VIDEO: Children entertain shoppers
Alberton City honours Mandela Day with a feel-good tap tag initiative.
ON Saturday, 16 July, Alberton City Shoppers were treated to a thrilling display of acrobatics, drumming, marimba playing and art – all for a good cause.
The performers hailed from the Afrika Tikkun’s Centre of Excellence in the township of Orange Farm, where they are empowered daily as young people to become productive citizens of the economy through education, sports, career guidance, computer literacy, human rights empowerment, skills development and training in arts and culture.
They were there together with a group of women, who are caregivers of children with disabilities from Orange Farm.
These women have formed a self-help group, with the support of Afrika Tikkun, to lobby for their children to access their fundamental human rights; including education, healthcare, protection from harm, access to justice and decent work.
Using an exhibition of artwork and photography, the women spent the morning raising the awareness of the Saturday shoppers. The group have been enormously successful – being responsible for government agreeing to establish Orange Farm’s first school for children with special education needs, and then for opening Orange Farm’s first class for children with autism.
The young people from Afrika Tikkun were overwhelmed by the response and the kindness and enthusiasm of Alberton City Shoppers.
“We never knew they cared so much,” said one young drummer.
Watch their dances here:
Alberton City is not only making Mandela Day a memorable and impactful occasion for their shoppers – they donated R10 000 to Afrika Tikkun and every tap on their Loyalty Programme Tag by a customer will earn a donation of R2 for the organisation.
For the past 20 years, the centre has implemented development programmes to redress the inequities of apartheid and to help disadvantaged children and youth to realise their inherent potential.
Today Afrika Tikkun reaches over 20 000 beneficiaries per annum and employs over 500 locally trained employees in five communities in South Africa. The Cradle to Career model has earned it recognition as a leader in community development in South Africa.
The centre supports children from infancy into adulthood and employment, to ensure that they become the next generation of productive South African citizens.
The model works from the context of family to provide services to children from birth through school going age into the world of work. Through cross referrals between programmes, the holistic development of young people is ensured, by providing them with what they need to emerge as adults who can access the economy.
Find out more at www.afrikatikkun.org.
Watch the video of the group on the RECORD’S Instagram.
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