Welcome to our quarterly Spring e-newsletter :-)

It’s been a productive few months, with 4 events - including Nelson Mandela’s 90th Birthday Party- to keep us on our toes! Before I share detail of the events, I’d first like to thank some wonderful people who have helped us considerably recently:

• Kim Morris jumped on board with us for 6 months – and was a huge support in helping us to pull off our 90th Dinner celebration. Kim has now moved on as a partner in a for-profit business – and Rich & I wish Kim all the very best in her new endeavours. Thank you Kim!

• Vaughan Roussnel spent a massive amount of voluntary time designing and implementing our Nelson Mandela 90th Birthday E-Card that travelled around the globe. He was happy to do the job without recognition or reward. Thank you Vaughan!

• Greg Wilson has contributed in a big way, by voluntarily painting Nelson Mandela’s portrait – which sold at auction for $10,000. Greg’s commitment was so appreciated. Thank you Greg!

Greg Wilson, Josie Alder &

Barbara Williams

Ben Buckingham continues to voluntarily support MaAfrika Tikkun at every opportunity…. willingly, humbly and again without wanting recognition. Ben has been responsible for a group of students at Sydney Uni sponsoring a child in South Africa. Thank you Ben!

• Kate Spencer volunteered at least 40 hours of her time to support us with our 90th Birthday Dinner. Kate has a wealth of experience in Events Management and her support was valuable. Thank you Kate!

• To our corporate partner Amora Hotel Jamison Sydney, for your huge support, innovation, motivation and hard work on our behalf. For a great Event on 26th July, for sponsoring a family in South Africa, for running in the Sydney Marathon, for the incredible team spirit you share, for coming up with new ideas, for implementing them…Thank you Amora!

• To corporate sponsor O’Brien Glass… for being our first Salary Sacrificers in Oz! For your team of dedicated runners in the Sydney Marathon, for the clothes you’ve collected for our Emergency Relief Program, for your inspiring commitment to what we do in South Africa. Thank you O’Brien!

• Watershed Wines have supported MaAfrika Tikkun at our events by sponsoring us with some very fine wines….Thank you Watershed!

And so the list goes on!

June 15th was the night of our Peninsula Heals Combined Fundraiser with Smile Foundation and Home Hospice. Held at Jonah’s, Whale Beach on a rainy wintery Sunday evening, the event was a huge success, with over a hundred guests. Jonah’s looked after us superbly, as did our wonderful entertainers Wendy Matthews, Melinda Schneider, Justine Bradley, Jen Cincotta & John Stone. Our MC Peter Phelps and Auctioneer David Edwards admirably helped engage our guests, which contributed to the 3 charities benefiting significantly. We are really appreciative of the local community for supporting our efforts – and we’re already planning a similar event for 2009. Watch this space!

MC, Peter Phelps &

Rich Lubner at Jonah's

On July 26th our Nelson Mandela’s 90th Birthday Dinner was held at Amora Hotel Jamison Sydney for 250 people. We had a star-studded line-up, alongside our wonderful MC for the evening Geraldine Doogue.
Keynote Speaker and Guest of Honor Chief Mandla Mandela (Nelson Mandela’s eldest grandson) was a huge hit as he spoke of his lineage and quoted anecdotes and shared amusing stories of his grandfather.
We were entertained by Richard Clapton and his band, Christine Anu, Deni Hines Justine Bradley, Debbie & Althea Tennant and Radical Son. The food and drink flowed thanks to Amora Jamison and Watershed Wines. Thank you to all our Corporate Sponsors and our guests who attended our special tribute for Mr. Mandela’s 90th.

MC,

Geraldine Doogue

Entertainers,

Deni Hines & Christine Anu

Guest of Honor,

Chief Mandla Mandela

September 21st, the Sydney Running Festival (Marathon) kicked off to a bright and sunny start for 45 runners, who were being sponsored by their friends and family to run on behalf of MaAfrika Tikkun. We had a small marquee in the Recovery Village, and thanks to the Amora Hotel Jamison Sydney, were able to provide a light brekkie for participants after their run, whilst we listened to jubilant tales of achievement. A great time was had by all – and Rich and I have noted some ideas that will help us in the planning for next years (even bigger and better!) event. For our first year’s entry to the SRF, we were delighted with sponsorship – so a very big thank you to all runners and walkers for a brilliant achievement.
Special thanks to our 3 corporate team entries: O’Brien Glass, Amora Jamison & Wesptac – and also to Janine Farnell at Pont3 and Alexandra Keating at GoFundraise.
Next year we’d like to implement fun and motivating regular training sessions from a few months before the event…. we’ll keep you posted on that one!

Breakfast after the run at

MaAfrika Tikkun Marquee

We did it!

September 23rd, Justine Bradley’s fundraising Concert for Mandela’s 90 Years, was held at the Sound Lounge, Sydney Uni, with a fabulous line-up of musicians volunteering their amazing talent and time on behalf of MaAfrika Tikkun. Raffle tickets were sold at the door, T shirt and compilation CD orders were taken, wine was proudly sponsored by Watershed – and a great night was had by all! Thank you Justine!

Justine Bradley

Our events this year have raised funds which - considering the current economic climate – will benefit our beneficiaries significantly - even though of course the need continues. Thank you so much to every one of you who participated, donated, volunteered and helped us to make our 2008 events possible.

And now, apart from our end of year Angels Gathering, we take a rest from events until 2009! We have managed to raise some awareness as well as funds through our events, and we hope that since more people now know about us, the networking will build on itself a little and our newcomers will help us to spread the word of MaAfrika Tikkun. We are planning another 4 events for next year - and will spread them across the 12 months to give everyone an opportunity to attend at least one..... we'll try and give you as much notice as possible for your diary!

We’ve learned a lot, but always welcome your feedback to help us grow further. Please don’t hesitate to let me know what we could be doing better, or in what ways you would like to see MaAfrika Tikkun represented in the community.

Any corporate introductions would now be hugely appreciated. Having seen the team spirit that’s possible when a group of people who work together have fun together on behalf of their charity of choice…. we’d like to be able to offer that opportunity to other business’s. There are many ways that a Corporate Social Responsibility Program can be implemented – and for a variety of target projects. Please call me if you feel able to open a door on our behalf.

Besides focussing on corporate proposals, we will also be looking to engage with more Foundations supporting international needs. Once again, any intros very greatly appreciated. At this point I would like to thank the Foundations who are currently supporting us (without mentioning them by name to maintain their privacy).

News from South Africa

Shocking statistics on Aids in South Africa were recently released by the Development Bank of SA which reveal that 2 million more South Africans are infected with HIV than the most recent government estimates show.

• 7.6 million South Africans are HIV positive
• More than 27% of men and women aged between 20 and 64 are HIV positive
• More than 92,000 babies have been infected, either perinatally or through mother’s milk, in the past year
• The total number of Aids sick by mid-2007 was 1,287,844
• Nearly 722,000 people have died of Aids-related diseases in the past year, bringing the total number of such deaths since 2003 to more than 3.7 million
• In 2003, the accumulated total Aids-related deaths stood at just under 1 million
• 1.2 million of the country’s 1.49 million orphans have lost their parents to Aids and this number is expected to increase by more than 336,000 this year alone

These latest DBSA statistics on one of the biggest killers in South Africa was collected from clinics, local municipalities, development planners, morgues and funeral homes.

These figures are used by the bank to determine funding for municipal projects such as the upgrading of infrastructure. These statistics reflect the fact that the Aids pandemic remains a massive challenge for the country and the social cost continues to be enormous.

Home based Caregiver

with patient

However, with all the bad news (that we have to be aware of) - here are some of many success stories that help to brighten the future prospects….
http://www.maafrikatikkun.org.za/web/content/blogcategory/38/250/

We will let you know when the next Angels Gathering is.... Rich and I would love to see you there.

Till then, our gratitude as always to the many people who support MaAfrika Tikkun in a variety of ways.

Each of you makes a big difference....thank you!

Warmest wishes,

Gael & Rich