Fresh vegetables and beetroot from the garden at Suthsung Sabha Temple in Clayfield in Phoenix, Durban.
Blankets Donated
This year The Groenpunt Correctional Services has made a record number of 101 blankets to be distributed by various organisations. Thank you to Chintz Bhana for donating the wool. This project was headed by the social worker Mrs. Annie Hanekom and many of the blankets were knitted by her, the inmates and other individuals.
IAHV was awarded 39 of these blankets. Isabelle, Maria and Anil assisted on behalf of IAHV handed out the blankets to the Logos Theo’s Church in Vaalview, Vanderbijlpark.
The congregation were very thankful to our good deed.
School Bag and Sanitary Pad Drive 2021 – Packing and Distribution during COVID-19
In December 2021, the packing and distribution of hampers to disadvantaged children in the Klipgat region was rather different to previous years. With the pandemic still quite rife, we needed to ensure that we can still successfully reach the same amount of children, as we do annually, while still ensuring the safety of all volunteers and the children.
Through a large stream of donations that came through from a large number of people, we were able to secure great quality school bags, stationery, masks and liquid sanitizer for 800 disadvantaged children. We were also able to secure a supply of sanitary pads for girls who require them but may not always have access to them.
The packing was done with approximately 20 volunteers at the Shree Pretoria Hindu Seva Samaj premises on a Friday evening and the bags were distributed swiftly by a small group of volunteers on the Saturday morning in the Klipgat region.
Despite many challenges experienced, the initiative was a success yet again!
A special thanks to all those wonderful volunteers who assisted in packing until late on Friday night. Thanks to SPHSS for the use of the mini hall for this purpose.
A heartfelt thanks to the volunteers who assisted in the distribution at the two venues on Saturday and at the two schools on Monday.
A BIG THANK YOU to our generous donors. You have put a smile on the faces of 800 indigent children as well as 50 young ladies who received 3 months stock of sanitary pads as well as personal under garments. Your donations has ensured that the sanitary pads drive will be repeated for the next three quarters to the same young lasses, who will then in fact, receive sanitary pads supplies for a full year.
An extra special thanks goes out to Howard Shankman of Railway Furnishers, who generously donated all the stationery. Sanjay Govind for the school books. Balwant Parbhoo from Sea Breeze who donated 800 masks for the children, all of whom masked up before receiving their gifts, in line with Covid protocols, as well as to Anil Kalyan from Fine Art Printers for the donation of 800 adult masks. Not forgetting Shiraz Gani for the loan of his truck and driver to transport the bags to Klipgat and surrounds.
See you all next year!
Pasta Kitchen – Food Parcels / November
Thank you to all the donations that have come in these last few months, especially to our regular donors! We managed to buy and deliver 90 food parcels to those in need!
The Obs Pasta Kitchen is grateful for all your support and wish you a safe and healthy Festive season.
Breath Water Sound in Barrydale
This was a first Breath Water Sound course for the Smitsville Community. The Youth in Barrydale have been going through an enormous amount of stress during COVID-19 with reports of a large number of them turning to drugs.
After meeting with the community and the Pastor at the AGS Church, we came together and rolled out our first BWS for youth.
We had 12 participants complete the course. They loved the yoga and breath work.
We had lunch each day with OK Foods Barrydale sponsoring 2 x chocolate cakes for the last day of graduation. We had a private sponsor for the meals and Mez Kitchen, Barrydale also sponsored soup for the youth on the first day.
Past Kitchen Women’s Month Donation
Women’s month celebrated in August was made extraordinary by the generous donation of the International Association for Human Values and the Obs Pasta Kitchen to the women of Murraysburg, the poorest community in the Western Cape.
Volunteers came together to assist the call for 200 sanitary packs for the women and girls of the community. From selecting the products at the best price and upmost care, Martina Polley an Art of Living volunteer organized the shopping and packing along with two other volunteers, Ruth and Anneliese.
Dischem provided the best price and top quality. Each pack contained sanitary towels, body cream, deodorant, soap, toothpaste and a toothbrush. A special card with the message “ take care, you are a woman of strength, you are a peacemaker, you inspire so many, thank you “ added the last touch.
The transport arrived and the 200 packs were safely packed for Murraysburg a six hour drive from Cape Town. On arrival pastor Errol informed us the packs arrived safely and intact.
In the weeks following packs were distributed to the women of the community, including school girls.
A big warm thank you was received in writing and from the photos we can see the packs were greatly appreciated.
Thank you to all the volunteers who were involved and especially to the IAHV for making this possible.
Youth Village project
The Youth Village project has donated 120 packs of food parcels to the Itereleng Aids Ministry in Orlando West, Soweto and beneficiaries have come from different parts of Soweto.
HRE Workshop at Stanza Bopape Community Health Centre
HRE Workshop held at Stanza Bopape Community Health Centre in Mamelodi East by Dr. Deana Padayatchi.
The workshop was introduced to the participants as a series of capacity building tools and techniques, in the context of a preventative mental health project, in the face of the COVID19 Pandemic.
The Workshop was conducted at the Health Centre, in the Staff Tea-Room. All participants wore face masks and physical distancing precautions were observed. The venue’s windows were kept open to ensure optimal ventilation. All participants were permanent employees of Gauteng Health Department (Essential Workers).
I believe the HRE Workshops provide valuable capacity building portals for Essential Workers, particularly in the Public Health Sector environment, as this is a sub-optimally resourced sector which serves the vast majority of the South African population.
The need for providing this resource to other Public Health Service workers represents a significant opportunity to fulfil the vision of IAHV in spirit and in action.
#Lockdown – The Obs Pasta Kitchen needs your support
Since the national lockdown, The Obs Pasta Kitchen has had to physically close its kitchen at St Michaels church hall due to government regulation but that did not stop us in serving our community. Collaboration with OBSID the Observatory Improvement District, CAN theCommunity Action Network and enthusiastic volunteers we have committed to providing a daily meal for the homeless of our Community by accessing all skills and permits available.
A total of
- 300 lunch packs
- 250 bowls of pasta
- 185 food parcels
- 2 Bulk Veg parcels
- 2 Bulk Fruit parcels
- 15 pots of soup
- 220 litres of water
has been served in this first week by our amazing volunteers.
We will continue to do our best to support the most vulnerable in our community at this critical time and ask for any support available.
EFT Donations: 🍝
Account holder: International Association for Human Values (IAHV)
Bank: First National Bank
Branch: 250737, Lenasia
Account: 62045616119
Reference: Obspasta + your name
Christmas Day Lunch for the homeless 2019
A very big THANK YOU to all our generous donors, sponsors and volunteers who made the Christmas Day Lunch for the homeless Landsdowne community such a huge success and heartwarming experience!!
We are overwhelmed by the generosity, kindness and enthusiasm that made this event possible. Donations of food and hygiene items flowed in and we raised over R20 000 in cash. With these donations, we were able to provide 120 community members with a warm delicious meal of macaroni & sauce, cooldrink, cupcakes & treats, and also gift each person with a goodie bag filled with hygiene items and non-perishable foods. We had 75 volunteers on the day who braved the rain and came out to spread the Christmas love!
This years event was particularly special as it may be the last Christmas for this community in their informal homes as they face to be forcibly removed by the city this month. The community has been devastated and we couldn’t think of a better way to spend Christmas than to give to those less fortunate during this difficult time. Over the years we have developed a good relationship with this community…their leader Michael always comments on how our volunteers interact with so much sincerity and love – so thank you all for being part of this!
The event was featured in The Argus and eNuus which highlighted the community’s upcoming displacement:
https://www.enca.com/afrikaans/moontlik-laaste-kersete-vir-lansdowne-haweloses
Photos by Alice Bensi:
Photos by Anneliese Le-Brenton:
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