Michael Croghan GO!

Talk about a fundraising legend! .... Michael has received over $3,000...
South Head Roughwater 12 km Swim

  Look what supporter Michael Croghan's doing for Afrika Tikkun! On...

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