Mail & Guardian Corporate Social Investment projects

2006

The Mail & Guardian had the privilege to meet Dorah Mazibuko, a sweet woman who is passionate and caring about her community. Her soup kitchen is called Dorah's Ark Child Care Centre, where she feeds up to 80 people a day. Not only does the centre feed the hungry, but it also tries to use what little resources it has to help empower its community.

With the help of sponsors -- Syntell, Glasfit, PG Bison, Maxicare and Sign-a-Rama -- we were able to repair and renovate the centre to make it more comfortable and secure for all the children and adults.

In June 2006, the M&G with the assistance of Pick 'n Pay ran a blanket drive and receive about 1 000 blankets that were donated to the following institutions: Dorah's Ark, Kingsway Primary School, 70 households in Kliptown and 50 households in Oranje Farm -- Women's Build projects.

Want to help?Click here to let us know if you are interested in helping Dora's Ark or any other Mail & Guardian community project

The M&G arranged some fun days for the children to watch movies, enjoy snacks and so forth. In December 2006, the M&G invited 63 children to the Spur in Randpark Ridge for a festive season party. They had lunch and played on the jungle gyms and trampolines. Some of the children had their faces painted. When it was time to go home, the children all received gifts including clothing and toys.

Hard at work

2007

Colgate Day
The M&G started off the year with an educational day at Dorah's Ark. Colgate taught the children about dental hygiene. They sang songs, coloured in pictures and watched an animated educational movie on the importance of brushing their teeth and washing their hands. Toothpaste, toothbrushes and soap were handed out to take home.

Egg Hunt
In April 2007, the M&G arranged an egg-hunt day with marshmallow chocolate eggs that were hidden in the garden at Dorah's Ark for the children to find. After all the excitement of searching for the eggs, we served them hotdogs and cooldrinks for lunch.

Bean Day
In June 2007, the M&G invited 16 American students to join us for a fun, educational bean day. With the help of the students, we taught the children how to grow their own bean stalk and what the growth process of a bean is before it becomes a bean stalk. They planted their beans in a jar with cotton wool and received pages to explain the growth of the beans step by step.

Fire Situation Day
In July 2007, the Johannesburg emergency management services were invited to Dorah's Ark to educate the children and adults on what to do in fire situations. They were taught the following: escape drills in the home; what to do if their clothes caught on fire; and the emergency telephone number 10177. Further classes will be presented later this year.

Brushing lessons

Projects at Dorah's Ark

Beading classes: The woman make beautiful bead work to be sold.

Knitting classes: A woman by the name of Sylvia volunteered to teach other women how to knit (wool was donated). They are busy with blankets to be sold.

Sewing: The M&G had four industrial sewing machines repaired and serviced; fabrics are donated on an ongoing basis. Children's clothing is made, among others.

Other contributions by the M&G

Baby food and necessities were donated to Door of Hope.

M&G employees made contributions of more than R5 000 to buy medical cots for Chubby Chums Children's Home.

The M&G and Dorah's Ark would like to thank all readers and involved companies for their assistance and donations to improve the care centre.

2008

2008 – 2009 Schooling Project

In 2008 the Mail & Guardian launched a project called “Take a Child to School”. The M&G is focusing on child headed households, orphans and HIV/AIDS children. These children are selected by Dorah Mazibuko of Dorah’s Ark Child Care Centre in the West Rand. Dorah’s was the M&G’s first pilot project in CSI; she is a well known community leader and people in the community trust and love her. She is passionate in what she does, and is always there for all the children.

Dorah selected seven girls and one boy from grades 3-12 that benefited from the M&G project. Schools were selected according to what language the children speak and where they live.

Feedback from Dorah regarding the children’s schooling has been very positive. The children did well in their year-end exams. We will sponsor more children in 2009, bringing our total number of children to 15. We would like to thank Absa for sponsoring all the children in 2008. We would also like to thank MetroFM for sponsoring school shoes for most of the children at Dorah’s Ark in 2009.

Vegetables on Wheels 2008

In 2008 the M&G also launched a project called “Vegetables on Wheels”. This project was initiated because of the big demand for children to be fed in rural schools. These children mostly come from child-headed households or are orphans, and therefore they only receive a meal once a day and that is at school. The schools have small kitchens (usually in a big storage container) with gas stoves where soup is prepared. Bread is given when available. The ingredients for the soup as well as the bread come from donations. Four institutions were selected for this project. Training was first given to the teachers and caregivers at Realeboga Pre-Primary School, Cosmo City Primary school, Nkone Maropeng primary school and Dorah’s Ark Child Care Centre.

“Vegetables on Wheels” wants to assist these schools by educating a selected individual or individuals at a school as well as the children in how to prepare and maintain a vegetable garden.

In 2008 the Colorful Nursery Group came to the party by offering their services in educating teachers, caregivers and children on how to grow and maintain a vegetable garden. The Colorful Nursery Group uses a person in a bear suit called MULBRY to educate the children. He has the gardening know-how and experience and teaches the children in a fun way about gardening.

Soup Tax Day 2008

On June 9 M&G challenged all companies and individuals to hold a Soup Tax Day, by bringing a packet of soup to the office. More than 90 companies country-wide participated in this initiative and collected soup in their companies and in an individual capacity. This project was so successful that over 22 000 packets of soup were collected and the M&G was able to deliver these to over 30 charities in South Africa.

Women’s Day 2008

At Dorah’s Ark caregivers feed up to 60 people a day. All the children and adults at Dorah’s Ark come from underprivileged or child-headed households. Children come in the mornings before school to get something for their lunch tins, and any fruit that Dorah gets is saved for these mornings. Adults and children are given food in the afternoons. We at the M& G wanted to honour the women at Dorah’s Ark for looking after the children and the adults who are unable to look after themselves. On August 8 the M&G took 30 ladies to Eagles Fare Restaurant for brunch in the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Gardens. We also invited a motivational speaker, Nombuyiselo Mapongwana, to give us some food for thought on HIV/Aids and on being a woman. We would once again like to thank Absa Bank for donating blankets as gifts for these special ladies.

Festive Season Children’s Event 2008

On December 8, 30 children from Dorah’s Ark were whisked off to Maropeng Cradle of Humankind for a day of fun and learning by the M&G. Having received free entry and a touring donation from Maropeng, the children’s faces lit up as they were handed a paper bag filled with presents from MetroFM and Toy Run. The children learned about human evolution and toured man-made caves at the site. The highlight of their day was the boat ride during which they experienced the four elements of life. Afterwards the children enjoyed a nutritious lunch and they got back on the bus.

The Mail & Guardian would like to thank all our sponsors and readers for their continued support.

Read more about our Dorah's Ark initiative (PDF)

Previous M&G CSI projects

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