Vol 7-04-July 18 - Katanning Rotary Club

Monday, 18 July, 2011INTERACTAn Interactor’s South African legacyby Stephen Yafa - The Rotarian - July 2011The three-year-old girl holding my hand will not letgo of it. So traumatised after being sexuallyabused that she cannot walk, she sits at a lowplay table in the cheerful activities room at theNonceba Family Counselling Centre inKhayelitsha, a township about 15 miles southeastof Cape Town, South Africa.For children like her, and for abused women aswell, Nonceba offers hope of healing fromemotional and physical wounds too deep andhorrific for most of us to imagine.Surrounding this newly constructed two-storybuilding are rows of shanties sprawled over 10 square miles ofterrain.Here, more than a million South Africans live, often eight or tento a single-room shack cobbled together from sheet metal andscavenged wood and separated from its neighbours by a fewfeet of dirt.An estimated 33 percent of girls who live in the townships willbe raped by the time they turn 21.The youngest among them are especially at risk because of thepernicious myth that sexual intercourse with a virgin can cureHIV/AIDS.In Khayelitsha, HIV-related infections are the leading cause ofdeath.Thirteen years ago, after a neighbour's daughter was assaulted,Khayelitsha resident Nocawe Mankayi took it upon herself toprotect and counsel the girl and other young survivors of rapeand abuse.Operating out of one room and funded by small donations,Mankayi sheltered the children and gave them something toeat.She called the makeshift center Nonceba – Xhosa for“sympathy.”Mankayi’s mission may sound familiar to Rotarians.In November 2006, The Rotarian told the story of a Cape Townteenager, Ashley Kaimowitz, secretary of the Interact Club ofHerzlia High School, who visited Nonceba with the other clubofficers in 2002.During that visit, a four-year-old put her arms around Ashleyand refused to let go.The emotional power of that bonding, and the depth of needthat it communicated, changed Ashley’s life – and, in time, thelives of thousands of abused and neglected township children.Enlisting the volunteer aid of some Cape Town filmprofessionals, Ashley dedicated herself to making adocumentary about Nonceba.Four months later, her 24-minute film, For the Love of OurChildren, premiered at her school.Within a year, thousands of South Africans had seen thedocumentary on television, learned about the children’s plight,and made donations.Ashley Kaimovwitz's mother, Megan, with a child fromKhayelitsha township. Photo by Stephen YafaIn 2005, as she was about to embark on a film study program inAustralia, 19-year-old Ashley was killed by a drunk driver.The Rotary Club of Hout Bay, South Africa, which hadsponsored Ashley as a Rotary Youth Exchange student inJapan in 2004, established the Ashley Kaimowitz MemorialFund with several other clubs.Bolstered by a Matching Grant from The Rotary Foundation,they raised more than US$750,000 for the new centre.Modern and airy, Nonceba is equipped with a kitchen, medicalfacilities, counselling offices, and dormitories.Abused women and children can stay for as long as they needto.The morning I arrive at Nonceba, Don Peters is talking to agroup of visitors.Peters, of the Hout Bay club, was a major force in getting thenew facility funded, along with Past District Governor RodneyMazinter, of the Rotary Club of Sea Point.All children who arrive at the centre receive a comfort box, heexplains, that contains a washcloth, toothbrush and toothpaste,underwear, and a piece of candy.The kids can choose their own comfort doll, hand-sewn byvolunteers in Cape Town and the United States.Downstairs, Mankayi and her staff of social workers, doctors,and administrators go about the daily business of rebuildinglives.“We’re working with 15 children at present, and we won’t let anygo back out until we know there’s someone to watch overthem,” Mankayi assures me with forceful passion.“Until this building was done, we had nowhere to shelter them.Now we do.”Listening to Peters’ presentation are Jeffrey and Megan Kaimowitz,Ashley’s parents.They’ve helped build and outfit the new Nonceba centre, wherenothing, I notice, is second-hand, threadbare, or makeshift.The spaces and furnishings are all spotless, colourful, andwelcoming. Jeffrey is deputy chair of the Nonceba Trust.Continued next page ►Rotary Club of Katanning Page 9