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The 23rd edition of the Cycle Challenge is around the corner (Mountain Bike Challenge – Sunday 10 November 2019, Cycle Challenge – Sunday 17 November 2019).  The Discovery 947 Ride Joburg is more than just a cycle race – it’s a platform for people to accomplish something great!

We are a registered team for the Discovery 947 Ride Joburg (Ride for a Purpose) and we would like you to join our team!  Advantages of riding for our team include a race pack (including Anatomic race shirt), preferential start time and post-race hospitality.

 

 

If you are interested in riding for our purpose, or if you are a corporate and would like to see your logo on our shirts, please contact the Thalitha Children’s Trust Team Leader, Dr Chelsea Zindoga, on chelsea@thalitha.co.za or 071 154 9114.

We already have quite a team of incredible individuals registered to ride for our cause.  We aim to raise R100 000 through our riders, who are taking on extraordinary journeys to help us achieve our vision.  The funds raised will enable us to continue changing the lives of abandoned babies across the nation.  Click “donate” at https://clickndonate.com/cyclists-for-abondoned-babies-goal-r-100-000/?fbclid=IwAR0wZF8_rMAn7MKbfzdri7FRU8M96531IjiYoE7dloxWqjjG9eAvZ1N7AfI and help us realize our dream of building the first specialized abandoned children in-hospital unit in South Africa!

All the information regarding the races can be found on www.947ridejoburg.co.za.

We look forward to welcoming you to our team!

Anastasia Posokhov was interviewed by Lindi Sirame on Newzroom Afrika, Africa’s latest and up and coming news channel on DStv (channel 405), and the first news channel to be directly owned by black Africans from its inception.

Anastasia and Lindi discussed the plight of babies abandoned in South Africa, the astonishing statistics relating thereto, the reasons mothers make the unthinkable choice to abandon, and the challenges and hurdles in the adoption process.  Anastasia also spoke about the purpose and activities of the Trust, as well as its ultimate goal of establishing specialised care units within hospitals across the country, to specifically care for our abandoned babies.

We thank Newzroom Afrika and Lindi Sirame for shining a spotlight on this national dilemma, and providing us with an opportunity to open the dialogue about what can and must be done to care for the smallest and most vulnerable of our society.

Our first official fundraiser for the Trust took the form of two very special movie nights, hosted at a unique, niche cinema tucked away in the heart of Parkhurst, Johannesburg.

We were lucky enough to secure the international premier of the new computer animated The Lion King, a film eagerly awaited by people across the world.  And it did not disappoint!  Our guests enjoyed every minute of this special movie, with popcorn, drinks and special treats in the form of vegan cupcakes and brownies, generously prepared and donated for the events by one of our long-time loyal supporters, Kina-May Louw.

The events generated thousands of Rands in support of the Trust and its activities, enabling us to continue doing the great work for which we established the Thalitha Children’s Trust.

 

 

 

In the lead up to Nelson Mandela Day 2019, we partnered up with The Little Ashford Preschools (LAP Schools) and Yfm’s DJ Sabby, who supported us in running a donation drive, calling on parents within the LAP Schools, as well as the general public, to contribute nappies, clothing, blankets and toiletries to our Trust in honour of Mandela Day 2019.  These supplies where generously sorted and combined by the LAP Schools into dozens of “love packs”.

On Mandela Day we took representatives from the LAP Schools and Yfm to Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital in Parktown to distribute the many “love packs” to the babies who were then housed at the hospital.  Dr Chelsea Zindoga, Dr Mary-Joe Stevens and Anastasia Posokhov walked the representatives through the children’s ward where the babies are located, talking the guests through a day in the life of an abandoned baby.  Some babies received extra special TLC, being washed, groomed and changed into their newly gifted clothes.  Others were immediately wrapped in their new soft blankets, replacing the rough hospital sheets to which they are accustomed.

The day was both enriching and emotional for everyone.  Our guests for the first time were able to truly witness and appreciate the overwhelming needs of these tiny babies.  Andy Swanepoel, principal of the LAP Bryanston, so eloquently noted that “to witness the impact of something as small as wrapping a little baby in the comfort of a soft blanket will forever stay with me”.

Additional Love Packs were later dispatched to the precious babies at Rahima Moosa Mother & Child Hospital in Coronationville, Kopanong Provincial Hospital in Vereeniging, and Chris Hani Baragwaneth Academic Hospital in Diepkloof.