God, AIDS, Africa & HOPE

Reflections / Gedanken

05/19/2014 • 2:16 pm Comments Off on A normal Monday morning @ HOPE Cape Town

A normal Monday morning @ HOPE Cape Town

What happens in an NGO in between all the news, events and charity functions? It’s the normality of work, all HOPE Community Health Workers report to their respective clinic and are committed again for the first day of often hard and challenging work at the Primary Health Care Facility. The senior staff is meeting every Monday morning at 9 am for an hour to catch up and communicate what is on the agenda for everybody during the week. There is also time to reflect on the last week or anything which happened in between. Besides all portfolios reported on there is always the questions about possible visitors at HOPE Cape Town or questions which have been arisen from previous days. At 10 am the so-called back office is meeting which includes all the people covering “marketing and fundraising”. As HOPE Cape Town raises most funds from private sponsors or other non-profit NGO’s there are always items on the list to discuss like how to write proposals, how to report hack; basically all the communication structures. We are doing charity work and we have to talk about it – otherwise possible donors and sponsors will not find us. After that there are various other meetings – the PowerPoint presentation has to be updated, the new “HOPE to HOME” program needs attention, and even the very trivial question of access to parking at a University can bind some workforce for hours.
The beauty of HOPE Cape Town is among other things, that there is a very motivated team of people interacting on so many different levels. And exciting developments happen in the moment: on the care level the HOPE to HOME project has been launched last week  and HOPE Cape Town coordinates the after-care of children with HIV, AIDS and TB discharged from the children’s hospital. The family and children support program is going from strength to strength thanks to a donation from “Ein Herz fuer Kinder” from Germany. On the level of information for donors and sponsors a new HOPE Cape Town flyer is in development and with it comes a new design for the webpage, reflecting all the actual work done by HOPE Cape Town. Watch the space 🙂

Filed under: HOPE Cape Town Association, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, HOPE Cape Town Trust, Reflection, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

05/12/2014 • 9:55 am Comments Off on The Day after the Ball of HOPE

The Day after the Ball of HOPE

Only people who are also in the business of preparing a gala event know what it means to sit there a day after the event and reflecting on it. All the adrenalin is gone and funny enough one feels drained and somehow empty inside. It seems that all energy is gone but still one cannot find real rest. “Are you happy with the Ball” I was asked several times the next morning, meeting people who slept over at the Westin Hotel and enjoyed their breakfast the very next morning. It sounded to me like a strange question: Yes, of course I was happy that it went without major trouble – all obstacles naturally coming up during such an event were dealt with as soon as Anja and I as the organizers were aware off. And yes, the entertainment program was great and the dance band got the people going – wonderful to see. But it takes at least a couple of days to recover and appreciate all what was happening that very eve. And to digest that for the first time in history, raffle tickets were sold out before all could get a chance to buy some. So amazing…
I am deeply grateful for all of you who joined this annual event on Saturday eve – I hope everybody had a wonderful time, enjoyed our Brooklyn Holy Cross Primary School Senior choir and Chelsea, our 9-year-old singer from Switzerland with her powerful voice , Katlego who did a marvelous job as an MC. And I also hope that you took home the knowledge how you fun that very eve meant hope and life and a future for so many less fortunate in the townships of Cape Town, being troubled by HIV, AIDS and TB and so many associated diseases. All and everybody present made a difference and had a personal impact on the life of somebody whom they never will learn to know in person. What a wonderful and powerful connection…

Filed under: General, HOPE Cape Town Association, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, HOPE Cape Town Trust, Networking, Reflection, SA-German Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Society and living environment, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

04/29/2014 • 1:38 pm Comments Off on In between all the public holidays..

In between all the public holidays..

It is difficult for Non-South Africans to understand the time between end April and May, where several public holidays as well as this year the national elections create somehow a very disruptive life for people living in this country. Long weekends tempt people to go away for a couple of days and it is difficult to get appointments or keep them intact.
For HOPE Cape Town this time is also a time before the Ball of HOPE. Excitement about this event being sold out is paired with the anxiety that everything is going alright and will work according to plan. Also on the hospital side there are movements. The Ithemba Ward has finally moved to the 10th floor and the question now is what happens to the HOPE Cape Town office. Do we move with to the 10th floor or do we look for alternative space as we are asked to provide services for all wards? Whoever works in public entities knows how painstaking such a process is and Tygerberg Academic Health Complex is unfortunately not the exemption of the rule. So Sonja and her office is floating a little bit in between decision-making processes and all the public holidays hindering those processes coming to a conclusion. On the positive side is to report that HOPE Cape Town has successfully employed to new members to the HOPE Cape Town family and that fundraising and marketing now will be done much more professionally and up to the point. The so-called “back – office” is now complete and starts to get into gear. This is good news before the AGM of the HOPE Cape Town Trust which will also decide on streamlining certain aspects of the work of HOPE Cape Town as an entity. 13 years into the course, the organization is somehow entering a new stage of its life without losing the heart and the core of its mission and vision. As somebody being the initiator of the project I am very proud to see how HOPE Cape Town is growing and how my role is also changing. I always believed that for a founder there is a time to give up some responsibilities so that an organization not dies when the founder is dying. I guess we are on the right way, broaden the objectives and filling the gaps the government is not able to fill in 2014 – HOPE Cape Town has changed over the years and was always able to adapt to developments within South Africa. I am looking forward to all the new steps taken in the next 12 months and I am proud to be part of a journey full of life and dedication serving those who need it most being infected or affected by HIV or AIDS or TB.

Filed under: HOPE Cape Town Association, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, HOPE Cape Town Trust, Networking, Reflection, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , ,

04/24/2014 • 11:15 am Comments Off on Good news: Ball of HOPE in Cape Town booked out

Good news: Ball of HOPE in Cape Town booked out

This is indeed great news for the organizers and who ever could get hands on a ticket for the annual Ball of HOPE will not be disappointed: A great entertainment program, the introduction of a MC leading though the procedure of the evening, great food and a fantastic live band will make this evening an unforgettable one.
But this is also good news for the people, HOPE Cape Town is so compassionate caring for; all proceeds will give them more hope, more life, more joy and for some even an entire future. We often forget how little it takes to change the fate of a person to the good and every cent donated on this eve will translate into practical assistance and help.
I remember the first time in 1998 when the Ball, at that time called “dinner-dance” at the Mount Nelson was launched. Desmond Tutu was the guest of honor and spoke to us till the food was cold, but it was all in all a marvelous evening for 80 mostly German-speaking people. How far have we come since then and how grateful should we be for the journey of 16 years of this annual event. With the opening of the office of the Southern African – German Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the beginning of the new millennium in Cape Town, the “dinner-dance” was transformed into a real black tie affair. Anja Tambusso Ferraz as my partner in crime put her special stamp on the event and together we developed it as we went along. But all was only possible through the great support of so many people along the way – no way two people can stem an event like this without so many never officially mentioned colleagues, friends, partners, associates and supporters. The opening of the Westin Hotel gave us the chance to add to the number of guests possible for the event and so when we will launch the Ball of HOPE 2014 in a couple of days, there is again excitement paired with gratefulness to all and everyone supporting this charity in lieu of HOPE Cape Town. It is also good to know that the German-speaking Catholic Community remained faithful to this event all the years. There is a lot of German and German rooted influence in Cape Town and surely on the society side, the Ball of HOPE was a welcome addition to the social calendar of the mother city.
So welcome to all our guests from Cape Town, but also flying in from Germany and Switzerland for this event and let’s celebrate life and doing good at the same time.
Picture: 1998 the author and Archbishop Desmond Tutu @ the first “dinner-dance”

1998

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed under: Catholic Church, General, HOPE Cape Town Association, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, HOPE Cape Town Trust, Networking, Politics and Society, Reflection, SA-German Chamber of Commerce & Industry, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

04/08/2014 • 12:03 pm Comments Off on Working means networking

Working means networking

No NGO is working alone – even if the South African fundraising market is heavily contested and organizations try to gain the upper hand in securing funds, networking is an essential. There is unfortunately not really a culture to this – and140404_A3-Poster Leader Recruitment 2014_colour_v02-a jealousy and the meaning of superiority can undermine every effort to network on the same eye level. Obviously there are also exceptions, but it has to be said that there is a long way to go in South Africa to understand the real meaning of working together. Next jealousy is politics the other downfall when it comes to the attempt to work together. It was amazing to see how many “hopes’ have been created after the visit of chancellor Angela Merkel to HOPE Cape Town and I was thrilled to see an organization in Durban using even our logo for their advertising. Even in certain township communities  people try to cash in on associating themselves with similar wording. Amazing to see when analytically observed…

HOPE Cape Town has always tried to keep an open mind and  is networking and partnering with many organizations in South Africa and Germany. The German AIDS Foundation and HOPE & Future e.V. are such NGO partners but also in South Africa there are partners like the Manenberg After-school Care or Emilie’s Creche @ St. Lorrie’s Pass Village. There is always so much to do and so little one organization can do alone, so working together is essential if one really wants to better the lives of people.
Belonging to a network of NGO’s here in the Western Cape, I visited AMANDLA in Khayelitsha, an organization using soccer as means to bring youngsters away from drugs and gansterism and allow them to develop self-esteem and developing their potential. They are trying now to establish a further project exactly between Manenberg and Gugulethu – a black and a coloured township. Everybody who is familiar with the locations will know that this is an adventure as these areas are strictly separated since apartheid and each area is a no-go area for the other side. Bridging this gap and ending the hostilities is the aim of this project and obviously HOPE Cape Town sees the chance to network and introduce the Manenberg After-school Care project to AMANDLA. I guess sometimes it only needs to bring some people or organizations together to create synergies.

I wish the new endeavor of AMANDLA all the best and hope that more networking can be done in the future to strengthen the fabric of those lives still separated through race or skin color.

Filed under: HOPE Cape Town Association, HOPE Cape Town Association & Trust, HOPE Cape Town Trust, Networking, Reflection, Society and living environment, , , , , , , , ,

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