#KnowYourNPO #Domino

If you’ve ever wondered what the Domino Foundation actually does… here’s your chance to #KnowYourNPO! This quarter we’re unpacking what the Domino Foundation does on a larger scale.

#1: We are a group of like-minded individuals that believe in the power of a changed life. We have a range of community outreach programmes that focus on the individual, to empower, uplift and transform their lives so they too can impact the nation and others around them. We currently impact the lives of just over 4000 individuals every single day, ranging from 0 to 18 years of age.

#2: We seek to assist and empower the neediest in communities to pave the way for a brighter tomorrow. Our dream is to equip individuals physically, emotionally, socially, cognitively and spiritually to enable purpose-filled lives.

#3: We manage focused interventions and initiatives operating into the spaces of education, nutrition, injustice, child support and business development. So depending on your company’s CSR policy and specific area of impact, we have a diverse offering across multiple geographic locations to suit your needs with the ultimate goal being the same: to empower, uplift and transform our communities.

#4: We believe that for effective social change to take place within communities, we need to work effectively in three key areas. Namely social charity, social justice and social entrepreneurship to holistically transform communities.

#5: Over the years we have witnessed changed lives, changing other lives and we’ve termed this #TheDominoEffect. As we have impacted, uplifted and transformed an individual’s life, they have gone and transformed their immediate family’s lives, and they have gone on to impact and transform their community’s lives and so a beautiful ripple effect, or #DominoEffect of changed lives takes shape. We believe that you change a community, by changing an individual!

#6: We rely on support from a host of like-minded businesses, individuals, partner organisations, schools, churches, international supporters & activists and sporting enthusiasts. So if you know of any, start your own #DominoEffect and share the love!

#7: We couldn’t do what we do without an AMAZING team. These people LOVE doing what they do and what nothing more than to uplift, encourage, support and transform people’s lives. Dedicated, inspired, driven and fun, our teams are truly the best around!

#8: Ways to support ALL

There are SO many ways for EVERYONE to get involved. Whether you’re in school, a group of interested staff members, corporate’s looking to satisfy your #BEE scorecard or simply an individual with a heart for others, there is space for YOU to join the #DominoEffect.

#9: Our support process is super simple. SUPPORT > RECEIVE DOCUMENTATION > FEEL GOOD. Repeat!

November General Overview

It’s that time of the year again, the festive spirit is in the air but as the year winds down, exciting events are still on the go!

On the 19^th of November, Durban North’s newest Babies Home (an extension of Domino’s Babies Home: Fairhavens) was officially unveiled! A cocktail party was held on the day to celebrate this prestigious moment. Many men and women gathered to be entertained by live music and tour the new beautiful home, situated directly next door to Fairhavens. Read more about this new home and see pictures from the day here.

 

On the 1st of November a Christmas Hope Market was held at Grace Family Church. This is a non-profit, community development initiative that seeks to offer opportunities to emerging business men and women to generate income and learn from the basic business experience of selling their home-made, hand-made or crafted products.We were invited to take along some of the awesome produce from our Vegetable Tunnels in Brookdale and sell them to raise funds for the running of this project that has just been more and more fruitful. Read all about the success of this market here.

 

This Christmas we wanted to spread the festive joy by placing a toy in the hand of as many underprivileged children as possible in the Amaoti community. On the 28th of November we organised an event to gather presents together so that we could make this Christmas a special one for the hundreds of kids who are in a creche on our ECD programme. Check out more of this story and the cute pictures that go with here.

 

Our next newsletter will be a combined January/ February one as over the school holidays our programmes quieten down but we wish every one a Merry, Merry Christmas and a safe, festive season!

 

Read more from our November Domino Effects Newsletter:

Babies Home Effect

ECD Effect

Life Skills Effect

Literacy Effect

Feeding Effect

 

The Domino Christmas Story

This Christmas we wanted to spread the festive joy by placing a toy in the hand of as many underprivileged children as possible in the Amaoti community. On the 28th of November we organised an event to gather presents together so that we could make this Christmas a special one for the hundreds of kids who are in a creche on our ECD programme.

The day was an incredible, all-round success with businesses such as Megapile, Donald Insurance Brokers, Nexia International, Platinum Consulting and Vopac coming in to wrap hundreds of presents.

JAM also made a donation that allowed every child to receive a pair of shoes and a facecloth with their toy. An abundance of toys also allowed us to distribute excess to other charities.

1442 presents were individually wrapped and sent out to 1442 smiling faces in Amaoti. Thank you to every person who either donated or wrapped these gifts , your contribution has truly made a difference in the lives of so many.

The Wrapping & Packing:

 

 

The Distribution:

 

Feeding Effect 11/14

The Feeding Programme has had an incredible year overall, from AMAZING donations, community support and thousands fed daily!

 

The Domino Foundation Feeding Programme reaches the needy in communities and fulfils our Christian mandate of feeding the hungry. We support crèches, schools, churches, counselling centres, aftercare programmes, and youth holiday clubs. Our activities include but are not limited to:

• Crèche Feeding Project
• School Sandwich Project
• Food Parcels for families in crisis
• Monitoring and Evaluation

Overall, daily we feed 2264 individuals daily porridge, soup or sandwiches. That’s 2264 children (and some adults) who have the nutrition they need to be productive and empowered for the day.

We’d like to thank and honour all the incredible staff and volunteers who have worked and served in our two kitchens (the sandwich kitchen in Durban North and the soup kitchen in Brookdale.) Their hard work and selflessness has allowed us to feed the hungry in their most desperate time of need and move closer to realising our dream of communities where no child is too hungry to concentrate and learn.

Farewell Sheila!

At our annual Sandwich Kitchen Christmas Tea Party, we bid farewell to the wonderful leader of our sandwich kitchen, Sheila Simpkins. For 2 years, she served in the kitchen, lead the volunteers and managed the way it was so excellently run. We wish her luck on this new season in her life, and thank her for all her amazing work!

The Annual Sandwich Kitchen Christmas Party

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read more from our November Domino Effects Newsletter:

Babies Home Effect

ECD Effect

Life Skills Effect

Literacy Effect

General Overview

 

ECD Effect 11/14

This past Saturday we hosted a Creche Owner Christmas Party in Amaoti. This was a time to gather all 32 creche owners and staff and thank them for a year of hard work. They have invested their time and talents into educating the little stars of our future and we would like to thank them for partnering with The Domino Foundation in impacting the lives of over 1000 children each day!

There was an abundance of joy and dance at the party and an incredible time was had by all! We’re excited for the new year ahead and to achieve new goals and impact the community.

 

Read more from our November Domino Effects Newsletter:

Babies Home Effect

Life Skills Effect

Literacy Effect

Feeding Effect

General Overview

Life Skills Effect 11/14

Throughout the year, some incredible happenings have taken place through our Life Skills Programme – awesome events, teachings and community outreaches. Once again, this month we want to make special mention of one of the ladies who works behind the scenes of this programme. Judy Carter, our Home Affairs Liason works hard every month to ensure that every child and adult has an identity: in the form of a birth certificate and ID book.

In the month of November, 5 ID books and 2 birth certificates were obtained – this is an amazing feat when you come to terms with the chaos that is Home Affairs and the ‘cloudy’ backgrounds of some of the people that Judy helps every day.

More and more adults come forward in need of birth certificates (as without one, you cannot obtain an ID) and this task of getting them one continues to get harder as Home Affairs changes their processes. Late registration for birth certificates of people over the age of 16 also ends for good at the end of next year, making many people come forward needing help, some even elderly.

There was one occasion where a young mother tried to get a birth certificate for her child only to be told that the was listed as “male” so could not have given birth. She had a letter from the hospital for the birth of the baby with her ID number on it. The ID number specifies gender. i.e. ID number starts with your birth date, year, month, day if the next number is a 5 it says you are a man. I took her to Amaoti Clinic and saw the Matron who saw us immediately, did a complete examination and issued us with the necessary certificate confirming she is a woman. Home Affairs have now accepted all the documents.

Judy also took two children to Joanne Kalil Opticians as they were having difficulty reading in class. They both needed glasses which have been provided. These kids will now be more equipped in their learning! A big “Thank you” to Joanne for her support in providing the consultations and glasses for free.

 

We’d like honour Judy for all the amazing work she does with the people in Amaoti and thank her once again for all of her efforts in impacting a community!

 

Read more from our November Domino Effects Newsletter:

Babies Home Effect

ECD Effect

Literacy Effect

Feeding Effect

General Overview

 

Literacy Effect 11/14

One of the objectives of the literacy programme we run is “to support educators and work alongside the schools in teaching the children how to read and write in English” by doing this we are able to impact classes upon classes of illiterate children and empower them with the knowledge they need to succeed in life.

Over the past 3 months we’ve looked at the different techniques we use to teach these children and the benefits of these strategies. For the final month we look at:

#3 LITERACY FANS

What are sound fans?

Sound fans are a teaching aid.  Each part of the fan has a sound, blend or digraph printed on it.

How is this done in the classroom?

• the educator says the sound / blend / digraph
• the children repeat
• children find on fan, hold close and on signal show the educator

Why is this done?

Sound fans help the children consolidate their knowledge of sounds, blends or digraphs.

The benefits of sound fans

• Supports children in reinforcing their knowledge of sounds
• Helps build self-esteem

Outcomes we want to achieve?

Through developing a knowledge of sounds, blends and digraphs children will develop the basic knowledge necessary to read or spell.

‘One of the most common reasons for failure to progress in second language learning is lack of opportunity for consolidation.  The key to success are: small steps, frequent repetition and a wide variety of consolidation activities.’ Language without limits, (2014) [online]

Sounds fans are one of five activities we use to consolidate basic knowledge.

Read more from our November Domino Effects Newsletter:

Babies Home Effect

ECD Effect

Life Skills Effect

Feeding Effect

General Overview

 

Babies Home Effect – 11/14

125 Adelaide Tambo Drive

With the unveiling of the new community centre happening this month, our beautiful new babies home (an extension of Fairhavens) has also now been officially opened! So for November’s newsletter we’ve decided to take you on a tour of the new home and introduce you to this home’s crisis mother.

This section of the house will be where our toddlers and babies sleep. The room is spacious and full of light, making a happy environment for our tots to sleep peacefully and soundly.

 

 

 

 

This bathroom/toilet area comes directly off the babies’ bedroom which is greatly ideal.

 

 

The living area of the new home allows space for the children to play and be themselves and for the staff to relax.

 

 

 

 

This room of the home will be for the crisis mom and her daughter to live in. It also has an en-suite bathroom.

Meet Precious!

Precious is our new home’s crisis mother. She has worked at Fairhavens for a number of years and among being caring and loving, she is an amazing leader and manager. Her and her daughter will be living in the home and taking care of all the beautiful tots that will come through it’s doors. 

Read more from our November Domino Effects Newsletter:

ECD Effect

Life Skills Effect

Literacy Effect

Feeding Effect

General Overview

New Community Center Unveiled

On the 19^th of November, Durban North’s newest Babies Home (an extension of Domino’s Babies Homes: Fairhavens) was officially unveiled! A cocktail party was held on the day to celebrate this prestigious moment. Many men and women gathered to be entertained by live music and tour the new beautiful home, situated directly next door to Fairhavens.

For 10 years Fairhavens Babies Home has been a beacon of hope and a safe haven for abandoned babies from all walks of life. The success of the home, together with the good governance of our NPO has led to a businessman buying the house next door and signing a 10 year use agreement with the Domino Foundation. Our main mission is to impact as many people as we can and it is a passion of ours to serve the community in as many ways as possible – in saying this, this new opportunity has totally astounded us and made us even more hopeful to see our nation changed and bettered.

Mel Turner, Project Leader of the Babies Home: “We’ve seen God’s provision for this new babies home right from the start…and I believe our impact in the area of justice for abandoned children will be multiplied. I believe God is going to increase our influence and even move us into a space of assisting birth mothers in crisis. I’m also excited to see one of our longstanding staff Precious Thabethe, move on into the new responsibility of crisis care mother.”

It is our intention and privilege to open up the new home as a second Fairhavens as well as a community counselling center.

The two roles of the new home:

1. The unravelling of this new opportunity for The Domino Foundation allows us to extend our capacity for abandoned babies, as the Child Care Act only allows us 6 babies per home. So we look forward to being able to accommodate more beautiful abandoned children and be the link that connects them to their forever families.
2. The crisis center will offer free counselling, in the area of crisis pregnancies in teenagers, child abuse and family trauma. A new space means a greater opportunity for Domino’s skilled therapists and counselors to impact the community and speak life into the driest areas in peoples’ lives.

 

The Hope Market: Domino’s Veggie Tale.

On the 1st of November a Christmas Hope Market was held at Grace Family Church. This is a non-profit, community development initiative that seeks to offer opportunities to emerging business men and women to generate income and learn from the basic business experience of selling their home-made, hand-made or crafted products.

We were invited to take along some of the awesome produce from our Vegetable Tunnels in Brookdale and sell them to raise funds for the running of this project that has just been more and more fruitful.

This year, the stalls were encouraged to bring a poster sharing their story and message. Domino’s ‘Veggie Tale’ is easy. Our vegetables go to Fresh Produce Wholesalers who buy it from us OR (and mostly) to our Soup Kitchen. These veggies are either sold to bring funds back to enable the running of the kitchen or used in delicious soups that feed thousands daily!

The market was an amazing success – it was well attended and earned us some awesome exposure. People became interested in our story and we sold out all of our produce! We love the constant support we are given by the community and look forward to more fun days like this ahead!