A major transport barrier, which has long hindered a Claremont, Cape Town, grief support organisation’s vital work in addressing childhood trauma, grief, and loss in underserved communities, has been eradicated with the donation of a R385 500 vehicle.
Khululeka Grief Support recently received the new vehicle from the South African Muslim Charitable Trust (SAMCT), enhancing its delivery of evidence-based mental health programmes, the facilitation of safe travel for staff and vulnerable youth and support for outreach to rural community-based organisations. It also enhances holiday programmes, benefiting up to 100 children every day.
Commenting on the difference the vehicle makes to the work of Khululeka Grief Support, SAMCT representative, Mr Faried Boltman, said: “This practical solution ensures consistency and sustainability and will have a far-reaching impact, directly strengthening support for at-risk children across the Western Cape.”
Khululeka was established in 2005 in response to the HIV pandemic and its devastating impact on children orphaned by the disease. With millions of South African children affected by the loss of a parent or caregiver due to HIV/AIDS, COVID-19, violence and other causes, Khululeka recognised the urgent need for targeted mental health support, expanding its operation to develop and implement the evidence-based Abangane Grief Support Programme. The organisation, with external support, also trains and mentors facilitators to provide direct psychosocial support to bereaved and traumatised youth aged 9 years to 19 years, working to ensure every grieving child has access to healing and hope.
Mr Faried Boltman said: “Khululeka Grief Support has long been at the forefront of addressing childhood trauma, grief, and loss in South Africa. With more than 2,25 million children having lost a caregiver, demand for trauma-informed mental health support is at an all-time high. Given such staggering statistics, Khululeka has looked to expand its impact through increased and consistent programme delivery. However, unreliable public transport and rising mileage costs have severely limited the organisation’s determined ability to reach increased numbers of vulnerable children.”
“Recognising the sheer magnitude of Khululeka’s outreach to vulnerable children, the SAMCT was pleased to step in, providing the financial backing for an appropriate vehicle. This will enable its facilitators to safely and reliably travel into the disadvantaged communities it serves, whilst also enabling the transport of its children to other venues and on outings, as well as allowing for the transportation of the organisation’s programme materials, and catering for holiday programmes,” he added.
The SAMCT was created in 2008, the result of a partnership between Old Mutual Unit Trusts and Al Baraka Bank, for the creation, marketing and distribution of a suite of Shariah Funds. The organisation provides funding, services and other resources to improve the lives of the vulnerable, deprived and disadvantaged. It has successfully delivered sizeable assistance solutions throughout
South Africa – irrespective of race or religion – and continues to work to support needy organisations in the fields of healthcare, social development, poverty alleviation and education. The organisation has long served as a pivotal conduit for the channelling of funding, vital services, and resources to approved public benefit organisations, and remains committed to catalysing positive change and creating a lasting impact on the development and upliftment of, especially, disadvantaged individuals and communities. Its funds are distributed to help improve the health and development of deserving people and organisations, irrespective of race or religion.
Mr Faried Boltman said of the SAMCT donation: “We hope that the provision of this vehicle will go some way towards strengthening Khululeka’s future mental health interventions for at-risk youth in the Western Cape, ensuring they continue to receive the care and guidance they so desperately need.”
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For media enquiries, please contact:
Rasheeda Motala
Social Responsibility Officer Tel: 084 506 2280
Email: samct@samct.co.za
www.samct.co.za