Newsletter | December 2006

Greetings!

With just 21 more shopping days to Christmas we are delighted that our simply beautiful new Make Christmas Matter website is up and running - visit it at www.makechristmasmatter.co.za and put the real meaning back into Christmas by giving gifts that brighten the lives of fellow South Africans!

With much to celebrate this month, there are also many days that give us the opportunity to stop for a moment and think about those whose experience of the festive season is affected in one way or another. December 1st is World Aids Day, and we know that an estimated 5.5 million South Africans are currently living with HIV/Aids.
The 3rd of December is the International Day of Disabled Persons, and the 10th is International Human Rights Day. The estimated 5% of our population with disabilities is frequently excluded from the mainstream of society and experiences difficulty in accessing fundamental rights. There is also a strong relationship between disability and poverty.

Finally, the 16th of December is our Day of Reconciliation - set aside to foster reconciliation and national unity amongst our many cultures, languages and religions. Let's take the opportunity to talk to each other, learn about each other's special days and customs and promote peace over the holiday season!

To make your experience of our Newsletters simpler, the content has been summarized below. Please click through to read more about a topic that is of interest to you.

Theme of the Month

Human rights - HIV/Aids and disability
Although our Constitution provides for equal rights for all, including disabled people, society is still primarily organised to accommodate the needs of able-bodied people. Women are also more vulnerable to HIV and Aids as a result of continued inequality which often culminates in higher rates of HIV infection.
[read more...]

Cause of the Month

Bringing resources to families in need
Many of the over 600 social profit organisations registered with GreaterGood South Africa are working to help families where people are affected by Aids in some way, or where one or more of the family members is disabled. The assistance these organisations provide is crucial in impoverished communities where there is otherwise very little access to resources and social services.
[read more...]

Good Lifestyle Choices

Gifts made by disabled and HIV-positive people
We have some great products highlighted this month, made by groups of people who are either disabled or HIV-positive, and who work in projects producing quality items for sale in order to earn an income to support their households. Check out our selection of gifts with a Christmas theme - from beaded angels for your Christmas tree to scented soaps which make lovely small gifts.
[read more...]

Experience the Gift

Thank you so much!
An important part of the dynamic of giving and receiving is knowing that you have made a positive impact on the lives of others. Here are our latest statistics, a report on the first Make Christmas Matter project to be fully funded - helping blind beekeepers in Grahamstown - and a reportback on a Teachers Dream to equip a Grade 10 class with science kits come true.
[read more...]

What are you good for?

Keeping doing it...
There are many ways to support social profit organisations that don't involve money. Irene Homes, who provide life-long residential care and a protective work centre for intellectually disabled adults in Gauteng, are looking for a volunteer website designer to help establish their new site. The AIDS Resource Centre in Cape Town need donated Bibles for their clients.
[read more...]

Register with GGSA

When you register with www.GreaterGoodSA.co.za we are able to provide you with a more seamless service. All your information will be treated with utmost confidentiality. Click Here to Register

Tell a friend

Telling others about www.GreaterGoodSA.co.za and how easy it is to support good causes, is one of the most powerful ways that you can contribute to a better South Africa for all. You get 5% off your next purchase at The Good Shop when you Register A Friend Register A Friend

Theme of the Month

HIV/Aids and women’s right to choose

Women across the world experience higher rates of HIV infection, because women's vulnerability to HIV and Aids is rooted in inequality in sexual, social and economic terms. The National Department of Health highlights some interesting findings by the World Health Organisation about the vulnerability of poor women to HIV and Aids because of their financial situations. read more...

This Month's Feature Articles:

  • Read an article from the Disabled People South Africa about what disability is, and finding solutions that assert disabled people's human rights, rather than seeing them as "charity" cases. read more...
  • Soul City explains some basic facts about HIV/Aids - for example, did you know that the definition of when AIDS begins is when a person's CD4+ T cell count is less than 200 cells per microlitre of blood? read more...

Our Causes of the Month
  • Elim Home aims to provide the best possible residential and therapeutic care facilities for severely intellectually and physically disabled children and young adults from disadvantaged communities throughout the three Cape Provinces. read more...
  • Irene Homes provides life-long residential and day care services as well as support and skills training for intellectually disabled adults in Gauteng with the goal of improved self-awareness, self-growth and job creation. read more...
  • Kopanang Centre for Children with Multiple Disabilities is a community based day-care centre for severely disabled children started in 1999 by a group of Orange Farm mothers to address their children's needs. read more...
  • Wola Nani is one of the oldest non-governmental organisations in the Western Cape providing counselling, care, training, increased awareness and community support to empower people with HIV to take control of their lives. read more...
  • The AIDS Resource Centre provides advice and support to people living with HIV/Aids as well as those wanting to know their HIV status, by means of distributing maps of services and offering free HIV testing, face-to-face counselling and support. read more...

Good Lifestyle Choices

Top gift choices

KidzPositive Star of Hope R25

The KidzPositive Family Fund raises funds for the daily needs of families affected by HIV/Aids at Groote Schuur Hospital. These beautiful beaded stars with hooks for hanging are made by HIV-positive mothers, and are a perfect symbol of hope at Christmas time. read more...

Wola Nani Decorated Light Bulb R50

These decorated light bulbs are made by women living with HIV/Aids working with the NGO Wola Nani. Each bulb is a unique work of art and the designers use coloured silicon, wire and beads to create a magical effect that makes a wonderful tree decoration when the filament goes! read more...

Mothers' Creations Beaded Angels R25

Mothers' Creations supports new mothers living with HIV, many of them primary providers for extended families, by training them in income generating skills, offering them new hope for their futures. Beautiful individually crafted beaded angels with a hook to hang are perfect to adorn your Christmas tree. read more...

Camphill Village Handcrafted Fragranced Soaps R12

Camphill Village on the West Coast provides care and employment for adults with physical and intellectual disabilities. These beautifully wrapped handcrafted soaps with essential oils make excellent gifts. Fragrances include Arnica, Calendula, Chamomile, Lavender, Rooibos, Neroli, Tea Tree and Spice. read more...

Cape Mental Health Beadability Christmas Trees R25

Cape Mental Health Society delivers mental health services in disadvantaged communities in the Western Cape. These beautiful beaded Christmas trees in a variety of colour schemes - red and silver, red and gold, red and green, silver and blue, green and blue - have hooks to adorn your own Christmas tree. read more...

Make Christmas Matter Hamper with Xmas Tree R199

This Make Christmas Matter Hamper includes a Make Christmas Matter star and card set with a Kunye Beaded Christmas Tree and a donation to the six development organisations who are beneficiaries of the 2006 Make Christmas Matter campaign. read more...

SASIX Share Certificate: Glass Design Production Unit at Irene Homes R50

Supporting Irene Homes, which provides life-long residential care and a protective work centre for intellectually disabled adults, in setting up a glass design project will provide new skills for the participants and contribute to the goals of improved self-awareness, self-growth and job creation.
read more...

Treat an Orphaned Family to a Christmas Outing R700

The Refilwe Community Project is a Christian-based community upliftment project in Lanseria near Johannesburg that assists people affected and infected with TB and/or HIV/Aids, and provides care for orphans and vulnerable children. For R700 you can sponsor one foster mother and her five children to go on a Christmas outing to see a movie and have lunch - a treat so many of us take for granted.
read more...

Experience The Gift

Thank you, this is the fantastic difference you've made!

Thank you to all those who purchased Make Christmas Matter gifts on behalf of their loved ones to benefit the Grahamstown Area Distress and Relief Association's project to train and equip blind bee-keepers. The first phase of the project is now fully funded to the tune of R29 900. To view details on the project's second phase, visit www.makechristmasmatter.co.za

Thank you also to all those individuals who helped make a Teachers Dream come true for the learners and teachers of Ndeya Zennex High School in KwaZulu-Natal, who now have brand new science kits to bring their Natural Sciences studies alive through conducting experiments. read more...

Latest www.greatergoodsa.co.za Statistics

  • 2,580,070 Page Hits
  • 1,741,376 Unique New Visitors
  • 6,712,269 in Donor Funds for 175 organisations
  • More than 120,000 surplus /second hand items redistributed
  • More than 13,888 person hours volunteered

What are you good for?

Contributing your skills and goods
  • Irene Homes in Gauteng is an Anglican Church organisation offering life-long residential care and a protective work centre for mentally disabled people of all faiths. Irene Homes is looking for a website designer to help design a new website and develop content to website format. read more...
  • The Creativity Therapy Work Centre at Irene Homes is looking for donations of picture books, puzzles, drawing books, magazines, story tapes and singalong tapes for working with mentally disabled adults. read more...
  • The AIDS Resource Centre in Cape Town are looking for donations of new or second-hand Bibles for their counselling clients. read more...

Teachers Dream looking for a Dreammaker
The five- to nine-year-old children of the Mary Kihn School for the Hearing Impaired in Cape Town are still hoping to receive funds to visit Monkey Town and the Two Oceans Aquarium to learn about animals and conserving the environment.
read more...

Reminder of upcoming events

2006 Make Christmas Matter

We know you need no reminder of Christmas! But if the Christmas rush is starting to get to you, and you'd like to put some meaning back into the festivities by helping those less fortunate, do visit our beautiful campaign website at www.makechristmasmatter.co.za. There you'll find a range of gifts for R50, R100, R250, R500 and even R5 000, that will support the work of our six beneficiary organisations working in the following sectors:
  • Promoting Animal Protection: Cart Horse Protection Association, Western Cape
  • Improving Basic Healthcare: Malamulele Onwards, Limpopo
  • Conserving our Environment: Community Environmental Education Programme, Gauteng
  • Boosting Food Security: Food and Trees for Africa, North West
  • Building Adult Capacity: Gadra Advice and Community Work, Eastern Cape
  • Improving Education: Centre for Early Childhood Development, Western Cape
If you would like to know more about the campaign or anything else in this newsletter, feel free to phone us at one of the GreaterGood South Africa offices: Johannesburg (011) 446-9303 or Cape Town (021) 794 0580.
To unsubscribe, please click here www.GreaterGoodSA.co.za