Works on Auction 2009
The Homestead Online Charity Art Auction
The Bridge at Elukhuselweni Sponsorship Programme, established for the educational expenses of boys at The Homestead’s Children’s Home in Khayelitsha, has been supported by Johans Borman Fine Art Gallery since its inception in 2007.
The paintings offered on this online auction have been donated by the artists and the gallery. They will be shipped to the successful bidder at no charge. All proceeds will be paid directly to the sponsorship programme.
The 3 paintings illustrated here will be open to bids by E-mail: art@johansborman.co.za, or telephone: 021-423 6075 or cell: 082 566 4631, from Tuesday, 8 December until 12h00 Friday, 11 December. Every painting’s reserve price will initially be stated, and this will continuously be updated with the current highest bid.
Please contact the gallery should you require better images or any further information.
The Homestead Projects For Street Children
The Homestead is a registered Non-Profit Organization based in Cape Town, which was established in 1982. The Organization’s main objective is to assist boys living on the streets of Cape Town.
Street Outreach is the first and one of the most important services The Homestead provides to children living and working on the street. The Street Outreach workers spend much of their time building strong and trustful relationships with these boys. This is very important to the process of either getting the child back to his home, or into a shelter, as soon as possible.
The Homestead Intake Shelter covers the first phase of residential care. The centre is situated in District Six, and is open 24 hours a day. Upon entering the Intake Shelter a child must learn to abide by a set of rules. This will often cause resistance and uncertainty at first, because it means the child must give up his independence. These boys are usually unsettled, so the social workers have developed an ‘open-door’ policy: meaning that the door is never closed on a child - he will be welcomed back, time and again, until he is ready to become involved in the programme. The underlying principle is that each child must take responsibility for the decision to change his own life, otherwise nothing will be accomplished. This process, of easing a child into a more structured life with rules is usually very slow and requires much patience. During the child’s stay at the Shelter, staff members try to involve him in activities like soccer, boxing, art classes, and developmental workshops. The main objective during this phase is to reunite the child with his family, which requires the social workers to do home visits and family counselling.
Should it not be in the best interests of the child to return home, or to other family members, the Children’s Court will place the child in the permanent care of The Homestead. The Bridge at Elukhuselweni Children’s Home is The Homestead’s second phase residential care centre, offering care for about 65 boys. The Home is based in Khayelitsha - a community from where many of these children originate. By this stage the boys are generally more settled, and most of them return to formal schooling.
Most boys living at the Children’s Home have fallen behind with their education and need to attend better resourced schools to give them a chance to ‘catch up’. The Bridge at Elukhuselweni Sponsorship Programme was established in 2007 to address these needs. The Programme pays for educational psychological assessments, to ensure that every child is placed in the most suitable school environment, and there after also covers the school fees and transport costs. Two computers were installed to help the children to become more computer literate. This sponsorship programme has been growing every year, with very positive results, and it was able to fund the educational expenses for 28 boys in 2009.
Sponsorship for the educational expenses of a child amounts to R1800 per year or R150 per month. A sponsor is initially given background information about the sponsored child, which is supplemented by two newsletters a year, in order to keep the sponsor informed of the child’s progress. A tax receipt, which allows the sponsor to deduct any donation from his or her taxable income, is issued on an annual basis for all donations received.
To sponsor a child or make a donation, please phone Amori on +27 (0)82 4642135 or +27 (0)21 6835329 or E-mail her at bormanfamily@telkomsa.net
