SAASTA marks World Aids Day by supporting innocent victims

	Dr Beverley Damonse (right) and Esther Jaca, Manager of Mohau Centre introduce the children to some of the story books donated by SAASTA staff members as part of their gift to the Centre.
	Big smiles greeted the SAASTA visitors.
	SAASTA's Melissa Govender bonds with two of Mohau's primary school learners.

On World Aids Day in December, people around the world get together to spread awareness about HIV/Aids and the status of the pandemic.

In support of World Aids Day 2012, SAASTA staff members donated non-perishable food, story books, stationery, lunch boxes and water bottles for Mohau Centre for children affected by, and infected with, HIV/Aids.

The Centre is situated on the campus of Kalafong Hospital in Atteridgeville. It caters for 45 children, with some of the older children living in a satellite house in Kilner Park. Next year, nine of the children housed in the Centre will be in high school, 28 in primary school and there will be eight preschool toddlers.

Six SAASTA staff members and two colleagues from the National Research Foundation (NRF), Dr Beverley Damonse and Morongwa Motiane delivered the gifts to Mohau on Monday, 10 December. The SAASTA visitors met and played with the children and received information on the current status of the Centre, which had experienced serious financial challenges this past year.

SAASTA moreover organised a free pass to the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa for the children and their care givers who are remaining at the Centre over the Festive Season.

What is Mohau?

Mohau is based in the Kalafong Hospital grounds due to the dire need experienced at Kalafong and Steve Biko Academic Hospitals, where babies are sometimes abandoned by their HIV-infected mothers.

The need for a care facility around greater Tshwane was far bigger than initially 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 in Pretoria, which made it possible to increase the number of children accommodated to 45.

Esther Jaca, Manager of Mohau Centre explained 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 aged 18 years and older.

How can I get involved?

For more information about Mohau, or to make a donation please visit www.mohau.za.org, or contact Esther Jaca on 012 318 6762. The Centre is grateful for all the goodwill of so many people during the Festive Season. In order to do the best for the children in their care, they supplied the following guidelines for people who would like to become involved:

• Take a few children on an outing. There are many children in the home who never go anywhere other than to school or hospital.
• Provide funds and take a few children shopping for clothes. It is so important for institutionalised children to have opportunities to make their own choices.
• Take a few children to a restaurant and teach them to read a menu and to order for themselves.
• It is better to receive a gift from someone you know than from a stranger. Rather build a relationship with one or two children over time by visiting them and then providing a gift for Christmas or a birthday.
• When taking photographs during outings or events, do it with the child's permission and do it for the child - in this way you contribute towards creating a memory book for the child.
• Remember that it is far better to make a real difference in the life of a few children, than to have a little impact in the lives of many.

By Ina Roos, SAASTA