The Comrades Marathon
The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) launched its 2013 Amabeadibeadi charity initiative in Sandton, Johannesburg on Wednesday, 24 April 2013.The CMA in the past year has prioritised its charitable outreach and last year raised a record 3.2million rand for its six official charities, and World Vision is amongst those.
This year’s campaign ‘U are ultraordinary’ focuses on the runner and with it, the ultraordinary ways in which Comrades Marathon runners can contribute towards fundraising for charities, namely Starfish Greathearts Foundation, Community Chest, Sports Trust, Wildlands Conservation Trust, PinkDrive and World Vision South Africa.
A major part of the 2013 Comrades-Amabeadibeadi Charity campaign is the ‘Toyota Win-a-Car Competition’, where a brand new Toyota Etios will be up for grabs on Comrades Race Day, 2 June 2013. This is a meaningful display of the support that the Comrades Marathon has enjoyed from South Africa’s largest automotive manufacturer since 2010.
The ‘Toyota Win-a-Car Competition’ has been a driving force for Amabeadibeadi fundraising and sees thousands of rand channeled into the charitable coffers year on year. Runners and the greater public can enter the Toyota Win-a-Car competition by sms’ing “TOYOTA” to 34068 at a cost of R1.50 per sms which will run from the 25th April 2013 to the 2nd June 2013.
Men in the making initiative
World Vision South Africa has hosted its second year of Men in the making initiative. This initiative was launched on the 25th of March 2009 and is supported by the Department of Basic Education. The concept was derived from the realisation that the boy-child in South Africa is calling out for attention, help, recognition and acknowledgement as he grapples with the challenges of life.
Gender and Development Coordinator Pontsho Segwai says that World Vision South Africa joined this initiative because most development programmes target women. “ There are very few boys who know that there are Development programmes out there. There is a lot that needs to be done in sensitizing boys. Some of the boys still think that it is a woman’s fault that they get harassed because of how they dress”.
Some of the issues that were discussed were sex, drugs and education. The boys were each assigned a mentor from World Vision to spend the day with. Stanley Maphosa the Advocacy and External Engagement Officer of World Vision South Africa, who was one of the mentors for the day said it was an empowering concept for the boys to spend time at work and receive from their expertise. “ I never got that opportunity, I think I would be a better worker if I got exposed to such an opportunity, he said”.
World Vision South Africa’s wish for this initiative is to have a sustainable relationship with the boys and continually assist them in their life journeys.