St Francis Mamelodi & Tumelong also collected bread tags in exchange of wheelchairs giving back to the community
We as Tumelong & St Phillip Anglican church in Ga-Rankuwa collected cold drink bottle caps in exchange of wheelchairs for our physically impaired community
with your help of collecting bottle caps and bread tags we can change a life of someone out there
so Anglicans lets start making a difference in other peoples life
#bottle caps and bread tags
St Francis of Assisi waterkloof and WHPS boys school sponsored the Bishop Jo Seoka centre’s Christmas party which will stay in our memory for years
Tumelong ECD centre in Ga-Rankuwa was renamed after The Rt. Revd. Dr. J.T. Seoka on the 30th of October 2015 and is now called the Bishop Jo Seoka Centre, Diocese of Pretoria. The centre was re-open and blessed by him. The gala dinner held on the 26th of September was used as a platform to raise funds for the renovation of this centre.
Tumelong held a Gala Dinner to celebrate their 75th anniversary and to bid farewell to The Rt. Revd. Dr J.T. Seoka, Bishop of the Diocese of Pretoria and Chairman of Tumelong Mission’s Board.
Table settings and decor done by Mokgaetji Matlaisane
Cutting of the cake with the Board Members of Tumelong Mission
Anglican Pretoria Diocese clergy and Tumelong staff participating at the Anti-Corruption march hosted by the Faith Based Organisation.
Busisiwe Khanyile is a young girl who was born in Soshanguve and is passionate about her studies, career and giving back. This young lady who is an actress, entrepreneur and student recently turned twenty-one and when her mother asked what she wanted to have, she said she wanted to have a dinner. She is blessed enough to have a mother who took it to the next level and she managed to invite family and a few close friends to share this beautiful day. Busisiwe decided that seeing as her guests will be treated to a three course meal, they will not have enough space to eat the cake so that sparked the idea of sharing her cake at an orphanage in Soshanguve.
Busisiwe invited two of her friends on the 31st of March (two days after her birthday), Pfarelo Dau and Mosa Modiri to pay a visit to a wonderful bunch of children at the Luvuyo Orphanage Home in Soshanguve. They all thoroughly enjoyed this experience although Busisiwe described it as, “It was a great experience, if I ever reached what I define as success, I definitely wouldn’t do it again. I’d rather take kids to school; in that way, I’m giving them something no one can take away from them. I will do that.” The three ladies all agreed after seeing a wonderful performance by the children who did a gumboot dance piece for them, that they are extremely talented and that they deserve bigger platforms where people can also come and watch them perform.
A group of 9 parishioners from St Francis, one parishioner from Trinity Lynnwood and a guest from the USA, met at church early on the morning of 18 July 2013. We made our way to the meeting point at Holy Trinity Rustenberg (Fr Alan O’ Brien’s church) where we had a little “padkos”, all while waiting for the Tumelong team to lead us to their different projects.
Our first port of call was the Rustenberg Child and Youth Care Centre (Secure Care Programme) which was officially opened by the Hon MEC for the Department of Social Development, Women, Children and People with Disabilities, MME Mosetsanagape Mokomele-Mothibi on 11 March 2011. We were very impressed at this obviously newly constructed facility with all it had to offer but felt that it was completely under utilised. The centre is run and managed by the Bosasa group, with a staff of 30. We met 13 young people (one young lady aged 11 and 12 young men) who are in this centre for varying misdemeanors. There is room for 60 juvenile offenders between the ages of 14 – 18 years. If they are found guilty and their sentence goes beyond 18 they can stay at the centre until they are 21. This facility includes a modern sickbay, courtroom, classrooms, and separate quarters for boys and girls. These youngsters remain at the centre until their sentence is over. They receive schooling in literacy and numeracy and also take part in community projects. The Director of the centre Mr Solly Mphofela addressed us and indicated that once the offenders return to their communities there are no repeat offences. These young people had all written letters to Madiba which were on the wall of their Assembly area. Father Tim followed with a meaningful short talk on the value of such an institution lying in taking the chance one gets, to change one’s life and go out and make a difference as Madiba had done. The youngsters joyfully sang songs for us before launching into Happy birthday dear Madiba and Happy birthday dear Diana. (Yes, this is my one claim to fame – sharing the 18th July with this icon of our time!)The staff of Tumelong had brought a tree to be planted and this duly happened as well. Not to forget, we were given tea/coffee and some very interesting sandwiches as well!
From here our convoy of vehicles snaked our way to Kgatelontle Agricultural Co-op. This co-op was founded in 1998 – the first phase sponsored by The Dept of Agriculture and the second phase by the Bojanala District Platinum Municipality. The land belongs to the Royal Bofakeng Nation. We met Mama Rosina Maboa and Mama Julia Mafatshe who have been at the co-op since the start. There is much potential but the buildings are in a state of disrepair having been vandalized after Eskom cut the electricity to the facility. The staff of Tumelong is hoping to source funds to repair the damage, and so be able to employ better security, so that the land can be successfully farmed.
Finally we made our way to Rakatane Place of Safety in a large house in Tlhabane but on our way there we had a quick stop to see St Andrews Anglican Church which is under major reconstruction. Mama Tiny Rakatane the owner of the house fosters 10 well cared for children ranging in age from 3 – 14, two boys and 8 girls. She does not get all the grants she should receive due to bureaucratic red tape but is assisted during the week by helpers from a Community Work Program (restoring dignity through opportunities) which is sponsored by Cooperative Governance. They do the housework, cook meals, and do the laundry, so that Tiny can concentrate on looking after her children. Even though the home is quite large all 10 children and Tiny sleep in one bedroom, top to tail! Tumelong took food parcels and we donated various non perishable foods, blankets (from Trinity), and the birthday cake. Our lunch was kindly provided by the ladies of St Andrews and Tumelong provided the drinks. We were not the only visitors bearing gifts. When we arrived there was a group of women from Anglo American Platinum – Women in Mining, who had given a food/lucky box to each child and were busy painting the bedroom wall. Elizabeth Boje had much fun adding her hand print to the wall! And as we left Rakatane the next group of women from platinum mine came to join in the fun of Madiba Day.
This was a really fun day spending time together learning about what goes on in a community not too far away (1 ½ hour drive) and hopefully spreading cheer and hope to the youngsters whose lives we touched in some small way.
Posted by
Jill Daugherty and Diana Higgs
Event : Outreach programme
Date : 03/08/2013
Venue : Lerato Disability Care Centre at Oukasie, Brits
Brief history about the centre:
The centre was established in 2009/02/02
Looking after mentally and Physically disable children from the age of one year
Physical address: Oukasie, Brits at stand number 499 Masenkeng Section
The outreach programme started at around 11am. Tumelong was represented by Mr L Mthembu who brought 20 food parcels and 11 bags of clothes. Madibeng Anglican Archdeaconry Youth also donated clothes to the Centre.
We were asked to bath the kids. After bathing them we then cleaned their wheelchairs and washed their clothes.
I would like to thank all the youth members who attended the outreach leaving everything that they had to do on that day to come and help at the care centre.
Posted by
Tshwaro Makgale (Chairperson of Madibeng Archdeaconry Anglican Youth)
June Van Der Merwe (front right) and St Francis Craft Group
Maboloka children holding their trick suit
“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few’’. (Matthew 9:37)
June Blanche Grant, the youngest of five children, grew up in Cullinan and later in Pretoria West. Here the family worshipped at St Saviour’s Anglican Church, where the offices of Tumelong are now located. On leaving school, June worked at Iscor in the Accounts Department. This is where she met her future husband, Johannes (Joe) van der Merwe. Joe studied extra-murally at the University of Pretoria, gaining a BCom degree and eventually qualifying as a Chartered Accountant, but remaining his whole working life at Iscor. Joe had become a committed Christian while still at school and joined the Anglican Church when he married June. The couple had two children, Olivia and Leslie.
The family moved to a house in Groenkloof in 196?. For a while they continued to worship at St Saviour’s, but also started attending the newly built church of St Francis of Assisi in Waterkloof, where they soon became involved in leadership roles. June taught in the Sunday School, eventually becoming the Superintendent, while Joe became a lay minister and a member of parish council, twice serving as church warden.
June was also a founder member of the St Francis Craft Group. The members used to gather at one of their homes, where they shared their expertise and learned new crafts. June was a good knitter and a keen painter. She also pressed flowers, using them to create greeting cards and calendars. The ladies sold their wares and used the money to equip the new kitchen, which had just been built at the church. After this initial project they continued meeting, putting their talents to work for various Church charities, until the plight of the Tumelong Aids orphans was brought to their attention. From then on they concentrated their efforts on bringing these children a little warmth and joy, knitting them jerseys for the winter and giving them a Christmas party at the end of the year.
We from Tumelong could like to thank June for her kindness and generosity. Her contributions brought smiles to our children at Maboka Haven and (ECD) Early Childhood Development at Garankuwa. June and her group played a vital role in June 2012 by organising Track suits for Maboloka Haven children. She also helped with organising a Christmas party for our ECD at Garankuwa. Her contributions in helping the poor and the marginalized will be highly missed.
MAY HER SOUL REST IN PEACE.
Tumelong:
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