Mama Dawn Irons from Ubombo

After a restful night in Hazyview, the Clover Mama Afrika team left at the crack of dawn to meet up with Mama Dawn Irons in Ubombo 520kms away. After experiencing a long year of endless challenges Mama Dawn is still in high spirits and welcomed us with true Ubombo hospitality. All her projects is doing well even though her bread oven is now only used to feed the 70 to 92 children every weekend. “I have good plans in progress for the children’s home. It started with the chapel that is well used for activities on Saturdays and Sunday school on Sundays. We also have a learning centre and will soon be receiving a proper play area for the little ones,” said an energetic Mama Dawn.

CAPTION 15: Mama Dawn’s pottery project continues to grow from strength to strength. Three members are permanently employed and each one of them have an extraordinary talent. Clover’s  Manager of Corporate Services Professor Elain Vlok inspects some of the beautiful work done in the background.

CAPTION 16:  The food garden is one of the self-help projects that helps feed the children in Mama Dawn’s care.

 

MEDIA RELEASE

CLOVER MAMA AFRIKA AND MIX TELEMATICS HIT THE ROAD AGAIN

6 000km to change - Inspiring change for the communities these Mamas serve

 

Johannesburg, October 2013 – MiX Telematics, a global provider of fleet and mobile asset management solutions, is once again sponsoring Clover Mama Afrika’s annual roadshow – a journey that includes support visits to 21 Clover Mama Afrika centres across South Africa.

“The aim of the roadshow is to give each Mama personal mentorship, while evaluating what she and her particular centre are in need of to perform at their best. We’ll also be scouting for potential new Mamas in the different communities we visit,” says Prof. Elain Vlok, Manager of Clover’s Corporate Services. 

“MiX Telematics is proud to be associated with this sincere initiative. We’ll also be tracking and monitoring the team in real-time, ensuring that they take the best possible route and arrive safely at each stop,” says Gert Pretorius, Managing Director of MiX Telematics (Africa Fleet Solutions).

Departing on Sunday 13 October from Johannesburg, the roadshow will cover over 6,000 kilometres in just over two weeks. “Our first stop is Polokwane, followed by visits to Mamas in Mpumalanga and then Kwa-Zulu Natal. After making our way through other provinces, we’ll land up back in Gauteng for our last stops,” says Prof. Vlok.

“Clover Mama Afrika’s Madiba Week initiative in July led to the launch of our new ‘Clean Scene’ project,” says Prof. Vlok. “The new project was inspired by a mass clean-out and facility revamp of Mama Esther Nkosi’s orphanage in Nelspruit, which saw many helping hands on deck and an excellent outcome. The project helped us realise that a number of our centres could do with the same attention moving forward, and the roadshow will assist in identifying those centres with more pressing needs.”

Last year’s roadshow included a stopover in the village of Ashbury, Montagu – known as the Gateway to the Karoo. Here, Clover Mama, Mama Selestien, assists her community by caring for children and the elderly, while overseeing a catering business that employs a number of community members.

Between baking 500 loaves of bread, baking cakes, and arranging functions, Mama Selestien helps prepare up to 200 fish and chips parcels, each of which provides a daily meal to a family of four in Ashbury.

The Clover Mama Afrika project appoints women who are already making a difference in their communities, and further empowers them with sustainable skills that can be transferred to the community at large. “The project has already touched the lives of more than 14,200 children, and over 2,000 elderly community members throughout the country,” says Prof. Vlok.

“This is such a wonderful opportunity for us to interact with each and every one of our Mamas; they are truly inspirational women. And with the generous support of MiX Telematics, we are in a position to not only assess their needs, but to start allocating time and resources that will result in even more upliftment in these communities.”

“We’re committed to supporting Clover Mama Afrika in this endeavour as well, and we look forward to promoting a clean and healthy environment for the Mamas and those they work with every day,” concludes Pretorius.

Track the progress of the roadshow on the official Clover Mama Afrika website http://www.mama-afrikanews.co.za/ or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CloverMamaAfrika‎ and follow it on Twitter  #6000kmToChange, #36Doorsteps, #InspiringChange.

Kind regards,

Lucia Walker

Senior Account Executive

Jenni Newman Public Relations (Pty) Ltd

Switchboard:  + 27 (0) 11 506 7384

Mobile:            + 27 (0) 83 500 4333 

Fax:                   + 27 (0) 86 680 2347

E-mail:              luciaw@jnpr.co.za

   

A member of the MS&L global network

Physical address:  Building 9, Inanda Greens Office Park, 54 Wierda Road West, Wierda Valley, Sandton 2196