CSIR International Convention Centre brings happy smiles to abandoned children

The CSIR International Convention Centre (ICC) has donated chair covers, notepads, pens, 1 000m2 of carpets (with underfelt), shirts, jackets, bags and more than 200 tablecloths to the Mohau Children’s Home in Atteridgeville.

“The children have been very cold lately as a result of cable theft, and the carpets could not have come at a better time,” says centre manager Ester Jaca. According to Jaca, the facility has also been in need of tablecloths for some time as their dining tables were bare. “Our dining room and boardroom will look very bright and welcoming with these smart new tablecloths,” she smiles …

Photograph: Children in the pre-school will now be able to lie down and play on a warm and carpeted floor.

It was through its association with the Tshwane Tourism Association that the CSIR ICC first heard about Mohau Children’s Home’s sterling work among disadvantaged communities in greater Tshwane. The ICC decided to assist. Community involvement lies close to the heart of the CSIR ICC staff, who regularly donate food to Jakaranda Kinderhuis and Bramley Centre in Pretoria whenever a surplus is experienced.

“Although we have supported several charities in the past, it is always infinitely rewarding to assist care facilities that do such exceptional work as Mohau,” says Bronwen Cadle, CSIR International Convention Centre Marketing and Sales Manager. “We would like to challenge all Tshwane hospitality establishments to take part in initiatives such as Mohau.”

Mohau Children’s Home opened its doors in 1997 as a residential care facility for orphaned, abused, abandoned, neglected and terminally ill children and their families who are infected or affected by HIV/Aids. The Home provides temporary or permanent residential care and community-based social services.

Photograph: Refilwe Nchebisang, CSIR ICC Public Relations Intern (left) hands over the CSIR ICC donation to Ester Jaca, manager of the Mohau Children’s Home.

Mohau is based in the Kalafong Hospital grounds due to the dire need experienced at Kalafong and Pretoria Academic Hospitals – it is there that babies are often abandoned by their mothers who are infected by the HIV virus.

However, it soon became clear that the need for a care facility around greater Tshwane was far bigger than anticipated, not only for children infected by HIV/Aids, but also for those affected by the impacts of the pandemic. In 2004, the Mohau Children’s Home bought their first satellite house in Kilner Park, a residential area on the north-eastern side of Pretoria, which made it possible to increase the number of children accommodated from 35 to 45.

Jaca explains that the main reason for the purchase of the satellite house was to reintegrate children back into communities as the National Children’s Act does not allow the Home to accommodate children of 18 years and older.

How to get involved:
For more information about Mohau Children’s Home, or to make a donation please visit www.mohau.za.org, or contact Ester Jaca on 012 318 6762.

Note:
The CSIR International Convention Centre has a programme in place to train people from previously disadvantaged communities in skills required for employment in the catering industry. Many of the trained individuals are then employed by the CSIR on a full-time or part-time basis, or they apply for jobs elsewhere using their newly acquired skills. Another arm of the Centre’s community service is the donation of food or consumables that are not used during an event to charities in and around Pretoria. These donations are made on a regular basis on behalf of the event host, who is credited by name for the contribution.

For further information, contact:
Refilwe Nchebisang, Public Relations and Marketing Intern
Tel: (012) 841 3770