To the Organizations that have enthusiastically followed Bobbi Bear to the Awareness days, Amanzimtoti SAPS, Umlazi FCS, Folweni SAPS, Scottburgh SAPS, Val Melis, Thuthuzela Care Centre- Umlazi, Legal Aid- Umlazi, Blue Roof, Lifeline, Sanca, Al -Anon, Amanzimtoti Trauma Unit, I Care, Pregnancy Crisis, CSCC(Community Support and Counselling Centre) and KIC (Kids in Conflict).  I salute them for their dedication in the work that they do for their Communities. To the Schools that have allowed us to host the Awareness days at their Schools for the benefit of their Learners a very big thank you.

There are still a tremendous amount of Schools that have asked for Awareness days but due to lack of resources it has been difficult to assist everyone.

Schools such as:

• Siyabonga High – Illovo
• Umkhumbi High- KwaMakhutha
• East Coast Christian School- Illovo Beach
• Adams Combined- Adams Mission
• Zenzele Primary- Folweni
• Ja Ja Primary- KwaMakhutha
• Vikingozi High- KwaMakhutha
• Kamileni Primary- Isipingo
• Orissa Primary- Isipingo
• Celokuhle Primary- Folweni
• Primrose Primary- Isipingo

There are a lot more Schools needing Awareness Days so the intention is to start in the new School Year with Awarenes and carry on till the end of 2012. Schools like Zenzele where we have picked up 100 case of all sorts of abuse as well as Celokuhle Primary where there is an ongoing Court Case of a Child being raped and filmed with a cell phone is a priority when School starts again next week.

There have been disclosures at the Schools we have done so far at Kingsway High, Amanzimtoti High, Scottburgh High, Hlengiwe High and Kuswag High and the 5 Student Pschycologists from the University have their hands full every Friday with Counselling coming from the Schools.

Sheine Fisher ( CSO/Child Trafficking)

Cpt Erika Clifton Parks of Umlazi FCS organized for us to have an Awareness Day at Kuswag High School in Amanzimtoti. Kuswag included their Grade 7s in the Awareness. Pregnancy Crisis, CSCC (Community Support and Counselling Centre), Amanzimtoti Trauma Unit, Blue Roof, Al Anon, Legal Aid, Umlazi FCS Cluster as well as Val Melis and TCC Umlazi and Amanzimtoti SAPS joined Bobbi Bear at Kuswag.The tables were very busy and it was the first time that I saw Learners pulling up chairs in front of the Projector and watch the DVDs shown, one being the “Highway to Hell” which was watched from beginning to end.Once again our support group table was hectic with Lorna having her hands full but Sdudla and Dutch Volunteer Eva were there to assist us. The Trafficking photos once again brought on a lot of questions and I have noticed throughout the Awareness done at the various Schools that Learners seem to go for certain photos. They look at all of them but a photo I have on” the sale of body parts” as well as child labour, gaming arcade, a little box room where girls lured into prostitution are kept and a few others as well as Madeleine McCann, the lady in the suitcase horrifies them as well as the fresh meat one “chicken wings”.One girl asked if they really sell body parts and I said yes its big money, she asked whose body parts would they sell and I said to her” any ones including yours”. I thought she was going to be sick.\

Pictures of the event:

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During the Awareness Day at Amanzimtoti High School I was called to the Office to take a call from a Mr Jose de Castro of Scottburgh High School. He had heard that we were doing an Awareness day at Amanzimtoti and could I please come and do an Awareness at Scottburgh High.A date was set for 7th September. Once again some of Bobbi Bears Partners joined us. Pregnancy Crisis, I Care, Al Anon, Lifeline, Blue Roof, Legal Aid. Being under Scottburgh we were joined by Scottburgh SAPS  who sent 2 Police Officers to set up a table. It was a very successful day and a lot of interaction with the Learners, Once again the Trafficking Table went extremely well with lots of questions that I had to answer on the photos displayed on the Table as well as the Support Group and Bobbi Bear info, with Lorna doing a lot of talking with the assistance of Sdudla and Dutch Volunteer Eva.

The arrangement to hold an Awareness Day at Hlengiwe High School in Inkwali was arranged with Mrs Khwela  a Teacher at the School. There are a lot of problems at this particular School and it took us a while to get into it but finally a date was set and although not easy to get to, it is in the rolling hills of Inkwali, our Partners, Blue Roof, Pregnancy Crisis, I Care, Legal Aid, Umlazi and Sanca willingly followed Bobbi Bear there to bring much needed awareness to these Learners.

The Teachers were delighted to have the Awareness Day for not only the Learners but themselves as well. Being a Zulu speaking School the other Organizations sent their Zulu speaking colleagues and with Bobbi Bear, Sdudla and Mildred did most of the talking and they did a lot of talking as well as for the Human Trafficking Table. Stembiso from Sanca said he spoke so much his mouth was drying up.

Some pictures of the event:

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I had a Meeting with Mrs Rose Hughes and Mrs Lyn Glanvill (the L/O Teacher) and the Awareness day was set for 16th September from between 9.30am and 15.00hrs.Once again wonderful support from, Amanzimtoti Trauma Unit, Lifeline, Blue Roof, Pregnancy Crisis, Sanca, Al Anon, Amanzimtoti SAPS, I Care, Legal Aid.Umlazi, CSCC (Community Support and Counselling Centre) and our Bobbi Bear Table with Lorna, myself and Jared (University student Pschycologist).

The awareness tables went extremely well with the Teachers bringing their Classes down in stages and a lot of Learners coming back in between break times to ask more questions. Once again the response from Parents was bad but the Learners benefited greatly from the Day. It was wonderful to see the interaction between the Learners and Amanzimtoti SAPs with W/O Wella, W/O Anita Human and W/O P. X. Mkhize. The Police display was fantastic and certainly did Amanzimtoti proud as they did at the Kingsway High Awareness.The Bobbi Bear Table once again was extremely busy. We always have the 3 Tables together that include the Support Group Table, the Edu Toy as well as Pamplets on our Mandate which is Sexual Abuse on Children and the 3rd Table for the Human Trafficking.

I found that by putting laminated photos of Human Trafficking on the table all spread out as well as my” Bobbi Bear” with a gag was a big attraction to the Learners which brought about mountains of questions and a lot of debate.The other Organizations reported that there was a tremendous amount of interest shown in their Tables as well as a lot of questions and info given out.

Some pictures of the event:

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The School was experiencing a lot of problems with Children downloading Porn ontheir Cell Phones as well as other Social Issues.

I had observed at various Presentations where Presentors spoke to a large group of Children, that only some were listening, while others were talking among themselves or just looking around, so I suggested that we have an Awareness Day at Kingsway High during School time for the benefit of the Learners to give them an idea of the services offered to them in our Area by putting out awareness tables not only from Bobbi Bear but other Organizations dealing with a lot of the Social problems facing our Children.

Invitations were sent out to Pregnancy Crisis in Amanzimtoti, CSCC ( Community Support and Counselling Centre), Amanzimtoti SAP, Umlazi FCS Cluster, Al Anon,Sanca, Legal Aid Umlazi, Lifeline, KIC (Kids in Conflict), Folweni SAP, Blue Roof (HIVClinic), Amanzimtoti Trauma Unit all who were very eager to assist.

The Awaresness was to be held on 2nd August 2011 between 8am and 14.30. MrsSchroder wanted us to come back between 18.30 and 19.30 so that Parents hadthe opportunity to see what services are offered as well as what their Childrenare exposed to. Letters and an sms were sent to all the Parents.

The Awareness Day turned out to be a tremendous success as the Teachersbrought down their Classes in stages and having the Learners coming to eachtable, they were able to gather info as well as ask questions and they asked alot of questions. All the Organizations involved said that the response to theirtables was fantastic. As for Bobbi Bear our Tables went extremely well, Lorna,who takes care of our University Pschycologists had support Group photos on theTable to give then an idea on what happens at our Support groups on a Saturday
as well as Counselling offered every Friday at the Bobbi Bear Centre with the 5Pschycologists. At the Kingsway Awareness one of the Pschycologists, Apheliletook it upon herself to help me with my Human Trafficking Table attached to theBobbi Bear Table. The Children showed a great interest and we challenged thechildren on their knowledge of Trafficking. If we asked if they knew what it is andsome said yes, we said “Well tell us, what is Human Trafficking”. Those that saidthey did not know too much asked a lot of questions and said it should be put onthe L/O schedule at School.

We came back in the Evening for the hour but a very disappointing turn out. 2 Sets of Parents turned up. Mrs Schroder was very disappointed but phoned me the next morning to say that although she was not happy by the bad Parent turnout she was delighted by the response of the Learners that streamed into herOffice during the course of the day to thank her for allowing the Awareness to happen and how much they enjoyed and appreciated it. Projector was up on the stage which had both the Task Team Human Trafficking Awareness DVD playing during the day as well as the SAPS, “Highway to Hell”. Quite a few of the Learners asked if they could obtain a copy of the DVDs whichshowed me that although they were walking around the Tables they were stillwatching what was playing on the Screen.

Some Pictures:

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Fifteen artists from New York took to the stage to the delight of the spectators. They offered a live repertoire of songs from different well known plays amongst them, “The Lion King”, “Mama Mia and “Rent”. Six actors from the Johannesburg “Lion King” production joined the spectacle unexpectedly which made the experience even more amazing and worth-seeing.

Twenty four tickets were donated for “Mother of Peace” and “BobbiBear” NPOs. Those who attended agreed that it was a performance characterized by amazing voices, sensitivity and dreams of a brighter future for all. After the performance the teenagers and children had the unique opportunity to meet the artists, sing-a-song along with them and take precious autographs home. This experience meant an awful lot for these young spectators who felt as special as they really are. These pictures prove that this was a night they will remember for ever and a dream-come true.

Pictures to follow…

Rough Aunties | Sundance Festival 2009

This film can be very hard to watch due to it’s unwavering and unbiased look into such tough subject matter, but it definitely should be seen.  While I wasn’t able to watch all of the World Cinema Competition titles during my short time in Park City, I can say that it doesn’t surprise me that ROUGH AUNTIES won the World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize.

Insert – Rough Aunties Review by AJ SCHNACK

Pictures still to come…

The intro gave me shivers, I think it would be a good thing to include that picture on the site? What do you guys think?

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.]

Go OBB…