The Nelson Mandela Children's Fund is a charitable organisation founded by Nelson Mandela, based in South Africa. Its mission is to help individuals from birth to age 22, particularly orphans of the AIDS crisis.
History
In 1995, Mandela stopped to talk to street children in Cape Town, and was inspired to found organisation. He remarked:
"We were driving back to the Presidency in Cape Town one cold winter's evening, when I saw a group of street children and stopped to talk to them." "The children asked me why I love them. This astounded me, and I asked them why they asked this, and they said that because every time I get money from overseas, I share it with them."
Upon founding the organisation, he pledged to donate one third of his salary to the fund, and began fundraising. Although the organisation continues to assist young homeless people and those living in poverty, the fund now focuses on the underprivileged, orphans of the AIDS crisis, those affected by HIV and AIDS, and "child-headed households" in South Africa.
Programs
Project Goelama
This is a community mobilisation project designed to mitigate the effects of HIV and AIDS on youth. As of March 2010, the project has established 75 self-help groups comprising 1,335. These groups support 2,152 children in 2,328 households. The project assisted with the establishment of small, individual or group businesses.
Efeng Bacha
The objectives of the NMCF Efeng Bacha Youth Club are to provide opportunities, skills and mentoring to youths. The club encourages civic participation and upholds respect for diversity and a faith-based value system. Activities include seminars like the Schools Safety Seminar which formed part of 16 days of activism with focus on violence against women in 2006. In March 2007 Efeng Bacha and the NMCF conducted a Teenage Pregnancy Seminar as the start of a research project with the ultimate aim of resolving the challenge of teenage pregnancy. The Efeng Bacha Youth Club is also involved with a Reading Initiative and with Youth Parliament. -
Disability program
The objectives of the NMCF Disability Program are to provide disabled youths with opportunities to integrate into the local community and ordinary schools and to enjoy equal opportunities. The Program works closely with families affected and with the community to ensure that the stigmas often associated with disabled children are dispelled through education. The NMCF Disability Program also works with the government with the objective of increasing provisions made for disabled youths.
Other fundraising initiatives
Besides Project Goelama, Efeng Bacha and the Disability Program, other charitable events are arranged regularly, both locally and abroad. Gala dinners featuring auctions are used to raise funds in aid of the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund and the Nelson Mandela Foundation. One such event was the Mandela Day Gala Dinner and Auction. It was arranged by former US President Bill Clinton and held on 15 July 2009 at the Vanderbilt Hall in New York. Another successful gala dinner and auction, was the Mandela Legacy Canvas Auction on 16 July 2011 in Cape Town. The canvas was successfully auctioned by South African auctioneer Rael Levitt for R2.5 million.
Project partners and associates
Championing Children
Ebenezer
Far North Community Care and Development
Home Intervention – Hearing and Language Opportunities Parent Education Services
