On Mandela Day, South African citizens are encouraged to spend 67 minutes of their time in service to others in need. These 67 minutes are in appreciation of the 67 years that Nelson Mandela spent fighting for justice, equality, and human rights for all. This encompasses the years he worked as a human rights lawyer, the years he spent in prison, the years of his presidency, and the years after that when he remained an icon and example for international human rights.  

Keagometswe Makhaya chose to spend 67 Minutes with Ammish Community Development and celebrate her birthday with our beneficiaries. But let’s hear what she has to say:

“My name is Keamogetswe from White City.
I grew up in meadowlands under the guidance of my pertanal grandma, I lost both my parents while I was still in school. My mother, when I was 8 and my father when I was 16. I grew up depressed and bitter, but had no one to vent to. I was so young and did not understand why I was feeling like, I couldn’t put a name to my condition.

I ended up finding joy, happiness and a voice with my peers. The streets was were I could be free, I was an alcoholic and was introduced to drugs like weed, codeine syrup and pills. I’ve spent all my 20s in the streets with friends, celebrated my birthdays with friends and alcohol.

I was blessed with a daughter, that’s when I quit my life style. When I celebrated my 30th I chose to do something totally different, I was grateful to God that I am still alive. I reflected on the fact that my mother never reached 30, therefore it was a huge milestone.

I am grateful for the life I am living , I plan to help teenagers who are in the same situation and help them speak up about how they feel.

I chose Ammish center to celebrate my birthday with them. I was celebrating life and I wanted to teach them that life can be hard, but it is worth celebrating and giving back.

Keagometswe Makhaya

It felt so good seeing their smile and the gratitude in their eyes, it was very fulfilling. I look forward to re-visit the center more, since it’s near my house.”

Thank you very much for your words and your support with the kids!

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Dear Supporters and World,

On the 27th April 2021 Ammish Community Development hosted Amadodakazi Asebukhosini for our Teenagers (Celebrating the Beauty of a daughter) at Arthur Ash Tennis Hall at Central Western Jabavu in Soweto. Let us begin with the following scripture:

The Story of Amadodakazi Asebukhosini

The story behind the Event is to embrace our daughters from 9-17 years who attended the Event. Amatsitsi from Ukukhanya youth production together with Umama wezi Intombi (Older Zulu Women) from Zola township in Soweto were dancing and singing with pride for our girls. The Reed dance is an annual Event which aims to celebrate and unify nations as well as honouring nation virgin maidens. In light of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. This cultural practise hopes to curb this epidemic by promoting a culture of respect for young women

Who vow to remain virgins until marriage, it also fosters self-esteem, strengthens community, and provides a strong sense of cultural identity essential for Nation-building. It is all about teaching morals and good Behaviour to young girls. Also teaches young girls, who have to be virgins in order to participate about how yhey should act as grown women. As part of promoting Celibasy until marriage and the girl to respect their bodies.

This was a good opportunity to our School girls joining in traditional singing and dancing in their culture.
This kind of cultural Event such as Amadodakazi Asebukhosini for our Teenagers ussually takes place at royal residents of the Chief, with us it took place at our own Arthur AshTennis hall. Thank you to all people that participated, supported the event and of course our awesome girls!

Sponsor: CocaCola Beverages Africa

You may find also interesting:

• Ithemba Walkerthon for Breast Cancer awareness
• High Tea Party in Soweto
• Interview with director Masishaba Mlotshwa

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On the 19th DECEMBER 2020 AMMISH in collaboration with ONE HEART PROJECT (O.H.P) visited Takalani home for the Disabled, Orphaned and Abused to shower them with gifts.

Takalani Children’s Home, (TCH) aims to assist abandoned, orphaned and abused children. The same Takalani is a Tshivenda name meaning “Be Happy”.
On the day we visited it was also the birthday from those who celebrated their birthdays from August – December. Wards Orientation was done were it was not easier for us to see life in a different form. We are blessed to visits the challenged ones and stop complaining and appreciate life. Though it was challenging we went through the day with our calling to shower them with gifts and love.

Christmas is a season of giving and thinking about our loved ones especially those who doesn’t know the Christmas spirit around their families to also think of the less fortunate ones. The Christmas tree was also erected, decorated with gifts to give the essence of Christmas Spirit. Guess what! Mother Christmas was also there to distribute presents to individuals, a day to be remember.
OHP also donated furniture to the home and it was well appreciated. Thank you to the volunteers who supported the event for a good course….

• He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree
• Christmas Celebration 2023
• Acknowledgement for Grocery Donors
• Gift a Smile – Christmas 2022
• High Tea Party for the good cause

The post Christmas Presents Distributions at Takalani Children’s Home appeared first on Ammish Community Development.

Remember, it’s more than just a gift it’s a demonstration of your feelings. Gift giving is actually a way to invest in a relationship. In essence, it is a social lubricant, a way to celebrate life, love and friendship and become a better person.

Christmas is a season of giving and thinking about our loved ones especially those who don’t know the Christmas spirit around their families. The Christmas tree was also erected, decorated with gifts to give the essence of Christmas Spirit.

Santa is coming to town

With AMMISH COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Christmas came early this year on the 28th November 2020. Our beneficiaries couldn’t wait for the day to arrive for them to receive GIFTS from SANTA SHOE BOX PROJECT. We have distributed 302 Christmas gifts from the Santa Shoebox Project. Beneficiaries gifts were packed according to their grades, gender and age. It was easy for Ammish Team to distribute and work efficiently with our work for the day.

Joy despite Rain

On the day of distribution the weather was not favorable, it was drizzling but didn’t stop the event to be executed to be given gifts, packed lunch and the party packs, not forgetting sanitizing and wearing of masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19 . It was a different Christmas party this year 2020 with the COVID -19 Pandemic on our minds. 
But guess what! Mother Christmas was still there to distribute presents to individuals, a day to be remembered. Mother Christmas came to town as for many of our BENEFICIARIES it was their first experience to feel, touch and receive a gift from her. They were all happy to be pampered and acknowledged, given love to experience Christmas in a special different way…

Not forgetting our supporter Mr. Sithole from Engen Garage (Soweto) and our backers in Germany, Andreas and friends to make the day to be a success – Thank You and my God bless You!

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the article is a bit late this time, but our last big event was just on time. We’re talking about the christmas surprise for our beneficiaries. Actually this is getting more and more a regular thing at Ammish. If you want to know how it all started take a look back to 2018. 

A special day for our kids

At Ammish we believe that all our beneficiaries are exceptional in their own way amd it is important to show them our respect and appreciation.  That’s why this year we prepared a little pavilion to be able to hand over the presents personally and with an official touch. Each child got a selection of toys, sweets, toiletries and school materials suitable for its age. While it wasn’t their turn to be gifted they could play around the yard, were offered skin painting or could use the jumping castle errected outside. We see our mission not only in presenting the kids with short-lived fun articles, but also in supporting them with dayly needs to have a lasting impact on their lives.

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Dear devoted readers,

This month we pulled another fun activity for some of our beneficiaries out of our hat. As you most probably know one of Ammish CD’s most important parts of its mission is the education of our next generation. That is why we’re often trying to bring the kids to the very roots of their history and offer them learning within their reach.

So we just rent a bus and drove off into the city. During the drive we stopped at different hot spots along the route, including the most important sights of Sowetan history. These were the Hector Pieterson Memorial, Vilakazi Street with Nelson Mandela’s and Desmond Tutu’s old homes and the huge Orlando Towers – just to name a few. We finished our tour at Oppenheimer Tower to catch the breathtaking view from above and have a tasty picnic in the underlying park.

To organise such an event, provide lunch parcels for the kids, rent a bus, etc. one needs a lot of support from external sources. We are very thankful for the energetic support of Mr. Mdakani from Bambanani Taxi Association, Lamola Butchery, White City Super store, Mr. Sithole from Engen Garage and Pakistani Shops around White City. All of them provided us with either food, financial support and most importantly their time – God bless you all! Last but not least we want to send a big thank you to all the parents who allowed their kids to take part in this activity and some who even accompanied us.

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Do you remember our christmas shoebox campaign? In August we started building partnerships with local companies and private donors to bring a christmas surprise to our children. Finally, in December, the work was done!

With the help of many volunteers from AMMISH and our wonderful partners we prepared Meadowlands Zone 3 Hall (Bapedi) for the special event. On arrival the kids were stunned to find huge jumping castles, delicious meals and even comedians from EMS Crew for their entertainment. You should have seen those sparkling eyes!

To make an even greater impact in our community we also invited 100 Gogo’s to join us and the kids. For AMMISH it is very important to involve all ages in our programmes to strengthen solidarity and support in the society. Grandmas are the pillars of our families – everything that benefits them will be forwarded to us through their love and care.

After some speeches, food (KFC for the kids and professional catering for the older ones) and entertainment we eventually started distributing the presents. To be fair all children got the same items – clothes in different sizes of course. Everyone was gifted a pair of shoes, stationary, a new attire (trousers and t-shirts) and some nice, tasty Simba Chips to make them happy. All content was chosen to be useful and sustainable (ok, forget about the Chips ), because we want our interventions to have a long lasting effect. To also reach the most needy families in our community all gogo’s were given food parcels and warm blankets to bring home.

All in all we are drawing a very positive conclusion regarding our christmas event. It was a lot of work, but led to many joyful children and consolidated the bond between the community and AMMISH as an organization. Nevertheless we were hoping to be able to delight even more of our beneficiaries – which are more than 3500 at present. But we had to realize the difficulties of organizing such a big event and finding enough partners and voluntary support. Well, we are experienced now and will never give up or stop learning. Next time, we are even better prepared!

THANK YOU

All this would not have been possible without the active support of our friends and partners. A big thank you goes to Mr. Michael Sun, MMC for public safety at the city of Joburg. Host and funder of the whole event was Mrs. Li Potgieter from China South Africa Health Foundation, we’re so greatful for your aid! Mrs. Ouma Morodi and Mr. Tsediso Monareng represented JMPD at our event – how could you feels safer than in their presence? The mascot and the people from EMS crew made this special day a great deal funnier, you were awesome :). Last but not least we want to send a special thank you to our German friend Tabea (and all her supporters) who spared no effort and did a lot of fundraising thousands of kilometres away. And of course: Thank you AMMISH Staff, you carry this organization every day!

May you all be blessed!

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Big news for Christmas 2018: We are starting our own Santa Campaign

Edit: See how our campaign went.

In 2018 we applied for Santa Shoebox again as we did in 2017 successfully. Short info: Santa Shoebox is an organization which collects shoeboxes with presents from individuals and gives them to children in need. Last year we only asked for 500 boxes and got 700 pieces. In 2018 we hoped to get 3500, because our numbers of children expanded so incredibly fast. Unfortunately, Santa Shoebox didn’t have the capacities to supply us this year  . But we want our children to be happy during Christmas time…

That’s why we will be our own Santa this year!

Together with many corporate partners in Soweto and surroundings we want to stem this challenge and prepare 3500 present boxes to make this Christmas really special for all our beneficiaries. That is why we need your help! 

There are three major aspects where we need support:

• donations of the boxes content
• help with packing boxes
• financial support to compensate gaps in content supply

How does it work?

1. Companies and big donors are asked to take part in our Christmas Shoebox Survey: ammish.org/christmas-shoeboxes (in the survey we will ask questions on how you can support us). Private donors please read the FAQ at the bottom   .
2. We will evaluate the results and make a plan about who is responsible for what
3. We will contact our parners and tell them exactly what they can do to help (within their capabilities)
4. All boxes will be compiled, packed (in a big community event) and stored until the end of November
5. We will distribute the boxes to our children

FAQ’s

Can I support you as a private donor?

Yes you can and we appreciate your help a lot. Please use the information provided in the donations box at the bottom of the page. If you want to volunteer and help you can also contact us through: ammish.org/contact.

When will we hear back from AMMISH?

We will collect all the information from different partners and make a plan who will cover which gender and age group. As soon as we are done with that we will tell you exactly what we need from you.

When should we have our items ready at the latest?

Ammish needs all the items at the end of October. If you’re faster – awesome!

How can we contact AMMISH if further questions arise?

You can use the contact information on our contact page: ammish.org/contact.

Can we receive a tax deductible donation receipt?

Yes of course you can! We are an acknowledged NPO and can issue donation receipts. Please write a separate email after your donation that we can issue your receipt.

We have chosen to pack boxes ourselves, can you tell us the approximate value of the items?

All items together should be around R250 upwards to insure the quality and fairness of the presents.

Will my company benefit from this campaign?

We hope that the good cause of the campaign is enough reward for you. But of course, every partner will be credited on our website, social media and in the newspapers.

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Ammish is back with another update from Soweto, but this time featuring Itekeng Primary School as its main topic. This school which is located in White City Jabavu is one of the schools we’re closely cooperating with. On 15th June Itekeng opened its new sports center and invited some of us to celebrate with them. We happily accepted the invitation and not only came to watch, but also brought our own netball team with us.

To match the concentrated strength of our awesome staff some of the children’s parents had to defend the honor of the school. The following matches were fought bravely until the end – while everyone gave her best (really, only women ) of course the fun of it was the actual reward. Without wanting to show off… We won  . Teamspirit at its best.

For the children at the same time it was a totally new experience. Itekeng was not able to offer sports activities before due to lack of sports facilities. Fortunately this has changed now and we’re looking forward to using the new grounds for our programs in the future. Anyone who wants to support these activities can contact us through our website, by phone or easily donate any amount using our bank details at the bottom or via Payfast (click here).

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