The threat of disruption to a charitable organisation’s vital residential care programme for Laudium’s orphans and other vulnerable youngsters because of failing transport has been averted, thanks to the donation of a brand-new vehicle, valued at R410 000 by the South African Muslim Charitable Trust (SAMCT).
MAMAS Alliance affiliated New BeginningZ – an NGO based in Laudium in Pretoria, provides a new beginning for abandoned and neglected babies and toddlers. New BeginningZ was recently faced with the challenge of not being able to keep vital appointments or conduct a plethora of school rounds due to the unreliability of its vehicle until the SAMCT stepped in.
Speaking at an event to mark the official handover of the new vehicle, SAMCT representative, Mr Farouk Bayat, said: “So much of any charitable organisation’s work is dependent on mobility and having appropriate vehicles is, therefore, no longer a luxury, but a necessity. The official handover of this new vehicle will make a huge difference to the organisation’s ongoing residential care programme.”
New BeginningZ, operational since 2001, does sterling work with regard to, especially, orphans and society’s most vulnerable, providing a wide range of holistic care and support for children and an appropriate vehicle was deemed essential for the meeting of daily appointments and for undertaking numerous school rounds.
“It is a sad reality that many of the babies and toddlers currently under the care of the organisation’s programme have experienced early abandonment or severe neglect and even abuse. The bottom line is that these youngsters face medical and developmental challenges; challenges which require therapy in order to afford them the chance of being re-integrated into the community through adoption or foster care.”
“With so many vulnerable children in its care, transport commitments have become extremely difficult, given the unreliability of the organisation’s existing vehicle. Effective, safe and secure transport is vital if the organisation is to maintain its present programme intact and is vital in order to serve the best interests of the children in its care,” Mr Bayat said.
The SAMCT answered the organisation’s plea for assistance, providing a new vehicle to ensure the organisation’s ability to continue meeting its hectic daily commitments to the children it serves.
The SAMCT was created in 2008, the result of a partnership between Old Mutual Unit Trusts and Al Baraka Bank, for the creation, marketing and distribution of a suite of Shariah Funds. This has ensured that the SAMCT is the beneficiary of this Shariah suite of funds, enabling it to provide funding, services and other resources for the improvement of the lives of the vulnerable, deprived and disadvantaged.
It has been singularly successful in delivering sizeable assistance solutions throughout South Africa – irrespective of race or religion – and continues to work to support needy organisations in the fields of health, social development, poverty alleviation and education.
Mr Bayat concluded: “We are proud to have been able to play a role in assisting New BeginningZ and the extraordinary work its staff do to help vulnerable babies and toddlers. We hope and trust that our humble support will give further impetus to the organisation’s residential care programme and that, with growing momentum, other vulnerable babies and toddlers may be assisted into the future.”
