Campaign News and Resources
Starfish Greathearts Foundation
works to bring life, hope and opportunity to orphans
and vulnerable children in South Africa. Updates
from two wonderful child-centred projects in KZN:
• “God’s Golden Acre”
orphanage at Cato Ridge is one of several across
the country receiving monthly donations of nutritious,
protein-rich Lucky Star tinned pilchards from
Oceana Brands. What a clever way to link social
responsibility with popular products, tied up
with a perfect partnership name = “star
+ fish”!
• A new crèche for the “Gozololo”
orphanage in Bhambayi has been sponsored by
Starfish UK to replace the tin shack that children
and staff had been using for teaching and child-care.
Show that you are a Greatheart =
Could you run 89km downhill in the 2005 Comrades
Marathon on 16 June, SA’s Youth Day, as
a Starfish Greatheart? You could make your own
achievement touch the lives of many others.
For more information, contact
the Starfish Foundation at:
Postnet Suite 510, Private Bag X9, Benmore, 2010
or
82 Wessels Road, Metropolitan Life Office Park,
Block F, Rivonia 2191
Tel: 011 259 4000 or 082 858 1161 Fax: 011 259
4111
e-mail: SAinfo@starfishcharity.org
The Joint Civil Society Monitoring Forum:
aims to help with ensuring the efficient application
of the national HIV/AIDS operational plan, by
keeping a continuous check on the activities and
experiences of service providers, patients and
their families and communities. The national Forum
met for the third time in February in Durban and,
among other topics, discussed strengthening public
health services to roll-out anti-retrovirals for
children.
At hospitals and clinics across the country, and
especially in rural KZN, there is a severe shortage
of doctors, nurses, pharmacists to issue drugs
and laboratory staff to process HIV tests. Overloaded
and stressed administrative personnel deal daily
with long queues, waiting lists, sick and frightened
patients and their worried families. Care facilities
and systems for all of these stakeholders are
inadequate, and there is a perception that issuing
ARVs for children is very complex and risky, something
that only specialists can handle.
Because this results in many children being referred
to already over-burdened hospitals, and creates
more expense for their caregivers, the Forum recommended
increasing ARV access for children by simplifying
treatment for children by nurses, and calling
for the set-up of additional accredited sites
for child-centred ARV roll-out.
ACESS – Alliance for Children’s
Entitlement to Social Security:
has produced two new Fact Sheets for parents,
caregivers and any other people working with children’s
rights. One deals with access to education, and
covers issues like school fees; the other deals
with the extension of the Child Support Grant
(CSG) to 18 years. These colourful and easy-to-read
materials have been printed in English, Xhosa,
Zulu, Afrikaans and Sotho and are offered free
of charge, by order.
To order the pamphlets (maximum
of four per order), please fill in the ACESS
Fact Sheet Order Form, and send it directly
to:
Bukelwa Voko
ACESS
PostNet Suite #78, Private Bag X3, Plumstead,
7801
Tel: (021) 761 0117
Fax: (021) 761 4938
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