Topsy Foundation NPC

Playing with your children. Riding a bike. Coming home after a long day. Moments like these are what make life worth living. But for some, this very moment might well be their last.

What if you could play a part in helping someone – a mother, a child, a teacher – relive their most precious moments?

That’s what The Topsy Foundation, together with Ogilvy & Mather Johannesburg, have partnered to do in a campaign that launched on World AIDS Day on 1 December with their “Buy Them A Moment That Matters” campaign.

Captured in evocative photographs of real people living with HIV and AIDS in the impoverished communities Topsy serves across South Africa, these “moments” are now available to the public to purchase. Take a look at the images in this report, that represent some of these moments. We would like you to make a $3 donation to Topsy as a symbolic gesture of paying for that moment of life to continue. 

All proceeds from every purchase will go towards Topsy’s live-saving treatment and care programmes, enabling the individuals it supports to continue to relive their most valued moments and fulfill their hopes and dreams.

 Saving thousands of lives over the 12 years since its inception, The Topsy Foundation is a fully-registered and internationally-respected non-profit and public benefit organisation that provides medical and social relief services from their free HIV and AIDS Care Clinic.

“The recent UNAIDS Global Report  highlights that there is an up to 49% decrease in HIV infection rates amongst adult South Africans,” says Silvia de Jager, Topsy’s Executive Director. “That, coupled with a five-fold increase in government spending to heal the country of the disease, makes it clear that it is now essential to support organisations like Topsy to back up this work with our existing and effective life-saving programmes.”

Launching on World AIDS Day on 1 December, the campaign will extend into 2013, giving the public further opportunities to support this cause.

Links:

• The Topsy Foundation NPC website

Dear Topsy Supporters,

With each month that passes we are more and more grateful to you for your warmth, care and support. It is hard to imagine what would happen without people like you in our world. Never underestimate the impact that you are having.

In truth you are saving lives, protecting the wholeness of families and restoring deeply impoverished rural communities who are unable at this stage to do it themselves.

Thank you for offering that second chance to people who have no other option but to ask for it.

Here’s a personal account from our Head of Social Work, Sister Elizabeth Moshe (English is her 2^nd language on a case that really affected her):

“This is one case that touched me so much. I don’t know if I will sound like I am sentimentalizing it, but once again I felt like we are, by Grace, giving a smile to somebody who desperately needs our help the most. Today somebody is smiling somewhere because you made just another effort.”

A Birthday present and another plate of food, 09 July 2012

Blessing (not her real name) is staying with her 2 children, one of them is a new born baby (born 16 May 2012) and her partner, who is the father of both kids, (unfortunately unemployed). On the 4^th of July when the Social Worker did a follow up on their case, it was Blessing’s eldest child’s birthday but no present or food could be offered to the boy due to home conditions. They are staying in a measured shack and on that particular day Blessing did not know where their next plate of food was going to come from. When the social worker left after the visit, she (Blessing) comforted herself by doing what one can call “self talk” - saying to her boy “Mommy is going to make the bed my boy, so that we may sleep”. These words seem to have come from a mind that wants to hide from hunger by rather sleeping- the time was around 15:20.

When the social worker enquired as to how it is possible that they would have such a long sleep she shyly confessed that they are hiding from coldness. (It was the middle of a very bitter winter). The following day the Social Worker took food parcels to the house, and it was such a joy for them to have another meal to share. Later the little boy was given a present of a new package of clothing, which was recently donated by one of Topsy’s generous donors.”

Although this story is very hard to hear, it is at the same time a very clear reminder of the importance of the value of helping others. We are honoured to be able to do this each day, and grateful to you for making it possible through your donations.

Take care.

Warm Regards

Helen MacKenzie

Communications Manager

www.topsy.org.za     https://www.facebook.com/thetopsyfoundation    http://www.twitter.com/topsynonprofit

Dear Topsy Supporters,

I am sure you have thought many times about the children that you are supporting through Topsy –
what they may be thinking and feeling.

Today I have the privilege of sharing with you a letter, written by one of them. This child came forward
and sent this letter through his Caregiver to one of our caring Social Workers,
Heleen.

We were all so touched and warmed by his words. It is unbelievable that amongst all of the
hardship that these children suffer, there is time for counting blessings.

Here is the letter from a boy whose first name is Freedom:

Freedom’s Letter:

“I would dearly love to thank you personally.

All in all I want to thank you for the food, blankets, school uniform
etc and for I thank you for being a family to me and good friends I can trust.

I hope you will not stop with me, doing good things to people like me, I
hope Jesus offers you lots and lots of strength to help you help those who can’t
help themselves.

Lots of Love from Me

Yours Sincerely

Freedom."

When we at Topsy hear things like this from the people we help, it is beyond encouraging – it is a powerfully heart-warming reminder that we are doing something genuinely worthwhile.

You are part of this and so we extend the thanks to you. It is due to
your donations alone, that we can go out into our most impoverished rural communities,
with something more to offer than sympathy.

Warm Regards

Helen MacKenzie

Communications
Manager

Dear Topsy Supporters,

Welcome to 2012!

We would like to share with you a wonderful and inspiring story about one of our inspiring Gogo’s (Grannies). In South Africa it is sadly all too common to find children orphaned by the HIV and AIDS epidemic. Typically they will be taken in by a grandmother (Gogo) or other relative. The Topsy Foundation does its best to help these families through the tough economic and social challenges they face. We help through the Topsy Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVC) Project.

Here is the story of one of our Gogos’s. The story of Gogo Mary

“I’m Mary Kaleni* I ‘m 68yrs of age, staying at Qalabotjha, South Africa. I had two daughters who were sick. They did not tell me what was wrong.

It was only after they died that I realised. They left behind their children. Both daughters passed away in 2006. My elder daughter had 2 children and the other one had only one child, who was 10 months old when her mother passed away, she is now four years. The others are 10yrs and 9yrs of age.

In the beginning I looked after those children with my small amount of pension money - buying food, school uniforms, paying school fees and everything else they needed. I could not enjoy my pension because I was using everything to take care of the children.

Then one day Topsy came to my rescue. I like Topsy because they have helped me a lot. At Topsy I get food parcels and school uniforms for the children. They have also provided me with seeds for a vegetable garden. We are now eating the vegetables that I have planted. I also tell these children that they must thank Topsy because they helped them.

Before we go to bed we pray for Topsy to grow and continue to help the nation. I also see people that are attending the Topsy Clinic. They become better very fast. Topsy is working. Thank you Topsy, May God Bless you.” 

Topsy is blessed to have support like yours to provide the best offering to our beneficiaries who living in poverty in rural South Africa. Thank you for being in our family of supporters and showing extra care to those in real need.

Warm Regards

Helen MacKenzie

Communications Manager

Links:

• WEBSITE:
• FACEBOOK:

Dear Topsy Supporters,

 Your generosity is deeply valued by all of us here at the Topsy Foundation. You are the fuel for the engine that must keep working to give life-saving and community building services to our impoverished rural communities.

Right now we are at a crucial stage. There are 2 key aspects that have come together now.

Firstly, with ten years of service behind us, the word continues to spread in our impoverished  and isolated rural communities that Topsy is the place to go for help. We are so humbled by the recognition that our beneficiaries give to our work. They remind us daily and keep us inspired to continue to strive to offer them our very best. 

Everything that Topsy does centres around our core services extending from our Comprehensive HIV and AIDS Care Clinic (CHACC). When we reflect on the growth of the uptake of Clinic services, we can see both a dire need in the communities as well as the good reputation of Topsy filtering through to those people in need. To take a snapshot in time – in 4 years we have grown from attending to an average of 546 patients per month (2008) to a caseload of 2 754 per month today.

Our patients value the fact that at Topsy we take a holistic approach to ensuring the best treatment for HIV and AIDS – taking into account medical and social aspects affecting people. This is evidenced by the range of our services which include:

Orphaned and Vulnerable Children Project

Vegetable Gardening Project

Home-Based Care

ARV Therapy

Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission

Cervical Cancer Screening

Tuberculosis Diagnosis and Treatment

Skills Training. 

As we go from strength to strength in our abilities to help more people to not only handle their illness, but to develop their communities, we must strongly consider the second aspect.

This aspect is sustainability. It is essential that we are able to provide consistent support and provision to our beneficiaries. At Topsy we ensure that this is possible through a long-term fundraising strategy and an approach to service delivery that is both effective and efficient.

With the changes in giving behaviour brought on by the last few years of global economic pressure, we are mindful of the value of each and every one of our generous supporters. We appeal to you to continue to share what you can with those living in desperate need and very few options. 

A great opportunity to do this will be this WEDNESDAY 19^th OCTOBER. GlobalGiving.org is matching at 30% all online donations up to $1,000 per donor per project!  There is $100,000 available in matching funds on 19^th OCTOBER. If you feel that Topsy’s work is something that you’d like to be a part of – then helping us through an online donation is the perfect way to do that.

We would very much like to take this opportunity to thank you again for all of your support and continued belief in the value of Topsy’s offering to our beneficiaries. Please continue to help us to save lives and build impoverished rural communities. 

Warm Regards

Helen MacKenzie

Communications Manager